How Are E-Cigarettes Dangerous: E-Cigarette Explodes Inside Vaper's Pants

An e-cigarette explosion inside a user's pocket was caught in a video.

New York Post reports that Otis Gooding, a store worker at a wine and spirits shop at Grand Central Terminal was seen in a video trying to pull a burning e-cigarette out of his pocket.

Gooding was having a normal conversation with his co-workers behind a counter when sparks began flying out of his trouser pocket. His co-workers and store customers started running away from the explosion, while Gooding, who instinctively tried to save himself from burning, attempted to get the e-cigarette out of his pants immediately.

The store's assistant manager, Jonathan Lee, described the shocking incident to have happened so fast, saying there was "hissing and sizzling."

"I saw him take his hand to take it out of his pocket and his fingernail burnt off," he said, adding, "One of the batteries burnt and stuck to his finger and then he flung it."

Gooding suffered minor burns in his hand and leg and was instantly taken to the nearest hospital.

There have already been numerous victims of e-cigarette explosion since the beginning of the year. According to Venkat Viswanathan, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, the "vape" battery contains electrolytes with the same properties as gasoline.

"When these batteries short out, there's a surge of heat that causes this flammable electrolyte to combust and explode," he told NBC.

Better quality lithium-ion cells, which are usually designed with fail-safe mechanism, have lower risks of combustion than the cheaper ones, and often comes with poorly designed chargers. The risk goes higher when these cells are overcharged or charged too shortly. This could happen among users who switch e-cigarette chargers as well.

While people use e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to tobacco, users should always consider the quality of the device to make sure it is actually safe.