Preventing Nicotine Poisoning Among Children and Youth

With the increased popularity of e-cigarettes, concentrated nicotine is widely available in appealing flavors and bright packaging. As a result, there has been a dramatic increase in instances of child poisonings from this e-liquid in the last two years.  The first death was reported in late 2014 when a New York child was killed from accidental exposure to liquid nicotine. Local and state governments from Davis County, Utah, to the states of Illinois, Minnesota and Vermont have only recently begun to address this problem by requiring childproof packaging for liquid nicotine containers. This session will describe the toxic effects of liquid nicotine, highlight data showing the increase in nicotine poisonings, and describe policy options state or local governments can consider to address this sudden public health dilemma.  This session will describe several potential policy options to address the problem of child poisonings from liquid nicotine used in e-cigarettes. The most direct approach would be a child-resistant requirement for all e-liquid packaging. The session will examine the few existing laws that have attempted this approach, discussing the effectiveness of these laws as evidenced by poisoning data in those communities. The session will explore other options, such as a prohibition on flavored e-liquid, vape shop moratoriums, and sales-to-minors laws and discuss the advantages of these approaches.