The Georgia Department of Public Health 
 
Poisonings from Tobacco/Nicotine Products April 15, 2009  April 15, 2014 
 
 During the past five years in Georgia (April 15, 2009 to April 15, 2014), there were a total of 1,169 calls made to the Georgia Poison Center (GPC) due to exposures or poisonings from tobacco- or nicotinecontaining products. (Table 1) 
 On average, about 234 tobacco/nicotine poisoning calls were made each year.  Some of the common symptoms of tobacco/ nicotine poisoning include nausea, vomiting, abdominal 
pain, fever, dizziness, seizures, headache, tachycardia, hypertension, edema, and throat or eye irritation.  More than half of the tobacco/nicotine exposures (n= 644) occurred among males, while there were 511 
exposures for females.  Among the 1,169 calls, routes of nicotine or tobacco exposures included ingestion (n =1,049), dermal 
(n=28), inhalation (n=73), and ocular (n=15).  The overwhelming majority of exposures were among children ages 0-5 years (n=965), making up about 
83% of the total tobacco/nicotine exposure calls. (Figure 1) 
 
Table 1. Number of Tobacco/Nicotine Poisonings or Exposures, by Product Type, 
 
Georgia, April 15, 2009 to April 15, 2014 
 
Tobacco Product Type/Substance 
 
Number of 
 
Exposure Calls 
 
Cigarette, cigarette butt, cigarette filter tip 
 
707 
 
E-cigarettes 
 
62 
 
Smokeless Tobacco (chewing tobacco, snuff) 
 
231 
 
Nicotine (includes all types of tobacco products, 
 
123 
 
including e-cigarettes) 
 
Other (cigar, Nicorette, hookah, cigarette smoke, 
 
46 
 
etc.) 
 
Total 
 
1,169 
 
2 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Ga 30303 | health.state.ga.us 
 
May 2014 
 
 Poisonings from Tobacco/Nicotine Products 
 
 The most common routes of tobacco/nicotine exposures or poisonings, by age group, were: o 0-5 years  ingestion (n= 951) o 6-12 years--ingestion (n= 21) o 13-15 years ingestion (n < 5 ) o 16-18 years--ingestion (n=11) o 19+ years--inhalation (n=57 ) and ingestion (n=56) 
 The LaGrange, East Metro, Northwest, Cobb-Douglas, and North Public Health Districts had the highest number of tobacco/nicotine poisoning calls. (Table 2) 
 
Table 2. Number of Tobacco/Nicotine Poisonings or Exposures, 
 
by Public Health District, Georgia, April 15, 2009 to April 15, 2014 
 
Public Health District 
 
Number of 
 
Exposure Calls 
 
1-1 Northwest (Rome) 
 
91 
 
1-2 North Georgia (Dalton) 
 
68 
 
2 North (Gainesville) 
 
83 
 
3-1 Cobb-Douglas 
 
90 
 
3-2 Fulton 
 
70 
 
3-3 Clayton (Morrow) 
 
26 
 
3-4 East Metro (Lawrenceville) 
 
91 
 
3-5 DeKalb 
 
51 
 
4 LaGrange 
 
95 
 
5-1 South Central (Dublin) 
 
15 
 
5-2 North Central (Macon) 
 
61 
 
6 East Central (Augusta) 
 
51 
 
7 West Central (Columbus) 
 
52 
 
8-1 South (Valdosta) 
 
38 
 
8-2 Southwest (Albany) 
 
39 
 
9-1 Coastal (Savannah) 
 
70 
 
9-2 Southeast (Waycross) 
 
44 
 
10 Northeast (Athens) 
 
72 
 
 Nicotine Poisonings from E-cigarettes Jan 1, 2011  April 15, 2014 
 The number of calls made to the Georgia Poison Center about nicotine poisoning from electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) increased from only five calls in 2011 to 23 calls during the first four months of 2014. (Figure 2) 
 The total number of nicotine poisonings from e-cigarettes did not vary by sex--females had 31 exposures while males had 26 exposures. 
 The majority of e-cigarette nicotine exposures occurred among children aged 0-5 years (n =26) and adults aged 19+ years (n=30). 
 The most common route of exposure for e-cigarette nicotine poisonings among children aged 05 years was ingestion of the nicotine-containing liquid (n=21). 
 The most common route of exposure for e-cigarette nicotine poisonings among adults ages 19+ years was inhalation (n=11) followed by ingestion (n=8), and ocular (n=7). 
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