Teething mix which contained diethylene glycol instead of PG kills 25 kids

[dc2k08]

Guardian Newspapers

some excerpts:

THE National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) yesterday raised the alarm on the circulation of a teething mixture known as My Pikin, suspected to have caused the death of no fewer than 25 children in three teaching hospitals

NAFDAC added that more than 50 others were hospitalised with chronic kidney damage after taking the 'killer' teething mixture containing paracetamol and ethylene glycol.

Teething mixtures are popular drugs because they usually contain paracetamol, which makes a baby not to feel pain; propylene glycol, properties similar to those of ethylene glycol and is generally recognised as safe for use in food, cosmetics, and medicines; and diphenhydramine, which induces the baby to sleep, thereby bringing relief in children growing first set of teeth.

However, diethylene glycol is sometimes used by some unscrupulous companies in order to maximise profit because it is similar to propylene glycol and cheaper.

This is both thoroughly saddening and a disturbing tragedy. my heart goes out to the poor families affected. worrying too is that it could only be a matter of time until we have our first e-cig related death on our hands also.

[Kate]

Substituting cheaper ingredients is so easy to do, that's what happened with the pet food that was supposed to have glycerine but contained something toxic instead.

It could be just a matter of time for esmoking, it's not like it's unimaginable to use tainted ingredients, it's been done many times before.

Those poor kids. It did something to wreck their kidneys apparently.

[dc2k08]

you are right kate, it's not unimaginable at all. especially as times are hard and the factory owners in China are feeling the pinch. any one of them could chase that extra buck and easily substitute EG for PG, whether through ignorance or carelessness. they taste look and act the same. but only one seems to be deadly. it would really put the dampers on if it did happen.

[Kate]

It's partly this kind of thing that the WHO are on about when they say they can't endorse esmoking. They are right, until we can secure reliable, quality controlled chemicals we could be using and abusing anything. I won't even go into my concerns about people raising nicotine intake with esmoking.

[SANJP]

Thats really bad news an made me think twice about us lot and our DIY mixes .Wish the powers that be hurry up and give out some proper results so we dont all resort to mixing everything in the kitchen and getting a bad batch of pg,or worse

[TropicalBob]

This is just a continuation of a problem China has exported with its medicine and food for years now. The most disturbing example ever was revealed by The New York Times, which won a Pulitzer Price for Walt Bogdanich's superb reporting: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/wo.../06poison.html

It of course continued this year with industrial melanine in pet food, resulting in an estimated 10,000 pet deaths, and melanine in milk, with four children known dead and many sickened. All because a cheaper chemical could be substituted to help a product pass nutritional tests, with no regard for the deadly consequences.

Could it happen to e-liquid? In a heartbeat, it could. Who oversees e-liquid? Who regulates its safety? The manufacturer? We've seen what they do. The Chinese government? China executed a top official charged with public health responsibilities because he took bribes to look the other way. Trust in them is clearly misplaced and unfounded. And ... the deadly glycols are cheaper than the propylene glycol we expect or the glycerine that could be used! Can you imagine a company that needs to save a few bucks with the new batch? Anyone having financial difficulties?

Yet we suck this stuff into our lungs. And hope. And worry. This kind of continuing problem is the best reason ever to learn to make your own e-liquid. Just one caution: In that NYT article, you'll read that Panama thought it had bought 99.5% pure glycerine, the foundation of our DIY liquids. Wrong. China substitued diethyelene glycol for glycerine. And people began dying as investigators tracked fraudulent shipping invoices to try to find the source. Sound familiar? Sound like "gift" and "$10" value on e-product shipments from ports far from the manufacturing source? Yep.

If you make your own liquid, do not base it on anything made in China.

Oh, by the way: Does your vial of e-liquid state who made the liquid, what's in the liquid, when the liquid should be used by, a statement of purity and safety? It's poison, you know. But no one would ever guess from what's on most vials. And finding the manufacturer could be difficult.

What a sorry mess this is.

[Schroedinger's cat]

This is really disturbing. The possibility of substituting a likely innocuous ingredient with a poisonous cheaper one is a concern I've had since I started e-smoking (I try not to think about it when I eat...). Sometimes I think of my cigarettes and how I can count on them to at least kill me slowly rather than instantly.... The one time I forgot my bottle of e-liquid in my office overnight, I was really troubled by the notion that someone working late would take a child in, lose sight of him or her for a minute, etc etc. It was RY4, so smelled good, too. Nobody had ever seen me in the office earlier than the following morning....

[Bertrand]

If you don't happen to have one of these Analytical Instrument Recycle: 6890 Gas Chromatograph FID ($24,900.00, a cheap alternative is to buy your eliquid from the same places as other people do on this forum, and then wait a few months before using.

[Schroedinger's cat]

Unfortunately, I do not happen to have that gadget yet, Bertrand.... For now, I will continue to take my chances -but it would be nice if we had some more control over our e-juices. And warning labels, and child-proof caps. I personally hate the latter, but I'd definitely would have slept better that night if my little bottle had had those features....
It WOULD be a cruel irony if, while trying a "healthier" alternative, we happened to be poisoned. But, then, smokers tend to be risk-takers, so I guess I'll go on for now.

But, seriously, it is astonishing to me how lightly someone goes about to change an ingredient, and then people die, and often nothing happens to those who have made the decision and carried out the deed. And someone else does it again and again. Probably lots of people cut corners, but China seems to do it more than others (or, perhaps, taking more risks). In part, it is our fault as consumers, as we want cheap products, with all that such low prices must entail.

[Mr.Darcy]

This is just a continuation of a problem China has exported with its medicine and food for years now. The most disturbing example ever was revealed by The New York Times, which won a Pulitzer Price for Walt Bogdanich's superb reporting: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/wo.../06poison.html

It of course continued this year with industrial melanine in pet food, resulting in an estimated 10,000 pet deaths, and melanine in milk, with four children known dead and many sickened. All because a cheaper chemical could be substituted to help a product pass nutritional tests, with no regard for the deadly consequences.

Could it happen to e-liquid? In a heartbeat, it could. Who oversees e-liquid? Who regulates its safety? The manufacturer? We've seen what they do. The Chinese government? China executed a top official charged with public health responsibilities because he took bribes to look the other way. Trust in them is clearly misplaced and unfounded. And ... the deadly glycols are cheaper than the propylene glycol we expect or the glycerine that could be used! Can you imagine a company that needs to save a few bucks with the new batch? Anyone having financial difficulties?

Yet we suck this stuff into our lungs. And hope. And worry. This kind of continuing problem is the best reason ever to learn to make your own e-liquid. Just one caution: In that NYT article, you'll read that Panama thought it had bought 99.5% pure glycerine, the foundation of our DIY liquids. Wrong. China substitued diethyelene glycol for glycerine. And people began dying as investigators tracked fraudulent shipping invoices to try to find the source. Sound familiar? Sound like "gift" and "$10" value on e-product shipments from ports far from the manufacturing source? Yep.

If you make your own liquid, do not base it on anything made in China.

Oh, by the way: Does your vial of e-liquid state who made the liquid, what's in the liquid, when the liquid should be used by, a statement of purity and safety? It's poison, you know. But no one would ever guess from what's on most vials. And finding the manufacturer could be difficult.

What a sorry mess this is.

very well said Bob...i couldnt agree more...

i wonder where Johnsons Creek source their PG,VG and flavourings from...if it isnt from China,then they could actually be the best bet we've got with regards to safer commercial eliquid...i just wish Christian was more forthcoming with information...