Nicotine Pouch Poisonings Spike in Young Children

Nicotine products are finding their way into the hands—and mouths—of young children at an alarming rate, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics. US poison centers logged more than 134,000 nicotine poisoning cases among children under age 6 from 2010 to 2023, with nearly all incidents happening at home, reports NBC News. Exposures included a range of products including vapes, gums, and lozenges, notes CNN, but the study singled out nicotine pouches as particularly troublesome.

• Researchers found the rate of poisonings involving pouches in young children rose from 0.48 per 100,000 children in 2020 to 4.14 per 100,000 in 2023—an increase of 763%.
• The spike mirrors a huge jump in sales. "The popularity of these products started in 2019," says Natalie Rine of the Central Ohio Poison Center and a study co-author, per USA Today. "There was a large increase in sales between 2019 and 2022 … and we started getting calls more frequently."
• The pouches are often called "lip pillows" or "upper deckers." Users tuck them between their lip and gum and later discard them. The pouches are typically flavored, and while they don't have tobacco, they can have a potent amount of nicotine—especially for children.
• For babies and toddlers, even small amounts can be dangerous. Nausea and an increased heart rate are the usual symptoms, but seizures or death can occur in rare cases. Two young children died after ingesting vape liquid during the study period.