What Are the Common Effects?
Initial Effects
The lungs absorb inhaled chemicals into the bloodstream very quickly, sending them throughout the brain and body. Within minutes of inhalation, users feel "high." The effects are similar to those produced by alcohol and may include slurred speech, lack of coordination, euphoria, and dizziness. The high usually lasts only a few minutes.
With repeated inhalations, many users feel less inhibited and less in control. Some may feel drowsy for several hours and experience a lingering headache.
Effects on the Brain
Inhalants often contain more than one chemical. Some chemicals leave the body quickly, but others stay for a long time and get absorbed by fatty tissues in the brain and central nervous system.
One of these fatty tissues is myelin, a protective cover that surrounds many of the body's nerve fibers. Myelin helps nerve fibers carry their messages to and from the brain. Damage to myelin can slow down communication between nerve fibers.
Long-term inhalant use can break down myelin. When this happens, nerve cells are not able to transmit messages as efficiently, which can cause muscle spasms and tremors or even permanent difficulty with basic actions like walking, bending, and talking. These effects are similar to what happens to patients with multiple sclerosis—a disease that also affects myelin.
Inhalants also can damage brain cells by preventing them from receiving enough oxygen. The effects of this condition, also known as brain hypoxia, depend on the area of the brain affected. The hippocampus, for example, helps control memory, so someone who repeatedly abuses inhalants may lose the ability to learn new things or may have a hard time carrying on simple conversations. If the cerebral cortex is affected, the ability to solve complex problems and plan ahead will be compromised. And, if the cerebellum is affected, it can cause a person to move slowly or clumsily.
Inhalants can be addictive. Long-term use can lead to compulsive drug seeking and use, and mild withdrawal symptoms.
Other Health Effects
Regular abuse of inhalants can cause serious harm to vital organs besides the brain. Inhalants can cause heart damage, liver failure, and muscle weakness. Certain inhalants can also cause the body to produce fewer blood cells, which can lead to a condition known as aplastic anemia (in which the bone marrow is unable to produce blood cells). Frequent long-term use of certain inhalants can cause a permanent change or malfunction of peripheral nerves, called polyneuropathy.
Specific Effects by Type of Inhalant
Depending on the type of inhalant abused, the harmful health effects will differ. The table below lists a few examples.
Examples of Effects by Type of Inhalant
| Inhalant | Examples | Effects |
|---|
| Toluene |
- Spray paint
- Glue
- Dewaxer
- Fingernail polish
|
- Hearing loss
- Damage to white matter in the brain
|
|---|
| Trichloroethylene |
- Cleaning fluid
- Correction fluid
|
|
|---|
| Hexane |
|
- Peripheral neuropathy (nerves carrying messages to and from brain and spinal cord don’t work properly)
|
|---|
| Nitrous Oxide |
- Whipped cream dispensers
- Gas cylinders
|
|
|---|
| Benzene |
|
|
|---|
| Difluoroethane (Freon) substitutes |
|
|
|---|
Butane gas, found in cigarette lighters and refills, makes the heart extra sensitive to a chemical naturally found in the body that carries messages from the central nervous system to the heart. This chemical, noradrenaline, tells the heart to beat faster when someone is in a stressful situation. If the heart becomes too sensitive to noradrenaline, it can affect the heart's rhythm, with potentially lethal consequences.
Nitrite abuse has other health risks. Unlike most other inhalants, which act directly on the brain, nitrites enlarge blood vessels, allowing more blood to flow through them. Inhaled nitrites make the heart beat faster and produce a sensation of heat and excitement that can last for several minutes. Nitrites can also cause dizziness and headaches. Nitrites are typically used by older adolescents and adults, and their abuse is associated with unsafe sexual practices that can increase the risk of contracting and spreading infectious diseases, such as HIV and hepatitis.
Lethal Effects
Prolonged sniffing of the highly concentrated chemicals in solvents or aerosol sprays can cause irregular or rapid heart rhythms and can lead to heart failure and death within minutes. This "sudden sniffing death" is particularly associated with the abuse of butane, propane, and chemicals in aerosols.
High concentrations of inhalants also can cause death from suffocation. This happens when the inhalant vapor takes the place of oxygen in the lungs and brain, causing breathing to stop. Deliberately inhaling from a paper or plastic bag or in a closed area, for example, greatly increases the chances of suffocation.
While high on inhalants, people also can die by choking on their own vomit or by fatal injury from accidents, including car crashes.
If Inhalants Are Harmful, Why Do Kids Use Them?
Many kids think inhalants are a harmless, cheap, and quick way to "catch a buzz." Because many inhalants can be found around the house, kids may not even think they are harmful. But the chemicals in the inhalant vapors can change the way the brain works and cause other complications in the body. What kids often don't know is that, in some cases, the harmful effects of inhalants can be irreversible.
Are Inhalants Addictive?
Some people, particularly those who abuse inhalants a lot and for a long time, report a strong need to continue using inhalants. Compulsive use and a mild withdrawal syndrome can occur. In fact, this is consistent with recent research in animal models showing that toluene can affect the brain in a way that is similar to other drugs of abuse (e.g., amphetamines). Toluene increases dopamine activity in reward areas of the brain, and the long-term disruption of the dopamine system is one of the key factors leading to addiction.
How Can I Tell if Someone Is Abusing Inhalants?
Sometimes you can’t tell. Other times you might see small signs that tell you a person is abusing inhalants. They might have chemical odors on their breath or clothing; paint or other stains on their face, hands, or clothing; nausea or loss of appetite; weight loss; muscle weakness; disorientation; or inattentiveness, uncoordinated movement, irritability, and depression.
What Should I Do if I Know Someone Is Abusing Inhalants?
When someone has a drug problem, it's not always easy to know what to do. If someone you know is abusing inhalants, encourage him or her to talk to a parent, school guidance counselor, or other trusted adult. There are also anonymous resources, such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK) and the Treatment Referral Helpline (1-800-662-HELP).
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK) is a crisis hotline that can help with a lot of issues, not just suicide. For example, anyone who feels sad, hopeless, or suicidal; family and friends who are concerned about a loved one; or anyone interested in mental health treatment referrals can call this Lifeline. Callers are connected with a professional nearby who will talk with them about what they’re feeling or concerns for other family and friends.
In addition, the Treatment Referral Helpline (1-800-662-HELP)—offered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration—refers callers to treatment facilities, support groups, and other local organizations that can provide help for their specific need. You can also locate treatment centers in your state by going to
www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov.
Resource Materials
| 1. | National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA InfoFacts: Inhalants(http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofax/inhalants.html). Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Revised December 2011. Retrieved February 2012.
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| 2. | National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA Research Report: Inhalant Abuse(http://www.drugabuse.gov/researchreports/inhalants/inhalants.html).NIH Publication No. 10-3818. Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Printed 1999. Revised July 2010. Retrieved February 2012.
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| 3. | National Institute on Drug Abuse. Mind Over Matter: Inhalants(http://teens.drugabuse.gov/mom/mom_inha1.php). NIH Pub. No. 03-4038. Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Printed 1997. Reprinted 2006. Retrieved February 2012.
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| 4. | National Institute on Drug Abuse. Mind Over Matter: Teaching Guide. Inhalants (http://teens.drugabuse.gov/mom/tg_inha1.php). NIH Publication No. 05-3592. Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Printed 2002. Revised 2005. Retrieved February 2012.
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| 5. | National Institute on Drug Abuse. Monitoring the Future. Data Tables and Figures (http://monitoringthefuture.org/data/11data/pr11t2.pdfand http://monitoringthefuture.org/data/11data/pr11t6.pdf). Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. December 2011. Retrieved February 2012. |
