Accident prevention authorities have cautioned that an increase in calls to the national Poisons Information Centre is being caused by vaping and the availability of e-cigarettes and other nicotine products.
SA According to health data released by the organisation Kidsafe SA, which works to prevent child accidents, South Australians called the Poison Information Centre 78 times last year due to nicotine-related issues, up from 53 in 2022.
The majority of those calls concerned vaping items, however children under the age of five accounted for the largest portion of the increase, with 41 reports of their exposure to e-cigarette liquids and devices.
It is horrifying to consider that young children might still be obtaining these items, with potentially disastrous consequences.
Out of all the cases that were reported, eight included taking or referring children to the hospital, and over thirty concerned concerns that the kids had really eaten nicotine compounds instead of just inhaling them.
More goods containing nicotine are entering the market, which raises serious concerns about kid safety and injury prevention, according to Ms. Fitzgerald.
The nicotine products are vivid, bright, and frequently flavoured. They also smell great.
Young children find vape devices quite appealing because, as we all know, they are very similar to that. If they manage to get their hands on a vape or vape liquid, they frequently mimic their parents and put it in their mouths.
Following ingestion of “the substance his mother had been mixing with vape juice for an e-cigarette”, an 18-month-old infant in Victoria passed away in 2018, according to a report from the state’s Coroners Court.
Following the inquest, court authorities revealed that Baby J’s mother discovered him with an open container of the extremely deadly liquid in his mouth when she unintentionally looked away to put some vape juice bottles away.
According to Ms. Fitzgerald, Kidsafe SA is beginning a new campaign with the goal of raising awareness of the dangers, as the tragedy has underlined the urgent need for greater understanding of them.
Regarding the higher frequency of nicotine exposures and young children, the calls to the South Australian Poison Information Centre are in line with what other states and territories are reporting, the spokesperson said.
Treating nicotine products is the same as handling any other poison.
They must be kept out of the way and secured up high.
Cigarettes, tobacco, gum, lozenges, mist, patches, inhalers, e-cigarette vaporizers, equipment, liquids, and other products containing nicotine should all be kept safely out of children’s reach.