American Academy of Pediatrics Study:
Nicotine Poisoning Cases in Infants and Young Children Surge Eightfold in Three Years
Recently in the United States, nicotine pouches (products placed between the lip and gum to absorb nicotine into the body) have become popular, and as a result, there has been a sharp increase in cases of nicotine poisoning among infants and young children who put these products in their mouths.
According to Yonhap News, citing NBC News on July 14 (local time), a study was published in the journal 'Pediatrics' by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), analyzing 134,663 cases of nicotine poisoning in children under the age of six reported by poison control centers across the United States from 2010 to 2023. The study found that 76% of these cases occurred in children under the age of two.
Most of these cases occurred at home. Specifically, children were exposed to nicotine pouches, chewing tobacco, regular cigarettes, liquid e-cigarettes, nicotine-containing gum, or candy. According to the study, the number of nicotine poisoning cases among children under six was 0.48 per 100,000 in 2020, but this figure rose to 4.14 per 100,000 in 2023, increasing more than eightfold in just three years.
This increase in nicotine poisoning cases among infants and young children was correlated with the rise in nicotine pouch sales.
According to a 2021 study by the Office on Smoking and Health under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (which has since been dissolved by order of the Trump administration), sales of nicotine pouches amounted to only $710,000 (980 million KRW) in 2016, but in just five months from January to mid-June 2020, sales reached $216 million (298 billion KRW).
Nicotine pouches can contain as much as 6 mg of nicotine. The main uses of nicotine pouches are as smoking cessation aids, smoking alternatives, or for nicotine supplementation without smoke or odor. However, nicotine pouches have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as smoking cessation aids.
Most infants and young children who were accidentally exposed to nicotine did not experience health problems and recovered without significant medical intervention. However, 39 children suffered serious side effects such as respiratory distress or seizures. There were two cases of death due to nicotine poisoning, both involving boys around one year old and one and a half years old. They died after ingesting nicotine-containing liquid used in e-cigarettes.
An AAP spokesperson explained that children often mimic adults who use nicotine pouches or liquid e-cigarettes, or are curious about the pouches or liquids and try to put them in their mouths as if they were toys. Therefore, adults are strongly advised to store nicotine products out of the reach of children.
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