Alarming new evidence shows that the number of children and babies poisoned by vaping has tripled in just one year, while the number of teens has quadrupled.
The horrific trend has led a doctor who specializes in toxin research to accuse vape makers of “marketing to children.”
In New South Wales, the number of young children (1-4 years) poisoned by the devices increased from 42 in 2020 to 127 in 2021, while children (5-14 years) rose from 9 to 27 in the same period.
More worrisome was the number of poisoned babies, which jumped from 7 to 17.
NSW Poisons Information Center doctor Claire Turner says there has been a large increase in the number of children being reported being poisoned by vaporizers and their refill mixtures.
Teens (ages 15 to 19) poisoned by vaping, meanwhile, jumped from eight to 25.
The figures come from the New South Wales poisoning hotline, but the Victorian equivalent also reported a large increase in the number of children poisoned by vaporizers.
In 2021, Victoria has 51 such cases compared to 32 cases in 2020.
Of the 2021 poisonings, eight were babies.
Children who see adults vaping are more likely to imitate their actions, a doctor warned
The Queensland Poisons Information Center has received almost five times as many calls involving children under the age of five exposed to e-cigarettes and vaping devices this year compared to last year.
Of the 88 poisonings so far this year, compared to just 15 in 2020, 20 required hospital care.
“We are seeing an increase in calls and particularly for children under the age of five,” Dr Claire Turner, Registrar of Public Health Medicine at the New Wales Poisons Information Center in New Wales, told Daily Mail Australia. South.
‘The rise in vape poisonings is in a category of its own. It is definitely increasing at a high speed. [and rising] consistently for the past five years.
‘Most of the common calls are small accidental exposures in young children – they’re just picking up a vape device and sucking on it, which activates the vape.
A table setting out the number of vaping poisonings reported to the NSW hotline in the last two years
‘They’re getting some of the chemicals and then they often have a coughing fit, sometimes they vomit.
“It’s also the liquid, the refillable liquid for some of the e-cigarettes.”
In May 2018, Australia recorded its first and so far only fatal incident of a child ingesting a fatal amount of vaping substances.
Baby J, whose name has not been released, was 18 months old when he obtained the substance his mother mixed with vape juice for an electronic cigarette.
A doctor has accused vaporizer manufacturers of marketing their children’s products with bright colors.
After momentarily getting distracted by putting away bottles of vape juice, Baby J’s mom was horrified to see him with the open bottle of the concoction in his mouth.
Despite immediately washing out the baby’s mouth and calling emergency services, Baby J passed away at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne on June 10, 2018.
The coroner who investigated the case called for increased awareness about the dangers of vaping to children.
Dr Turner said the NSW Poisons Hotline had been lucky not to have recorded a similar incident.
“Fortunately we haven’t had any (young children) drink a substantial amount. They are quite dangerous, but most of the children had a very small amount,” she said.
“With younger children, if they suck on it, they’ll cough and cough and not keep doing it, so that’s a good stopping point.
‘If they have exposure to a lot of nicotine, it can be very serious.
As the popularity of vaporizers skyrockets among teens, there is concern that many are buying products with unknown ingredients and little-known side effects.
“There would be nausea and vomiting, then there’s the high heart rate, high blood pressure, and then they can have seizures.”
Dr. Masters said kids could be mistaking vaporizers or refill mixes for candy.
“Vaporizers can seem very appealing to children,” he said.
“The way they’re marketed as tasty and come in a wide range of nice-smelling flavors, that seems a little creepy.”
“They definitely appeal to children.”
Children were also likely to pick up vapes or refill mixes just because they had observed adults or older siblings doing it.
The number of teens reported to a NSW hotline for vape poisoning has quadrupled in the space of a year
“Children imitate adult behavior as part of their normal development, so our advice is not to vape in front of your children, as that demonstrates how vapers are used,” Dr. Turner said.
Nicotine vapes can only be legally purchased with a prescription in Australia, but there is a large trade in e-cigarettes, many of which contain nicotine, sold “under the counter” in convenience stores or ordered from abroad .
One teaspoon of liquid nicotine can cause irreversible damage or death to a child.
A single electronic cigarette contains 0.7 ml of nicotine and is equivalent to inhaling a pack of cigarettes or 200 puffs.
Dr. Turner said the dangers of youth becoming addicted to nicotine are very real, but perhaps even more concerning is that many vapes do not list their ingredients.
“The toxicity of nicotine is well known, but the long-term effects of some of the other chemicals in it are not yet known,” he said.
“They often contain heavy metals like lead, mercury, and arsenic.
‘There are a wide variety of different chemicals in different vaporizers. They have a whole range of effects.
‘Many of the products are not well labeled, so you don’t really know exactly what’s in them.
“Many of the effects of the ingredients are not necessarily well known yet, and many of the long-term effects are not well known.”
Dr. Turner said the unknown long-term effects were a potential concern for vape users of all ages.
“That’s why there’s been a bit of pressure recently with the NSW Heath campaign and other things to spread the word,” he said.
His advice for any household where vapers mix with young children is to be very aware of the risk.
“It’s not necessarily a priority for everyone and I guess they’re becoming more and more common, so they’re more accessible,” Dr. Turner said.
Any vaping product, particularly refillable liquids, should always be stored safely out of the reach of children.
“All adults, and especially parents around children, should always be aware of where their vaporizers are and that they are out of the reach of small children.”
Nicotine vapes are only legally available with a prescription in Australia, but many e-cigarettes containing the substance are sold “under the counter” in convenience stores or brought in from abroad.
Although most kids will quickly quit smoking or spitting vapes, the severity of the poisoning depends on a number of factors, Dr. Turner said.
“It depends on how involved the child is, how big the child is, what kind of concentration of liquid or nicotine has been put in the mouth,” he said.
“We don’t have any home remedies at this time to implement, so our advice is to call the poison information center immediately if you have any concerns that they may have been exposed.”
The national number of the poison information center is 13 11 26.
Calls will normally be placed through the caller’s state call center which is staffed 24/7 by trained receptionists and consulting physicians.
If a child shows severe symptoms of poisoning, it is recommended to call the triple-0 emergency hotline.