The Georgia Department of Public Health 
Tobacco/Nicotine Poisonings in Georgia 
(April 15, 2009 to April 15, 2016) 
 
 During the past seven years in Georgia, there were a total of 1,870 calls made to the Georgia Poison Center about exposures or poisonings from tobacco- or nicotine-containing products (Table 1). 
 On average, about 267 tobacco/nicotine poisoning calls were made each year. 
 99 calls have been reported during the 4 months of January, 2016 to April, 2016. 
 More than half (1,036; 55%) of the calls were about tobacco/nicotine poisonings from cigarette use, followed by all other types of nicotine products, including nicotine-containing cigars and chewing tobacco (596; 32%), e-cigarettes (216; 12%), and the category including Nicoderm, Nicorettes, hookahs (22; 1%). 
 Some of the common symptoms of tobacco/ nicotine poisoning included nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, dizziness, seizures, headache, tachycardia, hypertension, edema, and throat or eye irritation. 
 More than half (1,032; 55%) of the tobacco/nicotine exposures occurred among males, while there were 818 exposures among females. 
 The overwhelming majority of exposures were among children aged 0-5 years (1,558; 83%) (Table 1). 
 Calls (n=1,555) about children aged 0-5 years were due to unintentional exposures. 
 The most common routes of tobacco/nicotine exposures or poisonings among children aged 0-5 years were: o Ingestion (n=1,517) o Dermal (n=33) 
 
Table 1. Number of Tobacco/Nicotine Poisonings or Exposures, by Product Type, Georgia, April 15, 2009 to April 15, 2016 
 
Tobacco Product Type/Substance 
Cigarette (cigarette butt, cigarette filter tip, cigarette smoke extracts) 
Nicotine (all types tobacco products including cigars and smokeless tobacco) 
E-Cigarette 
 
Total Number of Exposure 
Calls 1,036 (55%) 
596 (32%) 
216 (12%) 
 
Number of Exposure Calls among 
0-5 years of age 967 (62%) 
449 (29%) 
138 (9%) 
 
Other (Nicoderm, Nicorette, hookah) 
Total 
 
22 (1%) 1,870 
 
4 (N/A) 1,558 
 
Data Source: Georgia Poison Center (GPC) 
 
2 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30303 | dph.georgia.gov 
 
AUGUST 2016 
 
 Tobacco/Nicotine Poisonings in Georgia 
 
 The number of calls for exposure or poisoning from products containing tobacco/nicotine has been steadily increasing since 2009 (Figure1). 
 2015 had the highest number of calls (n=374) (Figure 1). 
Figure 1. Number of Tobacco/Nicotine Poisonings or Exposures, by Year, Georgia, 2009-2015 
 
Map 1. Number of Tobacco/Nicotine Poisonings or Exposures, by Public Health District, Georgia, April 15, 2009 to April 15, 2016 
 
Data Source: Georgia Poison Center 
 The LaGrange (n=163), Northwest (Rome) (n=142), East Metro (Lawrenceville) (n=140), Cobb/Douglas (n=131), and North (Gainesville) (n=123) Health Districts had the highest number of tobacco/nicotine poisoning calls (Map 1). 
 
Data Source: Georgia Poison Center (GPC) 
1-1.Northwest (Rome) (n=142) 1-2 North Georgia (Dalton) (n=113) 2 North (Gainesville) (n=123) 3-1 Cobb/Douglas (n=131) 3-2 Fulton (n=108) 3-3 Clayton (Morrow) (n=37) 3-4 East Metro (Lawrenceville) (n=140) 3-5 DeKalb (n=83) 4 LaGrange (n=163) 5-1 South Central (Dublin) (n=22) 5-2 North Central (Macon) (n=101) 6 East Central (Augusta) (n=81) 7 West Central (Columbus) (n=79) 8-1 South (Valdosta) (n=61) 8-2 Southwest (Albany) (n=70) 9-1 Coastal (Savannah) (n=118) 9-2 Southeast (Waycross) (n=76) 10 Northeast (Athens) (n=120)