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Inhalant abuse: Is your child at risk?
Would you know if your teen were huffing? Consider the tell-tale signs of inhalant abuse — and what you can do to prevent it.
By Mayo Clinic staffWhat's so dangerous about a can of spray paint or deodorant? Plenty. Huffing these and other common household products can provide a quick high. As harmless as it may seem to kids, the risks of huffing and other types of inhalant abuse are real — and potentially lethal.
What are inhalants?
Many ordinary household products can serve as inhalants, including:
- Hair spray
- Room deodorizer
- Nonstick cooking spray
- Cleaning fluids
- Spray paint
- Paint thinner
- Butane
- Propane
- Gasoline
What does it mean to huff an inhalant?
Huffing is sometimes used as a generic term for any type of inhalant abuse. Specifically, however, there are various ways to abuse inhalants:
- Huffing. To huff an inhalant, you soak a rag in an inhalant and press the rag to your mouth.
- Sniffing. To sniff an inhalant, you sniff or snort fumes from an aerosol container. You may even spray an aerosol product directly into your nose or mouth.
- Bagging. To bag an inhalant, you inhale fumes from a product sprayed or poured into a plastic or paper bag.
At first, huffing, sniffing or bagging causes a sense of euphoria. Abusing the inhalant repeatedly over several hours can prolong or intensify the high. For many kids, inhalants provide a cheap and accessible alternative to alcohol — and it may happen more often than you think. In the United States alone, nearly 10 percent of adolescents ages 12 to 17 have used inhalants at some point, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
What are the risks of inhalant abuse?
The initial euphoria of huffing, sniffing or bagging may be followed by dizziness, slurred speech, and loss of coordination, inhibition and control. Some kids become agitated or irritable. Hallucinations and delusions are possible.
If an inhalant causes the heart to begin working too hard, a rapid, irregular heartbeat (dysrhythmia) may trigger lethal heart failure — even for first-time inhalers. Chronic inhalant abuse can cause weakness, fatigue, and serious liver and kidney damage. Permanent brain damage and hearing loss are possible as well.
Other devastating effects of inhalant abuse may include:
- Suffocation, when inhalants displace oxygen in the lungs
- Seizures
- Loss of consciousness
- Death
(1 of 2)
- Howard MO, et al. A survey of inhalant use disorders among delinquent youth: Prevalence, clinical features, and latent structure of DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. BMC Psychiatry. 2009;9:8.
- Balster RL, et al. Classification of abused inhalants. Addiction. 2009;104:878.
- Criss L. Huffing: Prehospital identification and treatment of inhalant abuse. Journal of Emergency and Medical Services. 2009;34:42.
- Collins D, et al. Individual and contextual predictors of inhalant use among 8th graders: A multilevel analysis. Journal of Drug Education. 2008;38:193.
- A parent's guide to preventing inhalant abuse. Consumer Product Safety Commission. http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/389.html. Accessed Aug. 31, 2009.
- NIDA InfoFacts: Inhalants. National Institute on Drug Abuse. http://www.drugabuse.gov/Infofax/inhalants.html. Accessed Aug. 31, 2009.
- 2007 National survey on drug use and health: National findings. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies. http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k7NSDUH/2k7results.cfm#TOC. Accessed Sept. 3, 2009.
