[ELI5] Why is it sometimes not recommended to induce vommiting if you accidently swallow a dangerous substance?

Question

For example some lighter fluids

In: Biology

Answer 1

Hospital pharmacist here, in addition to the better alternatives such as neutralizer agents/suctioning, one of the primary purge inducers – syrup of ipecac was discontinued in 2010, in large part due to multiple studies that determined that purging was highly variable and risked more harm than good (esophageal damage, aspiration into lungs, etc. as mentioned by other posters).