A hospital consultant has likened e-cigarettes to heroin substitute methadone as he revealed two children have presented at an emergency department having been poisoned by liquid nicotine.
Liquid nicotine or e-liquid, it is believed, is absorbed far quicker than nicotine in tobacco and can poison somebody by touch alone.
Chris Luke, based at Cork’s Mercy University Hospital, said the e-cigarette craze was “worryingly reminiscent” of the mushrooming of head shops four years ago.
Last year, there were 1,300 cases in the US of poisoning by ‘e-liquid’ — a 300% increase on the year previous. The American National Poison Data System has said it expects the numbers to double this year. It’s been suggested that children can be attracted to the containers as the liquid is brightly coloured and often sweet smelling.
“Some of us in emergency healthcare would take issue with Professor John Britton of the Royal College of Physicians in the UK who was quoted recently as saying that nicotine in itself is not a particularly hazardous drug,” Dr Luke said.
Source : Claire O'Sullivan, Irish Examiner, 27/03/14
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