Among the products that were called by the US regulators. UU In a flurry of warning letters was Whip & # 39; d Strawberry, packaged in such a way that it looks like the Reddi-wip filling. But it is liquid nicotine, and if a hungry child throws it into their mouth by mistake, they may face vomiting, seizures, and even death.
Elite Vapors and Cosmic Fog Vapors, two companies that sell the product, are among the recipients of 13 warning letters sent today by the US Food and Drug Administration. UU And the Federal Trade Commission. Load? E-cig liquids look too appetizing and put children's lives at risk.
Nicotine is poisonous because it mimics one of the chemical messengers that nerves use to communicate. Too much, and it can foul signals like the ones that tell your heart how fast they should beat and your muscles move, and it can cause vomiting, abdominal cramps, drooling, convulsions, breathing problems, paralysis and even death. The risk is real, says medical toxicologist Edward Boyer, an associate professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "This is not new, it's not hidden, it's common and it's well described," says Boyer. "This is not in any way a scare tactic."
Adults generally do not inhale enough nicotine smoking to face the immediate consequences (long-term health problems are another story). But children can be exposed to dangerous doses by eating tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigarette butts and e-cig liquids, says the National Poison Control Center. And if you've ever spent time with a child, you know that most of the things that can fit in their mouths end there. Thus, between January 2012 and April 2017, there were more than 7,600 calls to poison control centers because children ate things, according to a study published this month in the journal Pediatrics .
No wonder: packaging can make nicotine liquid refills for electronic cigarettes look delicious. The agency called products like One Mad Hit Juice Box, which looks – surprise – like a juice box, and another – Twirly Pop – that not only looks like candy, but is also packaged with real candy. That type of marketing strategy is dangerous because, according to the concentration, even less than a teaspoon could be fatal, according to the FTC blog.
The faster you take a doctor to you or your child, the more likely there is to be a full recovery, according to the US National Library of Medicine. UU But the children have died, like a small child in Fort Plain, New York, who died in 2014 after swallowing liquid nicotine. "These are preventable accidents that have the potential to result in serious damage or even death," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement today.
If the companies that the FDA and the FTC called today do not change their customs, they could face legal consequences and their products could be seized. Meanwhile, the FTC blog has some recommendations: make sure the e-cig liquid containers are completely closed and store them in childproof cabinets.
