Graphic: Teen suffers burns when an E- Cigarette explodes in his face

16-year-old Ty Greer, a teen in Alberta, Canada,
suffered second degree burns and broken teeth
after his e-cigarette spontaneously exploded just
inches from his mouth while he was using it in
his car.
“It lit my kid’s face on fire, busted two teeth out,”
Perry Greer, Ty’s father, told the Canadian Press.
“It burned the back of his throat, burned
his tongue very badly. If he wasn’t wearing
glasses, he possibly could have lost his
eyes. … He wanted to die. That is how
much pain he was in.”
The defective vape was a Wotofo Phantom, which
is produced in China. Online reviews of the
product on the marketplace Eciggity were mostly
positive with no indication of such defects.
In a statement to Mic by the Smoke-Free
Alternatives Trade Association, the industry shot
back at the implication that e-cigarettes
are dangerous.
“Electronic cigarettes and vapor products
are electronic devices and do not combust.
They should be thought the same as other
rechargeable electrical equipment such as
laptops and cell phones, in terms of being
battery powered,” the statement read.
“We cannot speak to user error or on behalf
of a manufacturer for their device. If there
is truly an issue with a specific device,
similar to a laptop or cell phone
manufacturer, inquiries should be directed
toward the individual company."
Yet Ty Greer is not the first to fall victim to such
a disaster. In November, a Colorado Springs man
suffered a broken neck when an e-cigarette
exploded in his face. And earlier this month, an
Orange County, California, teen also suffered
burns after an e-cigarette exploded in his pocket.
In October 2014, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency officially acknowledged the
phenomenon, publishing a study investigating the
matter.