Background: The use of e-cigarettes has increased during the past few years. Exposure to e-cigarette liquids, whether
intentional or accidental, may lead to adverse events our aim was to assess factors associated with e-cigarette exposures
across European Union Member States (EU MS).
Methods: A retrospective analysis of exposures associated with e-cigarettes reported to national poison centers was
performed covering incidents from 2012 to March 2015 from 10 EU MS. De-identified and anonymous raw data was
acquired.
Results: In total, 277 incidents were reported. Unintentional exposure was the most frequently cited type of exposure
(71.3%), while e-cigarette refill vials were responsible for the majority of the reported incidents (87.3%). Two-thirds of all
exposures (67.5%) occurred as ingestion of e-liquids, which was more frequent among children (≤ 5 years, 6–18 years)
compared to adults (87.0% vs. 59.3% vs. 57.6%, p < 0.001 respectively), exposure via the respiratory (5.4% vs. 22.2% vs. 22.
2%, p < 0.001) were more frequent among paediatric patients while ocular routes (2.2% vs. 3.7% vs. 11.4%, p = 0.021)
were more frequent among adults. Logistic regression analyses indicated that paediatric incidents (≤ 5 years) were more
likely to be through ingestion (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 4.36, 95% Confidence Interval [C.I.]: 1.87–10.18), but less likely
to have a reported clinical effect (aOR = 0.41, 95% C.I.: 0.21–0.82).
Conclusions: Our study highlighted parameters related to e-cigarette exposure incidents in 10 EU MS, the results of
which indicate that consideration should be given to the design features which may mitigate risks, thereby protecting
users, non-users and especially children.