Glossary
Nicotine Poisoning
Illness caused by swallowing, inhaling, or absorbing through the skin too much nicotine, most often when young children get into liquid nicotine for e-cigarettes. Severe cases can be fatal.
Nicotine poisoning happens when someone takes in more nicotine than the body can handle. Early signs can include vomiting, drooling, sweating, dizziness, and a fast heartbeat. Larger doses can cause seizures, trouble breathing, and in rare cases death. Young children are at the greatest risk because a small amount of concentrated liquid is a large dose for their body weight.
The rise of vaping made the danger more common, because e-liquids can contain concentrated nicotine in small, colorful bottles that can look like candy or juice. The Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015, signed January 28, 2016, requires liquid nicotine containers sold to consumers to use child-resistant special packaging. The FDA also notes that e-cigarettes deliver nicotine, which is highly addictive, and are not risk-free.
If you think a child swallowed e-liquid or touched it on the skin, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or 911 right away. Do not wait for symptoms.
Legal claims can arise when a product lacked required child-resistant packaging, leaked, or was marketed in a way that made it attractive to children. Separate lawsuits against vaping companies have focused on addiction and marketing to young people, rather than acute poisoning. These are usually individual product liability claims. See our guides on recalls versus class actions and how to sue a company.
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Sources.
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