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Inhalants
Initial use of inhalants often starts early.
Some young people may use inhalants as an easily
accessible substitute for alcohol. Research
suggests that chronic or long-term inhalant
abusers are among the most difficult drug abuse
patients to treat. Many suffer from cognitive
impairment and other neurological dysfunction
and may experience multiple psychological and
social problems.
Inhalants are breathable chemical vapors that
produce psychoactive (mind-altering) effects. A
variety of products common in the home and in
the workplace contain substances that can be
inhaled. Many people do not think of these
products, such as spray paints, glues, and
cleaning fluids, as drugs because they were
never meant to be used to achieve an
intoxicating effect. Yet, young children and
adolescents can easily obtain them and are among
those most likely to abuse these extremely toxic
substances
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Inhalants fall into the following categories:
Solvents
Industrial or household solvents or
solvent-containing products, including paint
thinners or removers, degreasers, dry-cleaning
fluids, gasoline, and glue
Art or office supply solvents, including
correction fluids, felt-tip-marker fluid, and
electronic contact cleaners
Gases
Gases used in household or commercial products,
including butane lighters and propane tanks,
whipped cream aerosols or dispensers (whippets),
and refrigerant gases
Household aerosol propellants and associated
solvents in items such as spray paints, hair or
deodorant sprays, fabric protector sprays, and
aerosol computer cleaning products
Medical anesthetic gases, such as ether,
chloroform, halothane, and nitrous oxide
("laughing gas")
Nitrites
Organic nitrites are volatiles that include
cyclohexyl, butyl, and amyl nitrites, and are
commonly known as "poppers." Amyl nitrite is
still used for medical purposes. Volatile
nitrites are often sold in small brown bottles
and labeled as "video head cleaner," "room
odorizer," "leather cleaner," or "liquid aroma."
Health Hazards
Although they differ in makeup, nearly all
abused inhalants produce short-term effects
similar to anesthetics, which act to slow down
the body's functions. When inhaled in sufficient
concentrations, inhalants can cause
intoxication, usually lasting only a few
minutes.
However, sometimes users extend this effect for
several hours by breathing in inhalants
repeatedly. Initially, users may feel slightly
stimulated. Repeated inhalations make them feel
less inhibited and less in control. If use
continues, users can lose consciousness.
Sniffing highly concentrated amounts of the
chemicals in solvents or aerosol sprays can
directly induce heart failure and death within
minutes of a session of repeated inhalations.
This syndrome, known as "sudden sniffing death,"
can result from a single session of inhalant use
by an otherwise healthy young person. Sudden
sniffing death is particularly associated with
the abuse of butane, propane, and chemicals in
aerosols.
High concentrations of inhalants also can cause
death from suffocation by displacing oxygen in
the lungs and then in the central nervous system
so that breathing ceases. Deliberately inhaling
from a paper or plastic bag or in a closed area
greatly increases the chances of suffocation.
Even when using aerosols or volatile products
for their legitimate purposes (i.e., painting,
cleaning), it is wise to do so in a
well-ventilated room or outdoors.
Chronic abuse of solvents can cause severe,
long-term damage to the brain, the liver, and
the kidneys.
Harmful irreversible effects that may be caused
by abuse of specific solvents include:
Hearing loss—toluene (spray paints, glues,
dewaxers) and trichloroethylene (dry cleaning
chemicals, correction fluids)
Peripheral neuropathies, or limb spasms—hexane
(glues, gasoline) and nitrous oxide (whipped
cream dispensers, gas cylinders)
Central nervous system or brain damage—toluene
(spray paints, glues, dewaxers)
Bone marrow damage—benzene (gasoline)
Serious but potentially reversible effects
include:
Liver and kidney damage—toluene-containing
substances and chlorinated hydrocarbons
(correction fluids, dry cleaning fluids)
Blood oxygen depletion—aliphatic nitrites (known
on the street as poppers, bold, and rush) and
methylene chloride (varnish removers, paint
thinners)
Extent of Use
Initial use of inhalants often starts early.
Some young people may use inhalants as an easily
accessible substitute for alcohol. Research
suggests that chronic or long-term inhalant
abusers are among the most difficult drug abuse
patients to treat. Many suffer from cognitive
impairment and other neurological dysfunction
and may experience multiple psychological and
social problems.
2004 Monitoring the Future Survey (MTF)*
According to the Monitoring the Future survey,
NIDA's nationwide annual survey of drug use
among the Nation's 8th-, 10th-, and
12th-graders, lifetime use by 8th-graders
increased significantly in 2004 following a long
and substantial decline in inhalant use through
2002 in all three grades. Between 1995 and 2002,
8th-graders' annual prevalence fell from 12.8
percent to 7.7 percent, as an increasing
proportion of students came to see inhalant use
as dangerous. However, annual prevalence rose
significantly for 8th-graders, from 7.7 percent
to 8.7 percent from 2002 to 2003. In 2004,
8th-graders' annual use was 9.6 percent.
2002 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN)**
Emergency department mentions of inhalants
increased 187 percent, from 522 in 2001 to 1,496
in 2002, returning to the approximate level
observed in 2000.
2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)***
Among youths age 12 to 17, 11.2 percent were
current illicit drug users in 2003, and 1.3
percent were current inhalant users. Among 12-
or 13-year-olds, 1.4 percent used inhalants, the
same percentage as 14- or 15-year-olds.
The number of new inhalant users was about 1
million in 2002. As in prior years, these new
users were predominantly under age 18 (78
percent), and about half were male (53 percent).
Other Information Sources
For additional information on inhalants, please
refer to the following sources on NIDA’s Web
site, www.drugabuse.gov:
Inhalant Abuse - Research Report Series
Various issues of NIDA NOTES (search by
"inhalants" or "solvents")
Community Drug Alert Bulletin - Inhalants -
Online Soon
* These data are from the 2004 Monitoring the
Future Survey, funded by the National Institute
on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health,
DHHS, and conducted by the University of
Michigan's Institute for Social Research. The
survey has tracked 12th-graders' illicit drug
use and related attitudes since 1975; in 1991,
8th- and 10th-graders were added to the study.
The latest data are online at www.drugabuse.gov.
** The latest data on drug abuse-related
hospital emergency department (ED) visits are
from the 2002 DAWN report, from HHS's Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
These data are from a national probability
survey of 437 hospital EDs in 21 metropolitan
areas in the U.S. during the year. For detailed
information from DAWN, visit DAWNinfo.samhsa.gov,
or call the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol
and Drug Information at 1-800-729-6686.
*** The 2003 NSDUH, produced by HHS's Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
creates a new baseline for future national drug
use trends. The survey is based on interviews
with 67,784 respondents who were interviewed in
their homes. Not included in the survey are
persons in the active military, in prisons, or
other institutionalized populations, or who are
homeless. Findings from the 2003 National Survey
on Drug Use and Health are available online at
www.DrugAbuseStatistics.samhsa.gov.
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