WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is considering new rules requiring child-resistant caps on certain kinds of oily household chemicals that have been linked to the deaths of five children.

The products include some baby oils, cosmetics and cleaning solvents that contain hydrocarbons.

When children swallow them, these products can get in their lungs and cause a deadly form of pneumonia, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

From 1997 to 1999, about 6,400 children younger than 5 were treated in emergency rooms after swallowing these kinds of chemicals, the agency said.

"A parent would never think there's anything dangerous about baby oil," CPSC chairwoman Ann Brown said Tuesday. "Once it gets into the lungs there's no medical process to rid the lungs of these oily substances."

In May, 16-month-old Jaiden Bryson, of Hanford, Calif., drank baby oil after he or his twin brother, Jaziah, knocked the bottle off a shelf, the agency said. Jaiden inhaled some of the oil and, despite medical treatment, died about a month later.

"With knowledge of the danger of this product or a safety cap on the bottle, my son, Jaiden Wayne Bryson, would still be here," Teresa Bryson wrote to the safety agency.

Brown said it would cost less than 2 cents per package to make the products child-resistant.

The three-member commission is expected to hold a hearing Thursday on whether to require the new packaging. It has scheduled a vote for Oct. 24.

The proposed rules apply to thin, watery hydrocarbon products that flow freely and can be inhaled when swallowed. Hydrocarbon products are usually based on petroleum or mineral oils.

The products include some baby oils, sunscreens, cleaning solvents, water repellents, automotive cleaners and cosmetics such as makeup removers and bath oils.

Thicker, more syrup-like liquids are less likely to be inhaled. The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, an industry group, had originally disagreed with the proposed regulations, but said Tuesday in a statement that it would support a government decision requiring child-resistant packaging.

Groups representing manufacturers of paints and automotive chemicals had said they supported the regulations, but said the rules shouldn't apply to aerosol sprays, which haven't been linked to any deaths.

The government has excluded those sprays from the proposed rules, said CPSC spokesman Ken Giles.

The commission said it knows of five children who have died since 1993 after swallowing and inhaling the products: three from baby oil, one from a hair moisturizer and one from an automotive cleaner.

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.