Reports of U.S. Children Ingesting Nicotine Pouches Surge, Study Says

Reports of US children under six ingesting nicotine pouches – the small rectangles containing flavored nicotine that have exploded in popularity – jumped 763% in just three years, according to a study published on Monday.

Several of the children ended up in intensive care after ingesting the pouches, the report said.

The uptick in poisonings comes as the country has seen a recent surge in sales of nicotine pouches.

“If there is more access or increased popularity of an item in the community, it’s not surprising for us to see increased exposures to products like that,” said Natalie Rine, director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children’s hospital and an author of the study in Pediatrics, a journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.