Alarming Surge in Liquid Nicotine Toxicity in Kids

This discussion was recorded on August 17, 2023. This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Robert D. Glatter, MD: Hi. I'm Dr Robert Glatter, medical advisor for Medscape Emergency Medicine. Joining me today is Dr Ryan Marino, an emergency physician, medical toxicologist, and addiction medicine specialist at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Welcome, Dr Marino. It's really a pleasure to have you join us.

Ryan Marino, MD: Hi, Dr Glatter. Thanks for having me.

Glatter: Today's topic is the toxicity of liquid nicotine, and it's something that's been very important, especially since the CDC put out a report several months ago looking at the cumulative exposure from 2022 in the mid-year toward 2023 and the number of exposures — there were nearly 7000. The thing that caught my eye was that almost 90% of these exposures were in children under the age of 5, which to me was a significant wakeup call. I know that the proportion of children exposed to liquid nicotine has been increasing, but this is something that seems like a real public health concern, if not an emergency. I wanted to get your take on this report.

Marino: This was a report based on poison center calls.