STD HD: Pediatrician's Journal

Inhalant Abuse in Children

by Jeff Cersonsky, MD, FAAP

When I was attending in an adolescent substance abuse unit in California, I met a girl we'll call Katie.  Katie was 15 at the time and had been admitted for treatment for her abuse of Liquid Paper®.  She discovered the "buzz" she received from sniffing this correction fluid a couple of years before and gradually developed a "need" to have it.  It was readily available, and no store clerk would bat an eye if a child ordered 5 or 6 jars.  She also tried sniffing gasoline, but thought that was too dangerous.  Katie had been a straight A student, but her schoolwork gradually deteriorated.  She now had trouble retaining a thought from one moment to the next, carrying on any deductive reasoning, or participating in a meaningful conversation.  We attempted to treat Katie for her substance abuse, but the brain damage had been done.

October is Child Health Month and the American Academy of Pediatrics is focusing on substance abuse prevention, with a special emphasis on inhalant abuse.

Parents are careful to teach their toddlers that common household products can poison them.  They diligently keep these products out of little ones' reach.  But many school-aged and high school children are deliberately abusing these and similar products to get high, in many cases causing great harm to themselves. While drug abuse has declined somewhat in recent years, inhalant abuse is on the rise.  Most of the abusers are in the 12 to 14 year age group.  Twenty per cent of eighth-graders have tried inhalants.  They inhale (or "huff") the fumes from containers of air fresheners, nail polish remover, cooking spray, glues, paints, polishes, corrections fluids, markers, oven cleaners, deodorants, nail polish removers, and gasoline, or breathe from saturated rags to get high.  The hydrocarbons in these substances lead to brain damage, and the damage can be severe.  A scary fact is that death can occur after one usage.

Parents, teachers, caregivers or anyone who works with children should be aware of the signs of inhalant abuse: breath and clothing that smell like chemicals; spots or sores around the mouth; paint or stains on body or clothing; drunk, dazed, or glassy-eyed look; nausea or loss of appetite; anxiety, excitability, or irritability.  Continued use can lead to slurred speech, impaired reasoning, dizziness, and hallucinations.  Memory loss can follow along with hearing difficulties, muscle spasms, and cardiac arrest.  In addition to the brain, hydrocarbons can damage lungs, nerves, kidneys, liver, blood, and bones.  Damage is almost always permanent.

Awareness of the problem is the first step.  Discussing inhalant abuse with your children is crucial.  Pediatricians can be a valuable resource for both prevention and treatment of substance abuse.

As with any drugs, abuse can be prevented when adults help children set goals for themselves, learn how to boost their self-confidence and self-image, and resist peer pressure.

Please feel free to contact me by email (jmcsdii@erols.com ), at my forum at http://www.delphi.com/drjeff , or the American Academy of Pediatrics' website at www.aap.org.  A brochure entitled "Fighting Back:  Helping Young People Kick the Sniffing Habit and Sniffing Abuse:  It Can Kill" are available from Consumer Products Education Bureau, 1913 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006.  The National Institute on Drug Abuse from the National Institute of Health has produced a copyright-free brochure, which can be obtained from the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 800-729-6686.  Ask for Publication No. 98-4038.