Sales of electronic cigarettes is growing rapidly, especially among young people. They’re currently the fastest growing part of the tobacco market.
Unlike traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes are generally battery-operated and use a heating element to heat liquid nicotine or e-liquid. When heated, the e-liquid becomes a vapor, which users inhale.
Tobacco use, including e-cigarettes, by any child under the age of 18 is harmful. Ingesting the liquid nicotine used in e-cigarettes is very toxic, said Colleen Tressler, consumer education specialist for the Federal Trade Commission. Ingestion of less than a teaspoon of nicotine by young children can cause acute poisoning and even death.
In addition, some e-liquids are marketed in packaging that looks like products targeted to and mostly consumed by young children. If they ingest what’s inside boxes that look like apple juice, cookies, cereal, candy, and whipped topping, they risk acute nicotine toxicity – poisoning that can result in seizure, coma, cardiac and respiratory arrest, and death.
Can you tell the difference between two products pictured above?
The product on the left, “One Mad Hit Juice Box,” is an e-liquid for e-cigarettes that can be fatal to kids who ingest as little as a teaspoon. The e-liquid label calls the product a “JUICE BOX,” and mimics juice boxes you buy at your local grocery. “JUICE BOX” even has an image of a sippy straw on the side of the box. Open it up and you’ll actually smell apples. The product on the right is what parents serve their kids at snack time.
The FTC and FDA have sent warning letters to some sellers of e-liquids that are using packaging that imitates foods or beverages popular with children.
Tressler recommends if you, or someone in your household, uses e-liquids, follow these safety tips:
- Keep these products out of reach of children, and in their containers with the caps tightly sealed.
- Use child-proof cabinets and drawers when storing these products, just as you do with household cleaning and laundry items.
- Close the container completely after each use, and immediately store it in a safe location away from children.
