Household Inhalants

Common household inhalants include things like hairspray, propane, leather cleaner and paint thinner. Common inhalants are categorized as either an aerosol, gas, nitrate or solvent.

Nearly anything that is propelled as an aerosol can be used as a household inhalant. That includes common household products such as window cleaners, bathroom cleaning chemicals, odor treatments, cooking sprays and spray paint.

Other common household inhalants are found in the form of gasses. Butane, propane, freon, and chloroform are some of the most frequently abused. None, however, are more frequently abused as an inhalant than nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is found “whippets”, the small metallic canisters used to charge whipped cream dispensers. The whipped cream that you buy right in the grocery store also contains nitrous oxide. Inhalant abusers concentrate the gas by holding the can upright and dispensing the gas into their nose or into a balloon.

Nitrates are found in many of those heavy-smelling cleansers that you use in the garage, bathroom and laundry room. To tell if your product is one of those commonly abused as an inhalant, inspect the ingredients panel. If it contains butylnitrate, amylnitrate, or cyclohexylnitrate, it is already listed on pro-drug sites as being a household inhalant.

Lastly, household products that include volatile solvents also serve as common inhalants. Strong smelling glues, compounds, degreasers, paint thinners, and gasolines can be concentrated and inhaled in order to produce a high.

Learn more about how common household inhalants are used, what their effects are and how you can prevent their abuse in your home. To be more in the know, click one of the links below: