Electronic cigarette explodes in man's mouth, causes serious injuries

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(CBS/AP) So much for being safer. An electronic cigarette blew up in a Florida man's face, leaving him in a hospital with severe burns, missing his front teeth and a chunk of his tongue.

Fire officials said Wednesday that the man had switched to electronic cigarettes to try and quit smoking, and that the scary situation was caused by a faulty battery.

"The best analogy is like it was trying to hold a bottle rocket in your mouth when it went off," said Joseph Parker, division chief for the North Bay Fire Department. "The battery flew out of the tube and set the closet on fire."

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Fire Chief Joseph Miller said the victim contacted the department on Wednesday to thank firefighters and told them he was recovering at a hospital in Mobile, Ala., and anticipated being released later in the day. Officials have not publicly identified him, citing department policy. But a Facebook page under the name of 57-year-old Tom Holloway of Niceville was filled with well-wishers commenting on the injury and database searches matched his address on the fire report with his name.

Holloway was at his home office when the device exploded, leaving behind burned carpet, chair cushions, pictures and office equipment. A scorched battery case found on a piece of melted carpet appears to be one for a cigar-sized device, the report said. Those in the house with him rushed to his aid in the smoke-filled room and tried to put the fire out with salt, the report said.

Holloway and his family members didn't answer The Associated Press' requests for interviews.

Investigators do not know the brand of cigarette, type of battery or age of the device, Parker said. It appears the battery was rechargeable lithium because a recharging station and other batteries were in the room, he said. Parker has forwarded information about the blaze to the fire marshal's office to include in any databases on the devices. But Parker said he has yet to hear of any similar instances.

Holloway agreed to let firefighters take the burned case and other, undamaged ones with them as examples for reporting to a national database. But Holloway has asked for the burned case back. Parker said it could be used as evidence in any litigation, although Holloway did not indicate why he wanted it returned, Parker said.

Thomas Kiklas, co-founder of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, said the industry knows of no problems with the cigarettes or batteries exploding.

Kicklas said the rigid, plastic cigarettes include a small battery and cartridge. The battery is designed to generate an electric charge when the device is inhaled. The charge sets off vapor in the cigarette tube. The nicotine-filled mist gives the taste and experience of smoking without the smoke.

Kiklas cited a federal report that found 2.5 million Americans used electronic cigarettes last year.

"There have been billions and billions of puffs on the cigarettes and we have not heard of this happening before," he said.

The industry does not claim electronic cigarettes allow smokers to kick the habit, just that they are a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes because they have fewer chemicals, Kiklas said.

The Food and Drug Administration posted a warning about the cigarettes on its website in October, saying that e-cigarettes were "highly addictive," could contain dangerous chemicals like nicotine and might encourage kids to try other tobacco products.

In 2010, the FDA sent letters to some e-cigarette makers for violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act including "violations of good manufacturing practices, making unsubstantiated drug claims and using the devices as delivery mechanisms for active pharmaceutical ingredients," according to the FDA website.

The agency directs people to report any adverse events with e-cigarettes by filling out a form on the site, or calling 1-800-FDA-1088.

Visit SmokeFree.gov for tips on quitting smoking.

[SmokeTastic]

My opinion is that electronic cigarettes are completely safe, until you start messing around with them! Changing the current and voltage of these devices is either going to get you in trouble or create problems, stick to the non custimizable products like on SmokeTastic.com and you won't have a problem!

[jamesnorris211]

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[Rosstaylor459]

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[mikedenyse]

There was a report that a man in Florida suffered burns to the face when an e cigarette that he was smoking exploded. The exploding e cig caused the man to lose some teeth and a chunk of his tongue. ABC News reported that the battery in the e cig caught fire. A local fire chief said, "It was like holding a bottle rocket in your mouth." However, the court documents reveal that the gentleman was using non-rechargeable Li-ion batteries from Radio Shack and modified it's intended use

The makers of White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes wondered if there was really an exploding e cig, and what could have made the e cig explode? They assembled a team of e cigarette mythbusters who tried to make an e-cig blow up by subjecting it to some pretty harsh tortures. Here's a list of a dozen rigorous experiments they performed to test the e cigarette battery. White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes prepared an exploding E Cig video highlighting these 12 rigorous experiments.

1. Because there was a rumor that the explosion happened because the victim was trying to rapidly charge his e-cig with a more powerful device than is recommended, the team attached a 110 volt/75 amp charger to an e cig. The normal charge when using a standard USB charger is .5 amps. Even with this remarkably higher load, they were unable to create a catastrophic battery failure.

2. They wondered if applying a torch to a bare e cig battery would cause it to ignite or explode? They blasted a lithium polymer battery with a blow torch. The battery became quite hot and crispy, but it did not explode.

3. They used the blow torch on a full e-cigarette after that. It burned, but it did not explode. The e-cig dripped burning plastic, but the case remained intact. There was no breach of the case.

4. They also bypassed the e cig's safety circuitry with solder. The cigarette become very hot. However, it did not ignite or explode.

5. A simple switch was used to short out the electronic cigarette battery. This attempt to cause catastrophic failure failed.

6. They also tested rapid charging while an e cigarette unit was being used. They applied 110 volts/75 amps to the charge collar. A blower activated the vacuum switch. The wiring and protective circuitry melted before the battery incinerated. The team was unable to cause catastrophic battery failure under 75 different amp-charging conditions.

7. An electronic cigarette was placed in a toaster oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Even cooking it did not cause an e cig explosion. The plastic tip burned and released gas, but there was no explosion or rupture to the outside of the case.

8. An e cig was punctured with a nail. The nail breached the battery and caused outgassing but no explosion. They also pierced the battery with a .113 nail after taking 10 five-second puffs. An outgassing of limited force occurred, but there was no explosion.

9. There was also no catastrophic battery failure even when an e cig was hit directly with a five-pound sledgehammer.

10. They drove over an e-cigarette with three different vehicles. The e-cig was unscathed. In fact, it was still able to be smoked.

11. Submersion in 77 degree water for 10 minutes activated the internal vacuum switch, which caused the heating element to continuously engage. The heating element temperature increased but the battery did not ignite.

12. Another submersion in 77 degree vegetable oil for 10 minutes didn't damage the e-cig whatsoever. It still worked as it should.

There was a rumor that a second man also had an E Cigarette explode, but no documentation can be found for that incident. However, given the experiments by White Cloud, it seems unlikely that an e cig could explode on its own. Perhaps someone put a practical joke e-cigarette load into the tip of the e cig like an old film with the Three Stooges or Abbott and Costello. However, even after inflicting the tortures of the damned, the White Cloud e cig mythbusting team was unable to get anything more than a puff and certainly not a pop or a bang from their e cigs.

[weAponX]

I would really like to know, what brand of e-cig he was using, and was it a low-price disposable kit, or was it a higher priced refillable kit?

I have been smoking Imperial e-Cigs for over two years now. I have never had one "blow up" on me. I originally bought the 'Hookah" Cigarette-pack sized kit, later I started using refillable cartridges. The fluid is non flammable, and the cartomizer simply does not get hot enough to cause any explosions. It does get hot, but it cools immediately.

Currently, I smoke the Imperial Spider starter kit, which uses a new system called the clearomizer, which holds much more fluid, and produces a Hookah-type amount of Vapor (i.e., as much vapor as a regular cigarette produces smoke). I haven't touched a real cigarette except for once when my battery ran out and I cadged a smoke from a friend.

Even the low-cost disposables, do not have enough charge to explode, much less ignite. He must have been using a rechargeable battery, and it may have been a cheap unit that does not meter its charge like the better ones do.

I feel that reporting this in the news, without knowing exactly what he was smoking, is very irresponsible reporting. First, get is all of the facts, THEN tell us what happened. If you did not get them the first time, then do not publish the article until you DO know. This article could cause an UNWARRANTED ban on e_cigs and they are safe as houses, and even then, some houses are not safe.

[CBSignorancegoons]

It is really irresponsible of CBS to print this story without the picture of the e-cig used. What is pictured here is a very safe e-cig that is not modified in any way. Unmodified e-cigs are not dangerous as the one stated in this story. The e-cig community has many people who modify thier equipment and that sound like what happened. In the very least, at least put up the correct image. E-cigs like the one pictured helped me to quit my 35 year addiction to tobacco, unlike the other smoking cessation products out there that don't work. Why am I not surprised, lame stream news strikes again.

[weAponX]

YES. Exactly. If you do not know, then DO NOT publish the article! VERY bad reporting.

[jdd3479]

<a href="http://green-smoke-coupon.com">My friend was able to quit through E-Cigarettes.</a>

[johndanield]

"So much for being safer"? Are you kidding me? Millions of people are stopping smoking because of electronic cigarettes, making their lives longer, happier, and healthier, and that's the opening line?

Because of a few unfortunate incidents out of hundereds of thousands, if not already millions of people using electronic cigarettes, its not safer than smoking? Again, are you kidding me?

Last year over 34,000 people were killed in automobile accidents. "So much for the automobile being a better mode of transportation than the horse and buggy".

Good God, what is this world coming to. Are we turning into a nation of fools?

[sweetlybroken777]

i live in Tulsa my friend works at Hilcrest Hospital, and knows of 4 ppl coming in with 3rd degree burns from some kind of e-cigg blowing up. also a friend of mine knows someone it happened to. not as serious as this guy tho, i don't think its a hoax at all i smoke them and i am paranoid about it, mine has made a pop sound one time when i was smoking it, freaked me out. i want to quit smoking and i don't want to get burned or lose body parts, so i pray that i will be fine and everyone else that uses them. this product needs to be recalled and made safer before more ppl get injured and there is a huge lawsuit!!

[weAponX]

That may be true: And I certainly want to KNOW what brand is doing this. I have been smoking eCigs for over two years now, and unless we are told WHAT BRAND is doing this, and there are literally thousands, many of them not even named, then the information is worthless. In the hospital you should be able to find out what they were using. Also, many people make kits from two or three different companies - THAT is dangerous, and should not be done. But a regular, disposable or refillable eCig is as safe as your house, if in fact your house is safe. If yours made a pop sound, it was due a bubble in the fluid- Mine does that all the time, I just make sure there are no bubbles in the fluid container. But there are as many eCig designs as there are people in a small town.

[suz14p]

It sounds to me like he was just looking for a lawsuit so he created one!! Bottom line!!
Why did he want the cartridge back?
He could not give them the name of the product, really?
He would not answer to the Associated Press requests, and neither did his family?
"Investigators do not know the brand of cigarette, type of battery or age of the device, Parker said. It appears the battery was rechargeable lithium because a recharging station and other batteries were in the room"
BIG head scratch there!!
It seems to me that it's just another jerk looking for a quick way to make a buck!