Teens and Inhalants

Teens and Inhalants: 

A Danger You Should Be Aware of

 For most parents, the idea of child-proofing ends once the child gets old enough to walk and talk.

But the need for child-proofing lasts even past the age when your child can go to a middle-school dance, play a school sport or babysit other children.  

By the time your child becomes a teenager, poison dangers aren’t as straightforward as keeping the cleaning supplies locked up. Drug abuse becomes a danger, and the substances in your home that you rarely think twice about can become lethal drugs to your “tween” or teenager.

Poison centers refer to inhalant abuse as “the silent epidemic” because most people do not know about the dangers of inhalants and abuse often goes unnoticed. The Nebraska Regional Poison Center wants you to be aware of these dangers, and offers the following tips aimed at preventing inhalants from becoming an epidemic that infects your home.

• Inhalants can be found in homes, schools and offices. More than 1,000 products can be inhaled for intoxicating effects. They are available, low cost and in legal products rarely thought of as poisonous. First, be aware that they exist.
• Common inhalants include gasoline products, paint remover, glue, “White-Out” correction fluid, markers, spray paints, room deodorizers and whipped cream dispensers.
• Inhalants provide an immediate “high” that can last 1 to 5 minutes, sometimes longer. The effect is similar to drinking too much alcohol and causes mind altering effects. Tell your children that they can be lethal. Abuse of inhalants can cause “sudden sniffing death” even the first time inhalants are used. They can lead to irregular rhythms in the heart, which in turn may lead to cardiac arrest. Inhalant abuse can cause suffocation by interfering with breathing or a person could choke. Long term inhalant abuse may cause the loss of normal function in arms, legs and loss of bladder and bowel control. Inhalants destroy brain cells. Finally, most of these chemicals are fire hazards and could cause a fire or an explosion.
• Signs that your child may be using inhalants include a drunk, dazed appearance, chemical smells on the breath, body or clothing, red eyes, runny noses or nose bleeds, personality changes, slurred speech, and an unusually large collection of paint, spray cans, room deodorizers or other inhalant products.
• Talk to your kids about inhalant abuse. Tell them inhalants are poison and do not belong in the body, but don’t teach them how to abuse inhalants or show them which products to use. Talk about their “toxic effects,” instead of “getting high.” And don’t call them inhalants – call them chemicals or toxins. Not talking to your kids about inhalants could be a fatal mistake.

For more information about inhalant abuse call the Nebraska Regional Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222 or contact the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition at www.inhalants.org.