Inhalant use refers to the purposeful utilization of any of a very large and diverse group of volatile compounds to produce euphoria. Historically, environmentally accessible household or commercial products, especially those containing toluene, have been utilized most frequently. Beginning with paint products, glues, and gasoline the number of abused compounds has expanded exponentially such that today literally hundreds of familiar volatile products have been abused. Inhalant use appears to be a very significant form of youth drug use. Various factors operate here.
Most inhalants are commercial products composed of a variety of chemicals.
When the multiple toxic ingredients act together, a multiplied, synergistic in-vivo toxicity can be projected. The summation of these and yet other factors confers upon inhalants as a class a more formidable toxic profile than any other type of drug of abuse. Typical onset of experimentation with inhalants occurs earlier than with most other drugs of abuse, in the preteen years, coinciding with the time of initiation of crucial steps of physical, cognitive, and emotional development. Because inhalants bring to bear at this crucial developmental interval chemicals of unsurpassed toxicity the projected developmental impact would be expected to be great, probably exceeding that of other drugs of abuse. It appears that the risk of sudden death with any given episode of inhalant use exceeds that presented with any other drug of abuse.