2020 to 2023 Saw Sharp Increase in Nicotine Pouch Ingestions in Children

THURSDAY, July 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Nicotine pouch ingestions increased 763.1 percent among children from 2020 to 2023, according to a study published online July 14 in Pediatrics.

Madelyn Olivas, from the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children”s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and colleagues analyzed unintentional, single-substance nicotine ingestions among children younger than age 6 years reported to the National Poison Data System from 2010 to 2023. The authors sought to identify the characteristics and trends of nicotine ingestions.

The researchers identified 134,663 nicotine ingestions among children younger than age 6 years reported to U.S. poison centers; most were among children younger than 2 years, were among boys, or occurred at a residence (76.2, 55.5, and 98.5 percent, respectively). From 2010 to 2015, there was an increase in the rate of nicotine ingestions by 59.4 percent, followed by a decrease of 34.1 percent from 2015 to 2023. This rate trend was mainly due to the ingestion rate for liquid nicotine, which increased 450.0 percent from 2010 to 2015, followed by a 45.2 percent decrease from 2015 to 2023. From 2020 to 2023, there was an increase of 763.1 percent in the rate of nicotine pouch ingestions. Compared with other nicotine product formulations combined, nicotine pouches were more likely to be associated with a serious medical outcome or medical admission (odds ratios, 1.53 and 2.03, respectively).

“Banning flavors in all nicotine products helps reduce unintentional ingestions by young children as well as discourage use among teens,” senior author Gary Smith, M.D., Dr.P.H., also from The Abigail Wexner Research Institute, said in a statement.

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