BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

E-Cigarette Poisonings Shot Up 15-Fold In Less Than Four Years

This article is more than 7 years old.

The number of poisonings related to e-cigarettes in children age 5 and under increased 15 times over just a three-year period ending in early 2015, found a recent study in Pediatrics. Such incidents increase the likelihood of hospitalization for children more than five times compared to incidents involving other tobacco or nicotine products.

The recent FDA announcement that e-cigarette products would be regulated in the same way as cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and other tobacco products means the products are banned for those under age 18, but it’s unclear how much those rules might affect the growing problem of e-cigarette-related poisonings. Poison control calls specifically for children under 2 years old made up 44% of all the calls related to e-cigarette products.

“Unfortunately, in this country we treat our children like canaries in a coal mine,” said the study’s senior author, Gary Smith, MD, director of the Center for Injury Research & Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “We have all these new products coming out—many of which are safe and great—but some are highly dangerous to young children, and it isn’t until they’re out on the market and we start to see numbers like this study reports when we finally say, ‘Whoops, gee, we have to think about our young kids.’”

Smith has been studying poison exposures in children for more than 30 years and published a study two weeks ago on poisonings related to laundry detergent packets.

“I think this is just another example of highly toxic product that’s been put out into the marketplace without adequate consideration given to child safety,” Smith said. “We’ve known for decades how toxic nicotine is in very small amounts for children.” Children exposed to e-cigarette products were more than 2.5 times more likely to have serious medical complications than kids exposed to other, traditional tobacco and nicotine products, the study found.

Smith’s team analyzed all 29,141 calls for poisonings related to nicotine or tobacco products between January 2012 and April 2015. They used data from the National Poison Data System and focused only on calls for children under 6 years old. Over that time span, the calls averaged to about 729 exposures per month, 60% of which was related to traditional tobacco cigarettes.

Another 16% came from other tobacco products (cigars, smokeless, etc.), and calls related to e-cigarette products accounted for 14% of the total. About four out of every five of those e-cigarette exposures involve a child ingesting the product, such as swallowing the nicotine liquid. Smith noted that e-cigarette liquid flavors, such as Captain Crunch or fruity flavors, often have labeling that attracts curious children.

“There are thousands of flavors out there, and many are going to be attractive to kids,” Smith said. “One typical e-liquid container could have enough nicotine to cause serious consequences.” Since e-liquid containers come in different sizes and different concentrations, it’s not possible to say precisely what ingesting one container’s worth of liquid nicotine could do, he added.

Among the 4,128 poison control incidents related to e-cigarette products in this study, one death occurred, two children had seizures, three stopped breathing, and four went into a coma. The most common effect, occurring among 721 of the children, was vomiting, followed by coughing or choking, eye irritation or pain, drowsiness and a rapid heart rate. Of the incidents involving e-cigarettes, 1.6% led to a hospitalization, compared to 0.3% of incidents related to cigarettes and 0.3% related to other non-e-cigarette products.

“It’s rare to see an increase [in poisoning exposures] as dramatic as the one witnessed here,” Smith said. “This is an epidemic by any definition. If this were an infectious disease, this would be headlines across the country.”

The federal Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act, signed into law in January 2016, requires that e-liquid containers use child-resistant packing starting this summer, which Smith hopes will reduce poisonings. Three policy statements related to e-cigarettes issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics also made “recommendations to reduce youth access to e-cigarettes, e-liquid and related products, including unintentional exposure among young children,” the study noted.

Only 243 incidents involving e-cigarettes recorded how the child accessed the products, and in 100 of these incidents, the products were stored within the child’s sight. In 30 cases, the product was temporarily open and in use while other incidents involved the product being left out all the time, the child getting the product out of a purse or the product being stored inappropriately in some way.

For those who use vaping or e-cigarette products, Smith recommends they treat the products like any other household poison.

“If parents do vape, they should do so away from children and refill them away from sight of children,” Smith said. “When done using the products, put them up and out of sight and preferably in a locked location.” People should avoid leaving them in purses, car cupholders or locations similarly accessible to children. If a child does access these products, parents and caregivers can call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.

Follow me on Twitter