Kansas Woman Inhales Computer Cleaner, Gets Instant Frostbite

Via www.inquisitr.com

A 32 year old woman was arrested for abusing toxic vapors after stealing a can of compressed air and inhaling the contents in an aisle of a Johnson City Kansas store.  However, this was after she faced gruesome injuries from her actions on August 29^th.

As a result of her inhalant abuse, the woman received instant frostbite throughout much of her face. However, despite the quite extensive damage, she refused medical care, at least initially, when an ambulance arrived following a 911 call from those who witnessed the incident. The Kansas woman was taken to Johnson County Jail although she was soon released on a $350 bond

Pennsylvania Mom Seeks Changes After Losing Her Daughter to Inhalant Abuse

Via the InsuranceNewsNet.com:

A 29 year old Pennsylvania woman is dead after abusing inhalants and now her mother is seeking changes in mental health regulations. 

On Feb 13^th, Amy sent her mom a text “I want to die” and when her mom reached her apartment, through a window, she could see her daughter passed out on her bed. She couldn’t wake her daughter so police were able to gain entry. When she woke she had sustained a cold burn/frostbite on her hand from the can of computer duster.  Inside the apartment police found “numerous trash bags packed with empty canisters of the spray cleaner.

On February 28^th her mom texted her to see how she was doing but when she hadn’t heard back by March 1^st she went to her apartment to check on her. The landlady told her Amy wasn’t answering the door and when she entered the apartment she noted Amy wasn’t breathing. She was pronounced dead and the coroners’ office ruled her death accidental with the cause of death being cardiac arrest induced by difluoroethane.  

Man Gives Himself Frostbite From Inhaling Computer Duster

Via Wicked Local Cambridge in Massachusetts

Police were notified of a man inhaling chemicals from a can outside of a church. The suspect was found lying near the side of the building reportedly holding a can of computer duster upside down with his mouth around the nozzle. The can was empty and frozen around the outside. The man continued to reach for other cans even while being questioned.

While in the hospital the man admitted to being a heroin user and was found to have frostbite on his right hand and right cheek. Apparently, the can he was inhaling from froze against his skin. He was arrested on charges of inhaling toxic fumes.

13-Year-Old Critically Injured After 'Huffing' Propane Gas

From the Hartford Courant in Connecticut

In early September, police and EMTs were called to respond to a case of a 13-year-old boy suffering an allergic reaction. It turns out it was not an allergic reaction; instead, he was suffering the effects of huffing propane.

The article notes he had suffered “a severe case of frostbite to his eyes, mouth, throat and lungs as he inhaled the gas that comes out of its container at 40 degrees below zero.” He also suffered significant tissue damage.

After being rushed to Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford, he was put into a medically induced coma. Earlier reports that the boy's hands were amputated are untrue, according to a spokesman for the boy's family. The boy, who was not identified, was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.

The director of the Connecticut Poison Center is quoted “A frostbite injury would appear as a burn. The end result is the same — damage to the tissue." He also remarked, “A severe case of inhalation of propane can interfere with blood circulation. The tissue then dies and it becomes gangrenous."

He also reports that “there are several cases a year in Connecticut in which youngsters are severely injured by inhaling propane to experience a high.”