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SALT LAKE CITY -- While drug abuse is a concern among parents, they often ignore the dangers of common household products like aerosol hairspray, shoe polish and glue. More and more kids are inhaling these products to get high, and now the fear is that younger children are doing it as well.
"The products that are used are everyday products that might be in the home: computer dust-off spray that cleans off keyboards, Reddi Whip in the fridge, correction fluid, shoe polish, glue," says Marty Malheiro, spokeswoman for the Utah Poison Control Center. [CLICK HERE to see a list of other commonly abused inhalants]
Malheiro coordinates poison prevention education throughout the state of Utah. In a recent presentation, she expressed her concern about inhalant abuse in elementary-age kids.
"Chronic users have all kinds of multi-organ toxicity system failures and brain dysfunctions," The long-term effect of inhalant abuse is extremely serious."
Malherio says to prevent abuse, talk to your kids about inhalants. With younger kids, she suggests you let them know about the household chemicals you're using and why they're bad to breathe. With teenagers, she says, be strait forward about the issue.
"I'm a big fan of being honest and asking your kids openly: Did you know about this? Are you involved with this? Share the information, Malheiro says.
When it comes to parents, Malherio says they too need to take responsibility. She says parents need to check their household products to see if a lot suddenly goes missing and replace potential aerosol inhalants with liquid ones.
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