US: Child Liquid Nicotine Exposure up Sharply

Source from:  AAP 10/23/2014

As the e-cigarette industry booms, poison control workers say the number of children exposed to the liquid nicotine that gives hand-held vaporizing gadgets their kick also has spiked.

More than 2,700 people have called the US' poison control so far in 2014 to report an exposure to liquid nicotine, more than half of those cases in children younger than six, according to national statistics. The number shows a sharp rise from only a few hundred cases just three years ago.

The battery-powered electronic vaporizers often resemble traditional cigarettes and work by heating liquid nicotine into an inhalable mist. The drug comes in brightly coloured refill packages and an array of candy flavours that can make it attractive to young children, heightening the exposure risk and highlighting the need for users to keep it away from youngsters.

"With kids, the exposure we're seeing is usually parents or family members leave out refill bottles that they try and open," said Ashley Webb, director of the Kentucky Regional Poison Control Center.

Poison control workers often see a spike in calls with new and growing products, Webb said. The number of e-cigarette users has climbed to several million worldwide, and the devices have become the centre of an industry that has grown in the last four years from about $US82 million to $US2.5 billion ($A88.72 million to $A2.70 billion) in annual sales, at least $US500 million of which comes from liquid nicotine.

Despite the recent increase, liquid nicotine exposures are still less than half of traditional cigarettes, but e-juice is potentially more toxic, said Robert Bassett, a medical toxicologist in Philadelphia.

"It would be really hard for a child to eat a whole pack of cigarettes, but now we're dealing with these very, very concentrated forms you get more than a pack of cigarettes in a small, ingestible amount," Bassett said.

Bassett consulted on the case of a 10-month-old boy who drank from a refill bottle while his mother's back was turned. The toddler recovered within hours, but he had vomited, and his heart was pounding when he was brought to the emergency room.

"Unfortunately, with little kids it's hard," Bassett said. "They simply can't tell you what they're feeling."

Liquid nicotine also stands out because it doesn't have to be swallowed to be harmful. Skin exposure can be toxic. Officials are calling for child-resistant caps, which many manufacturers have already begun using, but there is no uniform protocol.

The e-cigarette industry doesn't face the strict government regulations on traditional smokes that aim to keep them away from children, including prohibitions on lolly or fruit flavours. The US Food and Drug Administration has proposed issuing regulations, but no rules have been drafted. Enditem