Profile of incidental exposures to e-cigarette liquids in Europe, 2018–2019. (June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vardavas, Constantine I; Girvalaki, Charis; Odani, Satomi; Nikitara, Katerina; de Vries, Irma; van Riel, Antoinette; van Sommeren-de Potter, Iris; Grass, Johanna Nordmark; Grassi, Maria Caterina; Deim, Szilvia; Balázs, Andrea; Fosztó, Szabolcs; Schiel, Helmut; Arif, Tara; Eronen, Anna-Kaisa; Alonso, Antonio Alonso; Menor, José Luis Conejo; Arrieta, Rosa Martinez; Babić, Željka; Turk, Rajka; Vardavas, Alexander I; Tsatsakis, Aristidis
• Is Part Of: Human & experimental toxicology. Volume 40:Number 6(2021)
• Page Start: 1045
• Page End: 1050
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Subjects: Poisoning -- e-cigarettes -- e-liquid -- poison centers -- Europe; Toxicology -- Periodicals; 615.9
• DOI: 10.1177/0960327120975828
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-3271

Abstract

Background: Following the implementation of the European Union Tobacco Product Directive (EU TPD) regulations on e-cigarette products in 2016, we assessed the current profile of e-cigarette liquid exposure incidents and their associated health outcomes. Methods: De-identified data were received from poison centers in eight EU Member States (Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Hungary Austria, Finland, Spain and Croatia) reporting on e-cigarette liquid exposure incidents between August 2018 to December 2019. Descriptive analysis was conducted to present incident characteristics and health outcomes. Chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to test associations. Results: Of the 223 e-liquid exposure incidents recorded by poison centers in multiple EU MS, 64.7% of the cases were unintentional exposures, ranging from 48.4% among adults aged ≥19 years to 100.0% among children aged 0–5 years (p < 0.05). The most frequent route of exposure was ingestion (73.5%) while55.2% experienced any clinical symptoms, including nausea (16.6%), vomiting (11.1%), and dizziness (9.0%). 57.8% of the cases were treated at the residence or on-site. Conclusion: Further monitoring is warranted, using uniform reporting requirements, to ensure the continued compliance to the EU TPD and assess its long-term impact on related incident characteristics.