An Idaho man suffered severe burns and lost seven teeth when an E-cigarette exploded in his face. Andrew Hall shared the story and images of his injuries on his Facebook page as a cautionary tale about the real dangers of vaping. It’s been shared almost a half a million times.
More than 2.5 million Americans use E-cigarettes, battery-operated devices that heat up liquid nicotine and turn it into vapor that can be inhaled. But as the vaping trend has grown, so have the number of injuries reported.
At least 92 incidents of exploding E-cigarettes have been reported since 2009, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But health professionals say the number is much higher because many victims don’t report the incidents.
Hall said he was getting ready for work when the device exploded giving him second-degree burns on his face and neck, knocking out his teeth and blowing the corner off of the bathroom vanity. Hall said he pulled “chunks of plastic, teeth and foreign objects from mouth, throat and lips,” and spent a night in the intensive care unit but considers himself lucky because he knows the injuries could have been worse.
