Inhalants
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
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
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
Side Effects
Headache
Nausea/vomiting
Slurred speech
Loss of motor coordination
Wheezing
Glue sniffer’s rash around the nose
Can induce heart failure and death
Hearing loss
Liver and kidney damage
Others
Death
Results from suffocation
Especially with plastic bags over the
head
Displaces oxygen in lungs and CNS
Categories
Solvents
Gases
Nitrites
Solvents
Paint thinners
Degreasers
Dry cleaning fluids
Gas
Glue
Art and office supplies
Felt tip markers
Gases
Butane lighters
Propane tanks
Whipping cream aerosols
Household aerosols
Hair and deodorant sprays
Medical gasses –ether, nitrous oxide
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
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
Toxicity
Are highly toxic
Brain and SC
 Lungs
 Liver
 Kidneys

May be permanent