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Research letter
Online electronic cigarette retailers can do more to prevent accidental poisonings
  1. Daniel S Morris,
  2. Steven C Fiala
  1. Portland, Oregon, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Daniel S Morris, 538 SE 15th Avenue, Portland, OR 97212, USA; morrisds{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2014-051779

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    E-cigarettes are a poison hazard.1 A review of studies evaluating chemicals in electronic cigarette liquid nicotine (e-liquid) found nicotine concentrations as high as 87 mg/mL.2 The lethal dose of nicotine for adults is estimated to be 30–60 mg of nicotine,3 although this amount has been scrutinised.4 For children, a fatal dose of nicotine may be as little as 10 mg.5 As e-cigarettes grow in popularity,6 ,7 associated poisonings are increasing. Poisoning cases linked to e-cigarettes jumped 1500% from 29 in 2010 to 438 in 2012.8 ,9 Over this same time period, the proportion of these poisonings that occurred in children younger than 5 years old increased from 21% in 2010 to 39% in 2012.8 ,9

    There are currently no regulations requiring child-resistant packaging or poison warning labels on e-cigarettes and e-liquid sold in the USA. Previous research found e-liquid cartridges lacked content and warning labels, evidence that the industry has not been proactive at preventing poisonings.10 Since child-resistant packaging for …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors DSM designed the study, collected the data and conducted data analysis. SCF assisted with the data collection and management, also contributed to the writing and editing of the manuscript.

    • Funding This article was written as part of a grant-funded research project. Any public dissemination of information relating to the grant was made possible by Grant Number RC-2009-0035 from ClearWay Minnesota.

    • Competing interests None.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.