Government Warns About Serious Dangers of Inhalants

Eye on Inhalants

Many kids and teens are inhaling (or "huffing," "sniffing," or "bagging") toxic chemicals they can legally buy in the store or find in your cleaning supplies closet, under your kitchen counter, or in the garage. And many dangerously believe it can't be that big a deal and is just harmless fun.

Common inhalants include:

• "whippets" — medical gases (like nitrous oxide and ether) and whipped cream dispensers that contain nitrous oxide
• aerosol sprays (like air fresheners, hairsprays, deodorant, vegetable oil cooking sprays, spray paint, and static cling sprays)
• nail polish
• shoe polish
• glue
• felt-tip markers
• gasoline
• fuel products (like propane tanks, butane lighters, and lighter fluids)
• paint thinners and removers
• degreasers
• refrigerants
• compressed air keyboard cleaners (their use is called "dusting")

To inhale, kids and teens may:

• sniff, snort, or spray the chemical directly into the nose or mouth
• put it into a bag or other container and then inhale from there
• put the vapor onto a rag
• inhale nitrous oxide from balloons

The high only lasts a few minutes, so some may do it over and over again for long periods of time to maintain the high, increasing the amount of dangerous chemicals entering and damaging the body.

What This Means to You

Once you have a preteen or teen, you're way past the childproofing stage of worrying whether your kids could accidentally chug down household chemicals. These days, you probably haven't thought twice about the dangers of standard products lying around the house.

But when kids and teens abuse them, some of the items you use every day can wreak major havoc on the heart, brain, kidneys, and liver. And, like most street drugs, inhalants also can kill kids, even with just one try.

Causes of inhalant deaths include:

• "Sudden Sniffing Death": This is the most common cause of death from inhalant use. The heart beats quickly and irregularly, and then suddenly stops (cardiac arrest).
• Asphyxia: Toxic fumes replace oxygen in the lungs and the person passes out and stops breathing.
• Choking: Users can choke on their own vomit.
• Suffocation: The bag can block air from flowing into the lungs when vapors are inhaled from a plastic bag placed over the head.
• Injuries: Since kids who are high on inhalants often make poor decisions, they might try to drive under the influence or do something totally irrational like jump off a roof. They could also get burned or cause explosions if a spark ignites flammable inhalants.
• Suicide: Some kids become depressed when their high wears off.

And, because inhalants are found in most homes, kids don't realize they're incredibly addictive or that those who become hooked are likely to become long-term users, putting them at risk for:

• brain damage (which may cause sluggishness, clumsiness, difficulty solving problems or planning ahead, memory loss, and inability to learn new things)
• muscle weakness
• depression
• headache
• nosebleeds
• loss of sense of smell or hearing

Obviously, you can't rid your house of every possible chemical that kids might try to abuse. And putting these products up high won't do much good like it did when they were little. But you can and should talk to your children about the extreme dangers of inhaling and be on the lookout for some of these common warning signs of inhalant use:

• mood swings
• extreme anger, agitation, and irritability
• exhaustion
• loss of appetite
• frequent vomiting
• hallucinations and delusions
• facial rashes and blisters
• frequent nose running and coughing
• dilated pupils
• extremely bad breath

Of course, some of these may be signs of other health problems, too. If you're worried that your kids might be using inhalants or any other drug, talk to them about it. And check in with their friends and teachers to see if they've noticed any indications of a problem.

Make sure your kids understand that any substance that creates a high, even if it seems innocent enough and can be found in your home, can be dangerous and could cut their precious lives senselessly short — all for a quick buzz that lasts only minutes.

Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD Date reviewed: March 2008