Because of the fatal potential of huffing, parents and teachers are encouraged to look for indications that a child might be huffing. Those signs include chronic school absences, paint or stains on body or clothing, spots or sores around mouth, chemical breath odor and intoxicated appearance. When kids sniff or huff, they are inhaling poisons that do real damage, or even kill them. More than 12 million Americans of all ages were inhaling that year, according to the statistics, and some 441,000 young people aged 12 to 17 use inhalants each month. Products that can be toxic when sniffed include common household and cosmetic items.
Inhalant use can cause a number of physical and emotional problems or death.
Death can occur with the first use, anti-drug officials said. Doctors know what inhalants do to the brain and body when people use them. Inhalants destroy the outer lining of nerve cells in the brain and make them unable to communicate with one another. In 1993, more than 60 young people died from sniffing inhalants, according to National Families in Action, a drug education center based in Atlanta. You cannot assume that your child wouldn't experiment.