Fears for Australian kids amid illegal vape surge

New video footage has revealed the alarming number of illegal vapes in Australia, which are also behind a spike in child poisonings.

Exclusive: These are some of the tens of thousands of seized illegal e-cigarettes behind a tripling in child nicotine poisonings that left one youngster in one state suffering a seizure and 200 hospitalised in another.

News Corp Australia has obtained exclusive footage of some of the 26,000 e-cigarettes seized by NSW Health inspectors that were being illegally sold in tobacconists and convenience stores.

The authorities report a disturbing surge in the number of products on the market even though it is illegal to sell them in every state and territory.

The increase in illegal supply is behind a 300 per cent spike in calls to information lines about poisonings caused by the products in the past five years.

Smoking cessation group QUIT is calling for an import ban to be slapped on the products.

“We’ve already had one child in Australia die and clearly we’ve got other children at risk of deaths and brain injury and I think that we need to get someone to tackle this ASAP,” said QUIT Victoria director Sarah White.

Authorities have reported a disturbing surge in the number of e-cigarette products on the market even though it is illegal to sell them in every state and territory. Picture: Supplied

South Australia’s Health and Wellbeing’s Scientific Services Director, Dr David Simon, said 13 children under the age of five ingested nicotine in that state in 2019 and 2020 and 12 were hospitalised.

“One case had severe symptoms of vomiting and seizure,” he revealed.

The NSW Poisons Information Centre said there had been 376 reports involving vapes in the last five years and the number of reports had surged from 33 in 2016 to 127 in 2020.

Two hundred people had been hospitalised as a result of the products, the agency revealed.

“When children come in contact with e-cigarettes and vaping liquids there is risk of nicotine poisoning. This can cause nausea, vomiting and sweating. Severe cases of nicotine poisoning can cause arrhythmias, seizures and cardiovascular collapse,” the agency said.

In the first six weeks of this year alone there have been 36 poisonings from the products in NSW, including 15 people who were hospitalised.

In 2018 an 18 month old baby in Victoria died after consuming his mother’s liquid nicotine.

The Victorian Poisons Information Centre received 38 calls for poisoning due to liquid from e-cigarettes in 2019, including 17 cases of sick children.

In Queensland in 2019 there were 47 cases of poisoning from e-cigs, up from 15 cases in 2016.

“Alarmingly, these items often look like innocuous household items such as lipsticks, highlighter pens, and even asthma puffers, making it easier for children and young people to use them in public,” NSW director of Population Health Carolyn Murray told News Corp.

NSW Health is warning anyone selling nicotine e-cigarettes, also known as ‘vapes’, they face fines of up to $1100 per offence, after authorities seized $450,000 worth of illegal product last year.

The year-long blitz saw eight retailers across Greater Sydney successfully prosecuted.

NSW Health has undertaken 928 inspections of retail premises since 2015 including covert visits as well as formal inspections.

“Don’t be fooled by their aroma. E-cigarettes are particularly dangerous to young people as most contain nicotine which is highly addictive as well as other toxic chemicals,” Ms Murray said.

The NSW Poisons Information Centre said there had been 376 reports involving vapes in the last five years. Picture: Supplied

NSW Health said it had seen an increase in the number of new e-cigarette products that contain nicotine being sold – both disposable e-cigarettes, such as ‘Cuvies’ and ‘Stigs’, and pod devices, such as JUUL.

QUIT’s Sarah White said she was horrified at the increase in calls to poison information lines.

QUIT called for regulation, including child safe packaging in 2018, and said it was “delighted that the TGA is acting on some of those calls”.

From October e-cigarettes will become prescription only and the TGA is working to require childproof caps on containers of the liquid.

However, Ms White said there were still problems.

“The bottle that the liquid nicotine comes in from the pharmacist, that might well have a child safety lid but if the user then decants that liquid nicotine into an e-cigarette device that doesn’t have a childproof lid we are in exactly the same boat,” she said.

“We’re of the firm belief that the TGA needs to also regulate the devices as a medical delivery device,” she said.

And, unless there was an import ban people could continue to bring in products without child safety packaging, she said.

Originally published as Fears for Australian kids amid illegal vape surge