Vape poisonings in kids, infants rise by 300 per cent

More than 140 children — including babies under the age of one — have been exposed to toxic vape gases, as health experts plead with adults to keep them out of reach.

Most vapes contain nicotine even though few are labelled as such. Picture: Supplied

More than 140 children under the age of four have been exposed to potentially toxic vapes in the past 12 months and, shockingly, 17 of those were under 12 months of age.

Notifications of poisoning from vapes or e-cigarettes have tripled across all youth age groups in one year, according to the NSW Poisons Information Centre.

Centre medical director Dr Darren Roberts said they had seen a massive increase in calls.

“It is increasing year on year and it relates to access to vapes,” he said.“A child can very easily activate a vape and inhale the contents of that. The devices allow them to do it, so we think the number of cases we are seeing of poisoning would be very much decreased if people put their vape devices away.”

Vapes are colourful and attractive to small children. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Most vapes contain nicotine even though few are labelled as such and there is no way to know what level of nicotine is in vapes. They are often colourful and contain sweet flavours that appeal to children.

Nicotine can be toxic to children.

Dr Darren Roberts, Medical Director of the NSW Poisons Information Centre is urging parents to store their vapes safely.

Access to refillable vape juice can also be deadly.

An 18-month-old child died in Victoria in 2018 after ingesting vape juice for an e-cigarette, prompting Victorian Coroner Phillip Byrne to call for greater public awareness of the dangers of the vaping substance.

“We are seeing there is a lot more vaping in the community and children are seeing this,” Dr Roberts said.

“About half our calls are from children under the age of five. Nicotine can be toxic and can cause death, we are also worried about parents not storing refillable liquids out of reach of children.

“When children drink these liquids they can get severe nicotine poisoning, including seizures and death.

“Most of the exposures we are seeing is kids having a few sucks on a vape. That can cause coughing, nausea and vomiting … there have been children who have had a period of unresponsiveness but they usually improve fairly quickly.”

Nicotine poisoning can include vomiting, nausea, and seizures and racing of the heart.

“We’ve had a number of kids presented to hospital with nicotine exposures, and most have been discharged from the emergency department after adequate observation,” Dr Roberts said.

Unlike cigarettes that require a lighter, vapes are designed to be activated with inhalation.

“Anyone can activate that, including a small child,” Dr Roberts said.

According to the Sydney University Generation Vape study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health earlier this year, one-third of the 721 young people aged 14-17 surveyed had vaped and found they obtained them easily despite the legal requirement for a prescription.

About a third of young people have tried vapes. Picture: iStock

“Young people appear to be readily accessing nicotine vaping products, which are often disposable and flavoured, through both social and commercial channels,” the study concluded.

Emily Jenkinson from the Cancer Council NSW said vapes also contained enormous amounts of nicotine.

“Despite being illegal in Australia, they are sold on every street corner and we know most young people are using disposable vapes that contain really high amounts of nicotine,” she said.

“We are starting to see more and more starting to become addicted to nicotine. And poisonings through vapes have potentially lethal consequences for young children and babies. We need to do more to protect children.”

NSW Health has seizing more than 166,000 e-cigarette products totalling an estimated street value of at least $4.6 million from February 2021 to September 2022.