Warning over storage of electronic cigarettes

A recent spike in liquid nicotine poisonings had led to a warning from the National Poisons Information Centre on the storage of electronic cigarettes.

The centre confirmed yesterday it received seven reports of nicotine poisoning during the first three months of this year. Most occurred in children under the age of six. One case related to a teenager and two involved adults. Since July 2012, 17 cases of liquid nicotine poisoning have been reported to the centre.

“The number of enquiries about liquid nicotine is small but increasing,” a spokesperson for the centre said. “In the first three months of this year we have received almost the same number of queries as in all of 2013. The real number of cases is probably higher as the National Poisons Information Centre is not contacted about every patient who attends a hospital emergency department.”

Of the 17 reported cases, 11 involved children under the age of six, two were teenagers and four were adults. Thirteen of the patients had ingested the liquid. The remainder related to eye contact. While the incidents have been relatively mild, severe nicotine poisonings can lead to coma, convulsions, heart attacks and respiratory arrest.