After I posted to another thread about using poppers, it occurred to me that there is another popular inhalant out there which is possibly much more dangerous.
I've been out of the loop for so long, I don't even know what the current terminology is, but years ago, this one was called "ethyl chloride" or just simply "ethyl." The proper chemical name is chloroethane, and it is a close relative of Freon and other refrigerants. It comes in a small pressurized spray can, and is usually sprayed into a piece of cloth, then inhaled. Here is a quote from a document by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry:
"Workers who breathed chloroethane vapors for 1.5 to 3 years (levels of chloroethane unknown) had significantly decreased defensive responses against illness. Inhalant abusers who intentionally breathe chloroethane vapors at much higher concentrations than those found in any work environment or near any hazardous waste site have experienced these neurological effects. Long term abuse of high chloroethane concentrations causes the most adverse effects of chloroethane exposure, namely, those to the nervous system. In the worst recorded cases of chloroethane abuse by sniffing, the abusers have had severe symptoms including jerking eye movements, an inability to control muscles in voluntary movements, difficulty in speaking clearly, an inability to perform finger tapping exercises, sluggish lower limb reflexes, seizures, difficulties in walking, disorientation, short-term memory loss, and hallucinations affecting their sight and hearing. In one case, damage to motor and sensory nerves occurred.
I've been out of the loop for so long, I don't even know what the current terminology is, but years ago, this one was called "ethyl chloride" or just simply "ethyl." The proper chemical name is chloroethane, and it is a close relative of Freon and other refrigerants. It comes in a small pressurized spray can, and is usually sprayed into a piece of cloth, then inhaled. Here is a quote from a document by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry:
"Workers who breathed chloroethane vapors for 1.5 to 3 years (levels of chloroethane unknown) had significantly decreased defensive responses against illness. Inhalant abusers who intentionally breathe chloroethane vapors at much higher concentrations than those found in any work environment or near any hazardous waste site have experienced these neurological effects. Long term abuse of high chloroethane concentrations causes the most adverse effects of chloroethane exposure, namely, those to the nervous system. In the worst recorded cases of chloroethane abuse by sniffing, the abusers have had severe symptoms including jerking eye movements, an inability to control muscles in voluntary movements, difficulty in speaking clearly, an inability to perform finger tapping exercises, sluggish lower limb reflexes, seizures, difficulties in walking, disorientation, short-term memory loss, and hallucinations affecting their sight and hearing. In one case, damage to motor and sensory nerves occurred.
Human patients have died after breathing chloroethane concentrations high enough to induce anesthesia. Dogs have suffered irregular heart rhythms, followed by death, when given anesthetic doses of chloroethane. Due to the risk of accidental death, chloroethane is no longer medically used as a general anesthetic during major surgery."
If you use this stuff recreationally, you really should consider quitting. The damage to the central, autonomic, and peripheral nerve systems is cumulative and irreversible.
If you use this stuff recreationally, you really should consider quitting. The damage to the central, autonomic, and peripheral nerve systems is cumulative and irreversible.
