Poisons lines inundated with calls about nicotine poisoning from vapers
E-cigarette devices and liquids containing nicotine which are poisoning teens and led to the death of a baby are readily available in Victoria despite being illegal.
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Exclusive: Tens of thousands of illegal e-cigarette devices and liquids containing nicotine have been seized by state authorities — and many contain the substance at fatal levels.
Poisons information lines are receiving dozens of calls about nicotine poisoning related to vaping devices and last year a baby died after consuming liquid from an e-cigarette.
Consumption of the products is soaring, undermining gains in tobacco control.
Smoking cessation body QUIT yesterday said it was time for an import ban to be slapped on the products.
While it is legal to sell flavoured e-cigarette liquids that don’t contain nicotine, the sale of liquids or devices that contain nicotine is banned in all states.
Of a test of nearly 1000 samples of liquids used in e-cigarettes, 60 per cent were found to contain it.
Half of these “had a nicotine concentration of more than 2500mg/L, which may be fatal to children or adults”, NSW Health said of its test results.
Parents of teens say suppliers are advertising nicotine containing disposable e-cigarettes on social media and selling them out of car boots at railway stations or offering home delivery.
And a News Corp investigation has found tobacconists in Sydney and Logan, Queensland prepared to supply the devices to our reporters even though it is against the law.
In Victoria, QUIT visited three tobacconists in one street, all of which sold nicotine-based vaping products.
The Victorian Government has outsourced enforcement of the e-cigarette ban to local councils, which are not doing enough according to QUIT director Sarah White.
In 2017-18 the Municipal Association of Victoria found 203 breaches of the tobacco law, excluding sales to minors but they fined only six shops.
“That’s only three per cent and zero were prosecuted,” she said.
In 2019, an 18-month-old in Victoria died after ingesting liquid from an e-cigarette.
The Victorian Poisons Information Centre dealt with 41 nicotine poisoning cases in 2019, including 17 cases of sick children.
“It’s a neurotoxin if ingested. But if you have too much just in terms of puffing it, kids will start to feel sick before they’ll start to have other things like nausea and headaches but there’s certainly still cases in the US where they’ve got changed to had permanent lung damage,” Ms White said.
Ms White added, “Absolutely not enough is being done in Australia to control this.”
“We really need to have (Health) Minister (Greg) Hunt move to put these devices on the import ban list because that will stop some of these really egregious online sellers.”
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Acting President Associate Professor Ayman Shenouda said “if you choose to vape, you’re gambling with your health”.
“The existing research shows a range of concerning side effects, including nausea, insomnia, coughing and a dry, irritated mouth or throat,” he said.