It’s a scary statistic, but true: by eighth grade, one in five young people has used an inhalant to get high, risking brain damage and death. Young people can get high on more than 1,000 legal, useful, everyday products.

Inhalants are chemicals that cause a person to feel "high” after inhaling or breathing them in. People might abuse inhalants because they feel pressure from peers. They’re also cheap and easy to find.

Common ways to abuse inhalants include:
• Huffing—Breathing in fumes from a cloth soaked in a chemical.
• Sniffing—Breathing in fumes from an open container or filling a closet or car with vapors.
• Bagging—Placing the substance in a plastic bag and holding it over the mouth and nose.
• Spraying—Spraying a substance directly into the mouth.

Signs of inhalant abuse may include:
• Red or runny eyes or nose.
• Spots or sores around the mouth.
• Unusual chemical breath odor.
• Drunk, dazed or dizzy appearance.
• Nausea, loss of appetite.
• Anxiety, excitability, irritability.
• Disappearance of household products.
• Discovery of chemical-soaked rags, socks or bags.

Abuse of inhalants may cause many harmful effects such as:
• Permanent damage to the nervous system, lungs, kidneys and other organs.
• Coma.
• Sudden cardiac arrest.
• Danger to unborn children when used by pregnant women.
• Poor judgment, vision and coordination, and loss of many other skills needed for safe driving and making safe decisions.
• Increased risk of major depression and suicide.

In addition, mixing inhalants with other drugs, especially depressants like alcohol or tranquilizers is hazardous.

Abused substances include everyday products found in the home. Below is a room-by-room list of examples.

Kitchen
• Butane.
• Cooking spray.
• Correction fluid.
• Lighter fluid.
• Whipped cream propellants.

Bedroom
• Hair sprays.
• Nail glues and polish remover.

Garage
• Gasoline.
• Kerosene.
• Refrigerants.
• Turpentine.
• Carburetor cleaner.

Workshop
• Aerosol sprays.
• Felt tip markers.
• Glues and adhesives.
• Enamel paint and paint thinners.
• Solvents.
• Spray paints.

Prevention is key
Talk with your children. Teach them the dangers of this abuse. Education must start at a young age. Inhalant abuse often begins in elementary school and can lead to further drug abuse, lifelong problems or even death. If you suspect inhalant abuse, consult a school counselor, doctor or drug counseling center.

FAST FACT: Substances commonly found in the home are the most likely agents to be involved in a poison exposure. Toxic products located in the home account for more than 90 percent of poison exposures.

Mark Kostic, MD, is the associate medical director of Wisconsin Poison Center, specializing in medical toxicology and emergency medicine. The Poison Center, located at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, provides 24-hour, toll-free poison information for all individuals in Wisconsin. Anyone who has had direct contact with a known or potential poison can receive immediate advice on what steps to take to prevent injury from that exposure by calling 1-800-222-1222. Translators are available.
 

Spring cleaning is an annual ritual. This year, as you clean and organize your home, keep poison prevention in mind.

Wisconsin Poison Center answers more than 50,000 calls each year concerning potentially hazardous substances and situations. More than 90 percent of poisonings occur at home. Though unintentional poisoning can affect people of all ages, children age 6 and younger and elders who take multiple medications are at high risk. The most common hazards for children include: personal care products and cosmetics, household cleaners, plants and pesticides, and over-the-counter medications such as pain relievers, cough/cold products and multivitamins.

Here’s what to look for:
In the kitchen:
• Keep medications and cleaning products in their original containers with labels intact. Child-resistant caps help, but parents should not depend solely on these. Many children can open them.
• Do not store any medicines on the kitchen windowsill, countertop or top of the refrigerator where children can see or try to reach them.
• Make sure all household cleaning products are stored high, out of children’s reach.
• Install child safety devices on all cabinets as an added measure of protection.

In the bathroom:
• Throw out old medicines by tying them tightly in a nonsee-through bag. Take them straight out to the trash on pick-up day.

In the bedroom:
• Look for any flaking paint on furniture, walls and windowsills. Flaking paint may contain high levels of lead. When considering home renovations, make sure to protect yourself and your family from inhaling or eating leaded paint dust.
• Make sure all perfumes and cosmetics are stored out of reach.
• When guests stay over, ask them to keep their medications out of a child’s reach.

In the laundry room:
• Store soaps, detergents and other products in high, locked cabinets.
• Keep open products with you when using them. If the phone or doorbell rings, take the product with you.

Remember, there are hazards outside the home, too. Outdoor poison exposures increase in warmer months, when children are outside more often and are at greater risk of coming in contact with pesticides, toxic plants, insects and more.

If you suspect your child has come in contact with a poisonous substance, call Wisconsin Poison Center immediately at 1-800-222-1222.

David Gummin, MD, is the medical director of Wisconsin Poison Center, located at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. The center provides 24-hour, toll-free poison information for all individuals in Wisconsin. Anyone who has had direct contact with a known or potential poison can receive immediate advice on what steps to take to prevent injury from that exposure by calling 24 hours a day, seven days a week toll-free 1-800-222-1222. Translators are available.

FAST FACT: In 2007, the Poison Center answered a total of 52,834 calls for help and information. Nearly 85 percent of the calls were regarding a poison exposure. Accidental poisoning in the home accounted for 3 out of 4 cases.