Inhalants

1
Inhalants
2
Lots of Different Types

• Are solvents and substances found in common
  household products
• Glues
• Hair Spray
• Lighter fluid
• Paint products
• Others
• Is very popular among youth

3
Routes

• Are sniffed directly
• Huffed from a rag soaked in the substance and
  held to the face
• Can be placed in a bag
• Lots of substance substitution

4
Effects

• Rapid absorption
• Blood levels peak rapidly
• Rapid entry into the brain
• Effects resemble alcohol intoxication
• Stimulation
• Loss of inhibition
• Depression
• Loss of time and space

5
Side Effects

• Headache
• Nausea/vomiting
• Slurred speech
• Loss of motor coordination
• Wheezing
• Glue sniffers rash around the nose
• Can induce heart failure and death
• Hearing loss
• Liver and kidney damage
• Others

6
Death

• Results from suffocation
• Especially with plastic bags over the head
• Displaces oxygen in lungs and CNS

7
Categories

• Solvents
• Gases
• Nitrites

8
Solvents

• Paint thinners
• Degreasers
• Dry cleaning fluids
• Gas
• Glue
• Art and office supplies
• Felt tip markers

9
Gases

• Butane lighters
• Propane tanks
• Whipping cream aerosols
• Household aerosols
• Hair and deodorant sprays
• Medical gasses ether, nitrous oxide

10
Nitrites

• Used to dilate blood vessels and relax muscles
• Used as sexual enhancers
• Cyclohexyl nitrite in room deodorizers
• Amyl Nitrate (poppers, snappers)
• Used for heart pain
• Butyl Nitrate (Poppers) are illegal

11
Medical Consequences

• Rapid tolerance (Dopamine neurons)
• Demyelination
• Can cause rapid or irregular heart rhythms within
  minutes
• Can result in death even in health persons -
  sudden sniffing death
• Usually from butane, propane, aerosols
• Asphyxiation
• Suffocation
• Choking on vomit
• Accidents

12
Toxicity

• Are highly toxic
• Brain and SC
• Lungs
• Liver
• Kidneys
• May be permanent