Concerning exposure to drugs of abuse in paediatric population of this study, it should be said that: firstly
external contamination have to be excluded since and extended standardized hair washing was included in the procedure for hair testing. Secondly, as reported by international literature, even if the route(s) of children “passive or active” exposure to drugs of abuse- (e.g., parental consumption in the household, contact with drugs-contaminated surroundings, crawling and putting contaminated objects in the mouth, accidental ingestion), cannot be easily established, contact occurred as proved by positive hair testing with possible risk of subsequent severe intoxications [
17,
18].
[...]
acute exposure to cocaine during childhood is associated with neurologic manifestations such as focal and generalized seizures in children eight years of age and younger and alterations in mental status, including delirium stupor and coma in older children [
19], and even death in cases of oral or inhaled routes of intoxication [
8],