Editing Inhalant (section)

====Sudden sniffing death syndrome====
Sudden sniffing death syndrome, first described by [[Millard Bass]] in 1970,<ref>{{cite web |title=Hydrocarbon Inhalation Injury: Practice Essentials, Pathophysiology, Etiology |url=https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1005903-overview#:~:text=Sudden%20sniffing%20death%20syndrome%20was,ventricular%20dysrhythmias%20and%20sudden%20death. |access-date=4 October 2023 |date=2 September 2022}}</ref> is commonly known as SSDS.

Solvents have many potential risks in common, including pneumonia, [[cardiac failure]] or arrest,<ref name="gdcada.org"/> and aspiration of vomit. The inhaling of some solvents can cause hearing loss, limb spasms, and damage to the central nervous system and brain.<ref name="gdcada.org"/> Serious but potentially reversible effects include liver and kidney damage and blood-oxygen depletion. Death from inhalants is generally caused by a very high concentration of fumes. Deliberately inhaling solvents from an attached paper or plastic bag or in a closed area greatly increases the chances of suffocation. Brain damage is typically seen with chronic long-term use as opposed to short-term exposure.<ref name="emedicine.com"/> [[Parkinsonism]] (see: [[Signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease]]) has been associated with huffing.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/ana.410350516 |title=Parkinsonism induced by solvent abuse |year=1994 |last1=Uitti |first1=Ryan J. |last2=Snow |first2=Barry J. |last3=Shinotoh |first3=Hitoshi |last4=Vingerhoets |first4=Francois J. G. |last5=Hayward |first5=Margo |last6=Hashimoto |first6=Stanley |last7=Richmond |first7=John |last8=Markey |first8=Sanford P. |last9=Markey |first9=Carol J. |journal=Annals of Neurology |volume=35 |issue=5 |pages=616–9 |pmid=8179306|s2cid=23657208 }}</ref>
[[File:Oil3.jpg|thumb|right|The middle container is cooking spray, a household product, which is used as an inhalant.]]

Female inhalant users who are pregnant may have adverse effects on the fetus, and the baby may be smaller when it is born and may need additional health care (similar to those seen with alcohol – [[fetal alcohol syndrome]]). There is some evidence of birth defects and disabilities in babies born to women who sniffed solvents such as gasoline.

In the short term, death from solvent use occurs most commonly from [[drowning|aspiration of vomit]] while unconscious or from a combination of [[respiratory depression]] and [[hypoxia (medical)|hypoxia]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Long-term damage from inhalant abuse|url=https://oxfordtreatment.com/substance-abuse/inhalant/|access-date=2021-02-17|website=Oxford Treatment Center}}</ref>

Inhaling [[butane]] gas can cause drowsiness, [[unconsciousness]], [[asphyxia]], and cardiac arrhythmia.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201460/|chapter=1, Butane: Acute Exposure Guideline Levels|vauthors=((Committee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels)), ((Committee on Toxicology)), ((Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology)), ((Division on Earth and Life Studies)), ((National Research Council))|title=Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals: Volume 12|date=27 April 2012|access-date=1 February 2017|location=Washington (DC)|publisher=National Academies Press (US)}}</ref> Butane is the most commonly misused volatile solvent in the UK and caused 52% of solvent-related deaths in 2000. When butane is sprayed directly into the throat, the jet of fluid can cool rapidly to −20&nbsp;°C by [[adiabatic expansion]], causing prolonged [[laryngospasm]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ramsey|first1=J.|last2=Anderson|first2=H. R.|last3=Bloor|first3=K.|last4=Flanagan|first4=R. J.|date=July 1989|title=An introduction to the practice, prevalence and chemical toxicology of volatile substance abuse|journal=Human Toxicology|volume=8|issue=4|pages=261–269|issn=0144-5952|pmid=2777265|doi=10.1177/096032718900800403|s2cid=19617950}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Harris|first1=D.|last2=Mirza|first2=Z.|date=1 September 2005|title=Butane encephalopathy|url= |journal=Emergency Medicine Journal|volume=22|issue=9|pages=676–677|doi=10.1136/emj.2003.014134|issn=1472-0205|pmid=16113204|pmc=1726908}}</ref>

Some inhalants can also indirectly cause sudden death by cardiac arrest, in a syndrome known as "sudden sniffing death".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588903,00.html | publisher=Fox News Channel | title='Huffing' More Popular Among 12 Year Olds Than Street Drugs | date=11 March 2010}}</ref> The anaesthetic gases present in the inhalants appear to sensitize the user to adrenaline and, in this state, a sudden surge of adrenaline (e.g., from a frightening hallucination or run-in with aggressors), may cause fatal [[cardiac arrhythmia]].<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=2777268 |year=1989 |last1=Shepherd |first1=RT |title=Mechanism of sudden death associated with volatile substance abuse |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=287–91 |journal=Human Toxicology |doi=10.1177/096032718900800406|s2cid=35683481 }}</ref>

Furthermore, the inhalation of any gas that is capable of displacing oxygen in the lungs (especially gases heavier than oxygen) carries the risk of [[hypoxia (medical)|hypoxia]] as a result of the very mechanism by which breathing is triggered. Since reflexive breathing is prompted by elevated carbon dioxide levels (rather than diminished blood oxygen levels), breathing a concentrated, relatively inert gas (such as computer-duster [[1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane|tetrafluoroethane]] or nitrous oxide) that removes carbon dioxide from the blood without replacing it with oxygen will produce no outward signs of suffocation even when the brain is experiencing hypoxia. Once full symptoms of hypoxia appear, it may be too late to breathe without assistance, especially if the gas is heavy enough to lodge in the lungs for extended periods. Even completely inert gases, such as [[argon]], can have this effect if oxygen is largely excluded.