SAN ANTONIO – Officials with the University Health System are warning the public about the dangers of exploding electronic cigarettes following a government study of the issue.
The 2014 study says there are 2.5 million e-cigarette users in the United States. There were 25 reported incidents of explosion and fire involving e-cigarettes in the U.S. between 2009 and August 2014.
Dr. Lilian Liao, pediatric trauma and burn director at University Hospital, said lithium ion batteries are at the heart of the problem.
"The lithium ion batteries explosions can go up as high as 1,000 degrees. So think about that, you sear a good steak on like 700-800 degrees," Liao said.
The report said nine injuries were reported in the 25 incidents, including two serious burns.
"All across the country, people are starting to report it. It's becoming a problem," Liao said. "The way that these types of injuries occur, (we) in the medical profession would like to warn people about it before we've seen too many of them."
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Liao said the severity of damage caused by the burns can be significant.
"You don't want to burn yourself. Potentially, what can happen is different parts of your body can get burned, and burns can be like a sunburn all the way to a full thickness burn requiring skin grafting," Liao said.
University Health said the 2014 study notes that explosions are rare compared with the millions of users.