Fort Plain

A 1-year-old Fort Plain boy who swallowed liquid nicotine Tuesday is likely the first person in upstate New York, and perhaps the country, to die accidentally from ingesting the highly toxic ingredient in electronic cigarettes.

The state Legislature in June passed a bill mandating child-resistant packaging for liquid nicotine, but it had yet to arrive on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's desk.

On Wednesday, the governor's office said he would sign it.

"It does appear to be just a tragic accident," said village police Sgt. Austin Ryan, adding that the glass bottle containing the liquid nicotine did not have a childproof cap.

The child's identity was withheld. His death is under investigation.

Emergency workers went to a home on Garfield Street at 4:06 p.m. Tuesday after getting a call that a child was "unresponsive." An ambulance took the boy to Little Falls Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:53 p.m.

Liquid nicotine is highly toxic and must be diluted before it can be used in cigarettes. Just half a teaspoon can be lethal for a child, according to police and health officials.

Signs of consumption of liquid nicotine can include vomiting, increased heart rate, decreased blood pressure, convulsions and, in extreme cases, loss of the ability to breathe.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said calls to poison control centers about liquid nicotine spiked from one per month in September 2010 to 215 per month in February 2014. More than half the calls were about children under 5.

There appear to be no other unintentional fatalities reported from liquid nicotine, however, at least through 2012. The boy's death is the first known to the Syracuse-based Upstate New York Poison Center, according to Administrative Director Michele Caliva.

A 2012 death of an adult from injecting liquid nicotine was a suicide, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. The organization has not released data from 2013 yet.

The child's death renewed uproar Wednesday among anti-smoking advocates over the availability and marketing of liquid nicotine to minors.

"We certainly know that liquid nicotine is toxic," said Judy Rightmyer, director of the Capital District Tobacco-Free Coalition. "They are marketing this liquid nicotine in candy and fruit flavors, so they can be appealing to young people. And with no childproof caps on them, they're lethal, as we unfortunately saw."

There is currently no state or federal requirement that the packaging on liquid nicotine be child-resistant. A bill that passed the state Legislature in June would change that, but it hadn't made it to Cuomo's desk. Once signed, the bill would become effective immediately.

State Sen. Kemp Hannon, a sponsor of the bill, characterized the proposal as a commonsense measure.

"There's all sorts of foolproof caps on all sorts of products," said Hannon, a Nassau County Republican. "I would think it's just a matter of routine to do it."

Hannon said there have been discussions between the Senate counsel's office and governor's office about bill details, but he believed it would be sent to the governor soon.

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, also a bill sponsor, said she expects the governor to sign it before the end of the year.

"Especially after this episode, anybody who might have any concerns should take a second look at this issue," the Manhattan Democrat said.

The bill would also prohibit the sale of liquid nicotine to minors. While it is illegal in New York to sell e-cigarettes to anyone under 18, there is no law prohibiting the purchase of cartridges and the bottles of liquid nicotine to fill them, Rosenthal said.

The federal Food and Drug Administration has yet to regulate e-cigarettes and liquid nicotine, though the agency announced in April 2011 that it would do so.

chughes@timesunion.com • 518-454-5417 • @hughesclaire