The North Carolina Senate has passed a bipartisan bill that would make child-resistant packaging and warning labels mandatory for liquids used with electronic-cigarette vaporizers.
Once approved, the law that would be effective from 1 December, would ban the sale of any e-liquid product without the necessary child-resistant packaging and warning labels in North Carolina.
As reported in The Winston-Salem Journal, senators Stan Bingham, R-Davidson, Don Davis and D-Pitt who are the sponsors of Senate Bill 286, believes the bill is essential to reduce harmful effects of e-cigarettes and vaporizer devices on the public.
The bill is primarily aimed at adoption of unique packaging that would be difficult for those under the age of five to open.
The safety warning would have to be consistent with rules adopted by the N.C. Commission for Public Health.
Since the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report in 2014 that found a higher level of poisoning events for children, particularly those under age of five, a particular group of seven US Senate Democrats have expressed concern about the safety of the products.
Electronic cigarettes are battery-operated and have a similar feel like tobacco smoking. These cigarettes produce an aerosol, commonly known as vapor, rather than cigarette smoke, which is inhaled by the user.
E-cigarettes have a heating element that atomizes a liquid solution, e-liquid that is made of a mixture of propylene glycol, glycerin, nicotine and flavorings. A nicotine liquid exposure can lead to vomiting, nausea and eye irritation.
Image: Electronic cigarettes are battery-operated and have a similar feel like tobacco smoking. Photo: courtesy of patrisyu/freedigitalphotos.net.
