NBC News
The number of young children who have ill after putting their hands on nicotine products, such as bags and liquids to vapor, has shot in recent years.
Between 2010 and 2023, US toxicology centers reported 134,663 cases of nicotine poisoning among children under 6 years, according to a study published Monday in Pediatrics, a magazine of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Almost all poisonings occurred at home.
The cases included exhibitions to nicotine sachets, chewing tobacco, regular cigarettes, vaporizers and nicotine replacement products, such as gum and pills.
But it is nicotine sachets, such as the popular Zyn, which are behind the most significant increase in accidental poisoning among nicotine among young children.
New research discovered that the poisoning rate with nicotine bags among children under 6 years increased from 0.48 per 100,000 children in 2020, to 4.14 per 100,000 in 2023.
This represents an increase of 763% in just three years, a surprising fact that correlates with the increase in sales of nicotine bags.
Nicotine sachets – which users place between the lip and gum and then discard – can contain up to 6 milligrams of nicotine, a stimulant. These sachets are promoted as tobacco free alternatives to cigarettes and chewing tobacco.
However, they are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as substitute products of the nicotine used to help quit smoking.
A 2021 study of the Office on Smoking and Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (one of several public health entities dismantled during the Trump administration) found that sales of nicotine bags increased in the last decade, from $ 70,000 in 2016 to 216 million by mid -2020.
“It was a matter of time to fall into the hands of younger children, said Dr. Molly O’Shea, a pediatrician of Michigan and spokesman for the American Pediatrics Academy.” It is unfortunate, but not surprising. “
Why is nicotine toxic to children?
Nicotine is a very toxic chemical that could easily overcome a deadly dose in young children, according to a 2013 study.
(A less addictive cigar? The FDA endorses regulations, but will depend on Trump)
The chemical increases heart rate and blood pressure, and can cause nausea, vomiting or even coma, according to the authors of the report.
Most cases included in the new research were not serious enough to justify medical care. But 39 children suffered important side effects, such as breathing problems and seizures, explained Natalie Rine, author of the new study and director of the Central Ohio poisoning center, at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.
Most cases of nicotine poisoning, 76%, were babies and children under 2 years.
Two children, one year and a half, died after ingesting liquid nicotine from the vaporizers.
“It is good that the majority of the children in the study have evolved quite well. Most had mild or none symptoms and did not need medical treatment,” said Rine. “But two deaths is a lot, especially for something avoidable.”
How to reduce poisoning in children?
The minors are curious by nature. In particular, babies and young children explore their world taking things to their mouths.
And they are teachers in forcing drawers and cabinets to find new “toys.” Nicotine bag boats do not have children’s proof containers. In addition, they know well. Mint and fruits are almost always added.
O’Shea said that it is essential that all nicotine products are placed away from the reach of children. “That does not mean in a bag, in the back pocket of the pants or at the counter,” he said. “It means locally.”
Not only parents and other adult caregivers must be careful with nicotine products. An April study of the Keck Medicine School of the University of Southern California found that the use of nicotine bags among high school students almost doubled between 2023 and 2024.
“It’s easy for a teenager to be using this product and that parents don’t know it,” said O’Shea. “It is important that parents talk to their children about this type of products and maintain an open dialogue and without prejudices to determine any risk.”
Rine also recommended adding the national number of poisoning control: 1-800-222-1222
