Calls to poison control centers about young children’s exposure to e-cigarettes have skyrocketed in recent years, new research shows.
And those kids who are exposed seem to suffer worse health effects than those exposed to traditional cigarettes, the study authors added, ABC News reported.
The biggest threat with e-cigarettes appears to be the nicotine liquid inside the devices, researchers said.
“If this were an infectious disease, this would be headlines across the country,” said Dr. Gary Smith, director of Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Center for Injury Research and Policy in Ohio. He noted that the number of e-cigarette exposures in kids jumped 1,500% from 2012 to 2015.
“E-cigarettes and liquid nicotine can cause serious poisoning, and even death, among young children,” he said. “Like other dangerous poisons, they should be kept out of sight and reach of children, preferably in a locked location.”
The research which analyzed calls to the National Poison Data System about nicotine and tobacco products from January 2012 to April 2015, published online May 9 in the journal Pediatrics, follows last week’s ban by the US Food and Drug Administration on the sale of e-cigarettes to minors because of numerous health concerns in this vulnerable age group.
“This final rule is a foundational step that enables the FDA to regulate products young people were using at alarming rates, like e-cigarettes, cigars and hookah tobacco, which had gone largely unregulated,” Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, said during a media briefing announcing the ban.
Smokers have flocked to e-cigs in recent years. The battery-powered devices heat up fluid until it becomes vapor, which is then inhaled. The fluid includes nicotine and other ingredients, such as flavors and chemicals.
The new report suggests e-cigarettes, particularly the liquid nicotine, may pose the greatest harm to young children.
