Study Shows that Teens Who Inhale Dangerous Fumes Have a High Rate of Suicide

A team of researchers from some of the nation's top universities have released a report that shows that inhaling, or huffing as it is called, the vapors from many common household solvents can lead to suicidal thoughts as well as behavior in adolescents.

The study that they based the results on involved 723 incarcerated young people, 33% of reported having inhaled volatile solvents, 25% attempted suicide, and 58% reported having suicidal thoughts. And 53% were from urban or suburban environments with 47% from rural areas or small towns.  The ethnic break down is 55% were white, 33% were black, and 12% were from other races. There were 629 boys and 94 girls and their average age was 15.

The children were asked if they had huffed any of 35 common household substances, including paint, paint thinner, glue, shoe polish, spot remover, floor polish, kerosene, gasoline, antifreeze, permanent markers, nail polish, nail polish remover, mothballs, waxes and lighter fluid, among other common easy to find products.

The study was led by Dr. Stacey Freedenthal and Dr. Jeffrey M. Jenson, both of the University of Denver's Graduate School of Social Work, Dr. Michael G. Vaughn of the University of Pittsburgh, and Dr. Matthew O. Howard of the University of North Carolina.

They found an increase in suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide went along with the higher levels of use of these products. As a matter of fact, most of the participants in the sample, who have been heavy abusers before they were incarcerated reported that they had tried to commit suicide at sometime. They did not look into which problem came first, but the results showed that the two were connected, even when they took other factors into consideration.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death in the adolescent population of the United States and the rates of attempted suicide seem to be very much higher among the young people who are inhalers.