Trends and Use of Inhalants

The abuse of inhalants, particularly among youths, has become a health problem for many countries. Inhalant use has been reported in many areas of the world, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Sweden, India, England, Nigeria, Australia, Denmark, South Africa, Finland, Poland, Peru, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ireland, Rhodesia, Italy, Columbia, France, Malaysia, Scotland, Brazil, Wales, Germany, Norway, Thailand, Cuba, and New Zealand. The problem of inhalant abuse is not bounded by any local or national border. 

The most recent Monitoring the Future Study (2002) found that 15.2% of eighth graders, 13.5% of tenth 

Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting Past-Year Use of Inhalants, by Race/Ethnicity 2000  

Most inhalant users are initiated at a young age. In 2000, the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found that of youths aged 12 to 15, over 2 million had used inhalants in their lifetime. Of an estimated 23 million youths, 9% had tried sniffing. Additionally, the Drug and Alcohol Services Information System Report in 2002 collected data from adolescents admitted for substance abuse treatment in 1999. Of those treated, 19% of these individuals first tried inhalants before the age of 12. Another 36% were 12 or 13, and 35% were 14 or 15. 

Recent national studies have found that among youth populations, there is a surprisingly high rate of use of inhalants and that this use is frequent. Between 1994 and 2000, the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (2001) found that the overall number of new inhalant users increased more than 50%, from 618,000 new users in 1994 to 979,000 in 2000. 

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Contents An overview what are inhalants —History of inhalant use— Properties of inhalants — How do inhalants act —Abuse of inhalants— Consequences of inhalant abuse—Trends and use of inhalants—Treatment and prevention. 

The following chapters will include historical information on the discovery and use of inhalants. There will also be descriptions of the classes of inhalants and information given on many of the commonly abused chemicals. Explanations of the mechanisms by which inhalants act on the brain and body will follow, including the discussion of current research aimed at understanding drug addiction. The short- and long-term effects of inhalant abuse on the body will be described, and trends of inhalant use and attitudes toward it will be discussed. Lastly, there will be a presentation of information on treatment and prevention of inhalant use. 

There are a wide variety of solvents used in industrial processes, and exposure can also occur in other occupational settings such as laboratories and workshops. Solvents can have toxic effects ranging from narcosis, irritation, and degreasing of skin to effects on major organs such as the central nervous and reproductive systems. The trend of inhaling solvents, for their narcotic effects, which became popular in teenagers will be discussed on p. 198. 

One of the major problems with why inhalants are so poorly understood is that little scientific focus has been aimed at understanding how inhalants affect the brain and behavior. Previous research on inhalants has focused more on organ toxicity caused by inhalants, the trends in inhalant use, and their anesthetic functions. Understanding inhalant abuse at the cellular and molecular level has been a neglected field. Since there have been a number of studies on the cellular basis for inhalant abuse in the past five years, this is hopefully an indication that future research will focus more on this area. 

Tumorigenidty The risk of death and the incidence of cancers with quantitative exposure to benzene-soluble fraction, benzo(a) pyrene, fluoride, and inhalable dust have been studied in two 4316 male prebake smelter workers using cancer incidence registries and follow-up for 20 years [35. There were smoking-adjusted monotonic relationships between the risk of respiratory cancer and cumulative inhalable dust exposure, cumulative fluoride exposure, and cumulative benzo (fl)pyrene exposure. The exposure-response trends were stronger when examined across the exposed categories. There was a monotonic but not statistically significant trend between cumulative benzo(fl)pyrene exposure and stomach cancer. Bladder cancer was not associated with benzo(fl)pyrene or benzene exposure. No other cancers or deaths were associated with these exposures. 

There is a considerable scatter in the deposition data, although, in general, the same trend can be inferred from the different studies. The heterogeneity may be partly related to the different kinds of test particles and methods applied. But the scatter, in particular, is caused by the intersubject variability in airway morphology and the various breathing patterns used for particle inhalation (71,72,... 

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