This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Aspirin poisoning

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Aspirin is the most common salicylate in regular use and poisoning is common. In adults, moderate to severe toxicity may occur after taking 50 x 300 mg tablets.

Salicylates may also be found in:

  • oil of wintergreen - contains methylsalicylate; this is particularly toxic by mouth as it is rapidly absorbed; 1 teaspoonful is equivalent to 12 x 300 mg tablets of aspirin
  • various keratolytic agents eg. salicylic acid

Normally aspirin is rapidly absorbed from the stomach and the small intestine but in large doses, clearance and absorption may be slowed as the tablets adhere to form a large bolus. Blood salicylate levels may continue to rise for up to 24 hours after a massive overdose.

Toxicity occurs above 250 mg per litre.


Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page