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View Full Version : Dust Off- A Fatal Hazard


Lzen
06-17-2005, 09:07 AM
Got this in an email. I can't check the Snopes link while at work but, I believe this is true. The last time I bought a can of that kind of stuff at Walmart, they checked ID. I was like WTF? The cashier explained that this was the new thing that kids were doing these days.

This has been checked by Snopes (here's the link for this story http://www.snopes.com/toxins/dustoff.asp), Urban legends and Hoaxbusters

Dust Off- A Fatal Hazard



First IM going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor . He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor wouldn't allow it. He would tell on you. The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs. I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they won't.


I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off
a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my 2 sons both said they had used them on their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10 dollars I paid for them. On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn't have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.


On March 1st I left for work at 10 PM. At 11 PM my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 530 AM the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was sitting up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up. She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.


I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was in his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 Am.


I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9 through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting. A take off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. It makes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. It's just compressed air. It can't hurt you. His best friend said no.

Kyle's death Kyle was wrong. It's not just compresses air. It also contains a propellant. I think its R2. It's a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas.-Heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out. That's why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right. It can't hurt you. IT KILLS YOU. The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you die. IT'S NOT AN OVERDOSE. It's Russian roulette. You don't die later. Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You usually die as your breathing it in. If not you die within 2 seconds of finishing "the hit." That's why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when he died. Why his eyes were still open.


The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe its huffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together. But it doesn't fit here. And that's why it's more accepted. There is no chemical reaction. no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.


It's easy to say hey, it's my life and I'll do what I want. But it isn't. Others are always affected. This has forever changed our family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I can't describe it. There's nowhere to run from it. I cry all the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't really care. My kids are messed up. One won't talk about it. The other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I can't even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.


After Kyle died another story came out. A Probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug problem there. They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this "new" way of getting high they found, they hid it. The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house. We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs.


Using Dust Off isn't new and some "professionals" do know about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They know about it.


April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus. I know Kyle is in heaven but I can't help but wonder If I died and went to Hell.

jspchief
06-17-2005, 09:11 AM
Spraying aerosol cans into your mouth is pretty much universally stupid.

Rain Man
06-17-2005, 09:18 AM
Heck. Now what am I going to do with all these cans of Dust Off?

keg in kc
06-17-2005, 09:25 AM
I don't like reading the words "Kyle was dead".

KC Kings
06-17-2005, 09:28 AM
I always try to save money, and found it cheaper to buy C02 cartridges, punch a hole in the top, and by the time the CO2 is gone all the dust has blown away.

I noticed that I have been going through a lot of these cartridges lately, I wonder if there is anything that kids can do to missuse this product?

Frankie
06-17-2005, 09:31 AM
On a loosely (but ironic) related subject, a friend of mine ended up in the ER just a few days ago when two secretaries at her work cleaned a paper shredder with air cans and immediately plugged it in. She was just passing by at the time of "the explosion." Parts of her eyebrows/lashes were burned and she inhaled "hot fumes" leading to the diagnosis of "second degree (or secondary) exposure."

Frankie
06-17-2005, 09:33 AM
I don't like reading the words "Kyle was dead".
Have you seen "The Sixth Sense?"
:p

Baby Lee
06-17-2005, 09:36 AM
Have you seen "The Sixth Sense?"
:p
I read dead posters!!!

AustinChief
06-17-2005, 09:43 AM
I don't like reading the words "Kyle was dead".
Yeah.. that was creeping me out too

keg in kc
06-17-2005, 09:49 AM
Have you seen "The Sixth Sense?"Yes. I thought it sucked.Yeah.. that was creeping me out tooI think I've seen you more in two days than in the last year. That's creeping me out. Evil doppelganger.

chiefs4me
06-17-2005, 10:01 AM
How very sad...I have 2 cans of the stuff that are going to the trash right now. Thanks for posting this story.

htismaqe
06-17-2005, 10:01 AM
I always try to save money, and found it cheaper to buy C02 cartridges, punch a hole in the top, and by the time the CO2 is gone all the dust has blown away.

I noticed that I have been going through a lot of these cartridges lately, I wonder if there is anything that kids can do to missuse this product?

No, not really. CO2 can't get anyone high.

However, the propellant in Dust-Off and other commercial computer canned air products CAN BE fatal. Kids have been huffing it for a decade.

Frankie
06-17-2005, 10:02 AM
Yes. I thought it sucked.
That's OK. We need some folks of bad taste in this world to offset me!

htismaqe
06-17-2005, 10:03 AM
How very sad...I have 2 cans of the stuff that are going to the trash right now. Thanks for posting this story.

Maybe instead of throwing it away, you could bother sitting down with your kids and explaining to them how incredibly STUPID huffing is?

After all, are you going to throw away paint, paint thinner, gasoline for your lawnmower, and the other 300-plus household items that they could inhale to get high?

ptlyon
06-17-2005, 10:07 AM
Man, what a cool, efficent way to get stoned at work.

Lzen
06-17-2005, 10:07 AM
Maybe instead of throwing it away, you could bother sitting down with your kids and explaining to them how incredibly STUPID huffing is?

After all, are you going to throw away paint, paint thinner, gasoline for your lawnmower, and the other 300-plus household items that they could inhale to get high?

Good points. I was already planning on talking to my boys about this. That's some scary shit.

Baby Lee
06-17-2005, 10:07 AM
How very sad...I have 2 cans of the stuff that are going to the trash right now. Thanks for posting this story.
No! Someone could retreive them. Toss them in the fireplace.

MichaelH
06-17-2005, 10:08 AM
I use Prilosec and around here, it is kept locked up. I had to find a store worker to unlock the case for me to get the stuff. Before she handed it to me, the clerk asked for my ID. I asked why I was being carded. In typical brainless store clerk fashion, she said that Prilosec was being stolen. I have no idea how this ties into how old I was. Anyway, could Prilosec be used for kids to get high with? :hmmm:

Demonpenz
06-17-2005, 10:11 AM
i ususally pass on that kind of stuff when i am at a party, but it does happen

Lzen
06-17-2005, 10:12 AM
No! Someone could retreive them. Toss them in the fireplace.

:LOL:

That's funny to me because when I was a kid (or perhaps early teen), we threw a hair spray can into the campfire. Waited and waited and nothing happened. Finally, several minutes later, it blew up. Funniest damn thing. Put holes in our tent from the hot coals and blew out the campfire. Heh, I guess we were easily amused.

Lzen
06-17-2005, 10:13 AM
I use Prilosec and around here, it is kept locked up. I had to find a store worker to unlock the case for me to get the stuff. Before she handed it to me, the clerk asked for my ID. I asked why I was being carded. In typical brainless store clerk fashion, she said that Prilosec was being stolen. I have no idea how this ties into how old I was. Anyway, could Prilosec be used for kids to get high with? :hmmm:

Give them diarheaa maybe.

Skip Towne
06-17-2005, 10:14 AM
Maybe instead of throwing it away, you could bother sitting down with your kids and explaining to them how incredibly STUPID huffing is?

After all, are you going to throw away paint, paint thinner, gasoline for your lawnmower, and the other 300-plus household items that they could inhale to get high?
Don't be telling her what to do!!

htismaqe
06-17-2005, 10:17 AM
Good points. I was already planning on talking to my boys about this. That's some scary shit.

You should understand that huffing Dust-Off is not a chemically-induced "high" like smoking a joint or inhaling paint fumes.

It's oxygen-replacement poisoning, similar to carbon monoxide poisoning.

htismaqe
06-17-2005, 10:18 AM
I use Prilosec and around here, it is kept locked up. I had to find a store worker to unlock the case for me to get the stuff. Before she handed it to me, the clerk asked for my ID. I asked why I was being carded. In typical brainless store clerk fashion, she said that Prilosec was being stolen. I have no idea how this ties into how old I was. Anyway, could Prilosec be used for kids to get high with? :hmmm:

Interesting.

As far as I know, Prilosec can't be used to get high, nor can one use it to make meth...

keg in kc
06-17-2005, 10:26 AM
That's OK. We need some folks of bad taste in this world to offset me!There's nothing bad about my taste. Different maybe, you could argue that, but not bad.

What's this "high" everyone keeps mentioning?

Frankie
06-17-2005, 10:29 AM
There's nothing bad about my taste. Different maybe, you could argue that, but not bad.

What's this "high" everyone keeps mentioning?
Hey keg. Chill dude. I was funnin' with you.

keg in kc
06-17-2005, 10:31 AM
Hey keg. Chill dude. I was funnin' with you.I'm never serious, even if I read that way.

Although sometimes I make references that nobody but me would ever understand. I should really stop that.

htismaqe
06-17-2005, 10:45 AM
There's nothing bad about my taste. Different maybe, you could argue that, but not bad.

What's this "high" everyone keeps mentioning?

Climb to the top of a 12-story building and jump off.

That feeling right before you hit the ground -- THAT is the "high'.

Saulbadguy
06-17-2005, 10:46 AM
How very sad...I have 2 cans of the stuff that are going to the trash right now. Thanks for posting this story.
ROFL

Bearcat
06-17-2005, 10:47 AM
I found out about a week ago that you have to be 17 to buy White Out at Walmart (and apparently a variety of other items, too).... F*cking lazy kids. Get a freakin job so you can afford drugs like the rest of us.

KC Kings
06-17-2005, 10:54 AM
No, not really. CO2 can't get anyone high.

However, the propellant in Dust-Off and other commercial computer canned air products CAN BE fatal. Kids have been huffing it for a decade.

I was being a smart azz, but are you being a smart azz too, or do I have my gases mixed up?

Isn't CO2 what is used for whippets?

ptlyon
06-17-2005, 10:55 AM
Isn't CO2 what is used for whippets?

Whippit good

Saulbadguy
06-17-2005, 10:55 AM
Maybe instead of throwing it away, you could bother sitting down with your kids and explaining to them how incredibly STUPID huffing is?

After all, are you going to throw away paint, paint thinner, gasoline for your lawnmower, and the other 300-plus household items that they could inhale to get high?
Look who you are talking to.

htismaqe
06-17-2005, 10:58 AM
I was being a smart azz, but are you being a smart azz too, or do I have my gases mixed up?

Isn't CO2 what is used for whippets?

Nope. CO2 is carbon dioxide. It's produced by tons of biological processes (along with H2O) including breathing.

Whippets are nitrous oxide. Under pressure, it's considerably heavier than air. It's used at the dentist's office. And it produces the EXACT effect that we're talking about here with Dust-Off -- it inhibits the uptake of oxygen into the bloodstream.

siberian khatru
06-17-2005, 11:03 AM
I found out about a week ago that you have to be 17 to buy White Out at Walmart (and apparently a variety of other items, too).... F*cking lazy kids. Get a freakin job so you can afford drugs like the rest of us.

ROFL ROFL

chiefs4me
06-17-2005, 12:25 PM
Maybe instead of throwing it away, you could bother sitting down with your kids and explaining to them how incredibly STUPID huffing is?

After all, are you going to throw away paint, paint thinner, gasoline for your lawnmower, and the other 300-plus household items that they could inhale to get high?




Maybe you should know more before you start running your mouth. Nothing is kept unlocked for my kids. Although I don't worry about the 15 and 19 year olds..they are very good boys.

I have no paint or paint thinner, gas and ant killer are kept in the shed out back with a lock that only I have the key to, I don't want the neighbor kids to try and ride the ko-kart when we are gone.

My household cleaning products are kept in a closet in my garage which is also kept locked,(always) because of my hubby's car. I also have that key, as he is always gone working.

Our medcine is kept in my bathroom on the very top of my shelf or in my purse. I have a 3 year old, so my house is very childproofed already. But the 2 cans of spray were just sitting in the computer room on the desk......I guess I was more worried about one of my sons friends getting them....

:harumph:

chiefs4me
06-17-2005, 12:27 PM
ROFL




aw, what's the matter Saully.......did you fall on your fatass and now can't get up?:hmmm:

Skip Towne
06-17-2005, 12:47 PM
Are your two older boys limp wristed? Do they play soccer?

Baby Lee
06-17-2005, 12:48 PM
Are your two older boys limp wristed? Do they play soccer?
A little lonely, are ya?

Saulbadguy
06-17-2005, 12:56 PM
aw, what's the matter Saully.......did you fall on your fatass and now can't get up?:hmmm:
Yes. I laughed at your stupidity, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You seem to outdo yourself every time.

Hydrae
06-17-2005, 01:08 PM
Back in the mid 70's I worked at an ice cream place. There were many people there who would inhale the propellant from the whipped cream cans. I would guess it is probably similar to the propellant used here.

chiefs4me
06-17-2005, 01:14 PM
Yes. I laughed at your stupidity, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You seem to outdo yourself every time.




:rolleyes:






:ZZZ:

Dartgod
06-17-2005, 01:38 PM
I found out about a week ago that you have to be 17 to buy White Out at Walmart (and apparently a variety of other items, too).... F*cking lazy kids. Get a freakin job so you can afford drugs like the rest of us.
That's some funny shit right there, I don't care who you are.

wildcat09
06-17-2005, 01:45 PM
i had a roomate in college that used to do that. it would lower his voice extremely low. we all thought it was funny. it was like a helium voice but much lower. now that i read this article its just not that funny. he did it several times. i guess he was lucky.

chagrin
06-17-2005, 02:01 PM
"At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita."

-GO TEAM!!
:toast:

htismaqe
06-17-2005, 02:45 PM
i had a roomate in college that used to do that. it would lower his voice extremely low. we all thought it was funny. it was like a helium voice but much lower. now that i read this article its just not that funny. he did it several times. i guess he was lucky.

We used to do EZ-Whips by the CASE.

Rain Man
06-17-2005, 02:55 PM
"At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita."

-GO TEAM!!
:toast:

Yeah, but if you take out the murders, the crime isn't really that bad.

MOhillbilly
06-17-2005, 02:56 PM
No, not really. CO2 can't get anyone high.

However, the propellant in Dust-Off and other commercial computer canned air products CAN BE fatal. Kids have been huffing it for a decade.

Air horns.

htismaqe
06-17-2005, 03:03 PM
Air horns.

Whipped cream at the super market.