E-Cigarette Poisoning

            The new and popular e-cigarettes that are trying to do away with the harmful effects of smoking real cigarettes may actually do more damage than real cigarettes.

E-Cigarettes may not be as helpful as they're portrayed.
Photo courtesy of: http://www.cettil.org.uk/category/blog/

            The “e-liquids” inside the e-cigarettes are a combination of nicotine in liquid form, different flavors, and assorted chemicals.

            Small amounts of the concoction whether ingested orally or through the skin can cause vomiting, seizures and could even be lethal. According to the New York Times, a teaspoon of highly diluted e-liquid could kill a small child.

            The e-liquids are not federally regulated, and neither are e-cigarettes. According to the New York Times, the liquids are created on “factory floors and in the back rooms of shops.”

            Lee Cantrell, the director of the Poison Control Center in the San Diego division, believes that it isn’t a matter of if a small child is poisoned or dies, but a matter of when.

            According to the New York Times, the e-liquids are more dangerous than tobacco because they can be ingested more rapidly.

            Minnesota and Oklahoma exemplify what Cantrell was afraid of; in 2013 29 of the 74 reported cases in Minnesota occurred with children two-years-old or younger, and in Oklahoma 92 percent of the cases in January and February of 2014 reported children four-years-old or younger.

            Some believe that the e-cigarettes are helping the number of smokers to decrease. The New York Times reports there is no long-term study to support that e-cigarettes are or will be better than nicotine gum or patches.