CINCINNATI — Officials are warning that there's an increase in injuries among young children getting their hands on vapes or e-cigarettes.
Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Bruce Vanderhoff said there has been an increase in injuries in children aged 5 and younger due to exposure to liquid nicotine inside vapes.
"This liquid can contain nicotine, and also THC, CBD, flavors or some combination of those," Vanderhoff said. "Young children can be poisoned by swallowing the liquid, taking a puff — if they have seen someone else use it — or even from absorbing it through their skin or eyes."
The ODH said the number of reported vape liquid exposures since 2015 has nearly tripled from 130 to 360 in 2022.
Data so far in 2023 is pointing to another increase, with 328 reported exposures through September, the ODH said.
In total, from 2015 to September 2023, there have been 1,762 total reported exposures to vape liquid. The ODH said that in that time, 70% — or 1,301 cases, have been reports for children 5 years of age or younger.
Otherwise, there were 42 cases for children 6-12 years old, 163 cases for teens 13-19 years old and 251 cases for adults 20 year of age or older. There were also 5 cases of unknown age, the ODH said.
Vanderhoff said that nicotine, in whatever form, is dangerous. Liquid nicotine exposure via contact or swallowing can result in symptoms within minutes, the ODH said.
Hannah Hays, director of the Central Ohio Poison Center, said the most common symptom is vomiting.
"Some other things that we commonly see are fast heart rates, we see jitteriness and agitation," Hays said. "Sometimes diarrhea and not surprisingly, irritation of the mouth."
If exposure does occur, contact the 24/7 Poison Control Hotline at 800-222-1222.
The ODH is asking adults who use vapes to not do so in front of children. They're also asking for adults to store vapes and the liquid used in them out of sight and reach from children.
"I think many Ohioans have simply been unaware of these very real risks," Vanderhoff said. "I want people who have vaping supplies in their home to become more aware of the risks these devices can pose to children."
Otherwise, the ODH said it's continuing to work to lower Ohio's smoking rates — especially the rise of youth vaping.
In 2019, Ohio legislature passed the "Tobacco 21" law that made selling tobacco or nicotine products to those younger than 21 illegal. The City of Cincinnati passed an ordinance in 2018 that made this illegal.
The ODH said this law helped lower Ohio's adult smoking rate from 25.5% in 2011 to 18% in 2021.
With youth vaping, the ODH said there is data that vaping has dropped "substantially" between 2019 and 2021, which is when the most recent youth vaping data is available.
In that timespan, the number of middle schoolers (grades 6-8) reported using vape products dropped from 11.9% to 9% while high schoolers using vapes fell from 29.8% to 20%.
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