Why children are addicted to sniffing ?

The habit of sniffing is old dated. In ancient times people were in habit of sniffing of  Eetter(इतर  ) ( a kind of perfume),   burning spices(अगरबती ),  clay, mud, leaves of organic plants,  even human bodies and all type of such inhaling was harmless.    It is a matter of surprise that all these solvents were used frequently even in religious ceremonies.  It is in our culture to perform religious ceremonies as per traditions adopted from ages. But it was difficult in ancient times to find out the reasons as to why an individual is feeling so high after sniffing a particular fume. Even the sticks of Aggerbati अगरबती and  Dhoop धूप also emanate such adore which affect the stimulant elements of human bodies. In older times even adults were seen sniffing something. It was a kind of powder a pinch of which was snuffled by an adult at frequent intervals It is called Snuff (नसवार ). Even today this (नसवार ).is being used in rural areas but is also shown on TV Serials where an Ammaji sniffs it , particularly when her characters to face some tedious problem. In another word, even our TV programs are being so designed that portray a factual position of using the sniffing substance for seeking some relaxation from the complex problems of life.

A society grows as individuals also tend to grow. The time came with the development of the industrial sector.  During this period certain Organic Solvents were invented with the composition of certain chemicals mainly for Industrial use.  Mainly this group of solvents became popular as inhalant abuse among children, teenagers, marginalized people or  Industrial workers where such solvents are used by the particular Industry.

Coming to the modern age where different types of perfumes is used almost in every house. It may not be wrong to say that high volatile perfume ( तीव्र  गंध  वाला ) 

 is known as best one without knowing its bad effects.  Why we are talking about perfumes, the matter of perfumes shall be discussed later on first of all I wish to concentrate on the items reported in the press report as mentioned above:-

1. Sniffing Eraser Fluid

What is Sniffing?( नाक या  मुंह द्वारा जोर से  साँस खेंचना)

  Before we talk about the  Eraser Fluid it must be known as to what the sniffing is ?. What is sniffing must be understood in detail so that parents should be aware of as to why their children develop a habit of sniffing:-

--- Sniffing is to  inhale  something(say solvent) containing  toxin effects through    

      nose.

--- To use the sense of smell. Like testing or checking  a perfumer product by taking     

      its smell through the nose. It  is also  akin to investigating  what an old  container or   

      jar kept in the corner of the kitchen contains by a sense of inhaling the smell.

Sniffing is nothing other than an act of inhaling something out of anxiety by children and if the practice is repeated regularly over a long time, it becomes inhaling habit which enforces the effect of addiction of inhaling among youngsters.

Why should we blame the children? The parents and teachers also appear to have developed a habit of inhaling. Their morning starts with the stimulating smell of Coffee or the Tea which has become a habit without knowing that using such things also tantamount to addiction though of low volatility.

Sniffing any type of drug is actually used to set off a stress response of adrenal glands(गुर्दे की ग्रंथि  ) which are stimulated setting the stress response in motion. The adrenal glands are also known as Suprarenal glands which are responsible to manage and control many important functions of the human body. So far as stress is concerned, with reference to this subject only, we may say stress is a Strain, a Pressure, a Force, etc. If taken in simple and straight words we may call it  "Wear and Tear "  This becomes a situation where muscles are tensed, blood sugar is elevated in addition to increasing the pulse rate. After sniffing   one becomes mentally very alert because of feeling high, if excessive sniffing is done one may feel a state of chronic stress. Even a simple cup of coffee all day long may cause adrenal glands to bring out stress hormones.  The stress response can be a Psychological and psychological reaction also. The children are many times subjected to come across such varied situations which they find difficult to face. These situations create a sort of quick reaction in the body which prepares itself either to fight with the situations or run away (Say " Flee " )  from the perceived attack, harm or threat for survival. Stress managing is a serious subject in itself and is a matter of dealing with the experts in this field. Here a pinch of stress has been given so that further reading can be understood easily. The children mostly fall prey to the addiction of any kind including sniffing not only because of any type of stress. However, stress is one of the main reasons,  found in many studies conducted in this field,  for children adopting the addiction in their life.

Before we proceed further it would be expedient to discuss all the items  which have been mentioned in the report published in the Hindustan Times.  These items are being discussed one by one as follows:

 1.Eraser Fluid

The Eraser Fluid contains the elements of  Hydrocarbons and Inorganic Acids.  Although organic solvents  are mostly used as inhaling toxicants but because this  'Eraser Fluid' is easily available at throw way prices is in easy  reach of every child  either poor or rich. Eraser fluids are mostly used for erasing something from  paper , drawing  art  or any surface as a cleaning agent. The white ink using for shoe whiting agent  are also known as eraser white ink  Both  eraser fluid and  shoe whitener  contain organic solvent  toluene  which is a comical having  affects  which may cause hallucinatory  effects on children in habit of sniffing eraser fluids of any kind.  These fluids  are  available  very easily in any hardware shop on  easily affordable prices  and are therefore point of attraction for the teen agers  to get  an inhaling agent  for their entertainment. ( Hallucination   (मति  भ्रम  करने वाला , भ्रमात्मक)   is a state of mind that creates  imagination of something being real that does not truly exist. It may depend from a child to child whether  his imagination is towards  seeing the things otherwise true or hearing the sounds that do not exist or  any other  type of  perception  in which he may have engaged himself )  Hallucination  may be caused by many reason. It is not only that any type of drug like sniffing eraser or something is responsible for it, it can be caused by the mental conditions also which is a subject matter of  Health Care.

2. Naphthalene balls

These balls are toxic  with high level of  exposure mainly used as pesticide for protecting cloths etc. These are also called moth balls. The very smell of  Naphthalene Balls  becomes the reason  of addiction to inhaling the smell of these balls . The composition of these balls contains Para dichlorobenzene (PDB). Which is an insecticide used to control Moth or Moth larva. Such balls are placed among the cloths particularly in woolen cloths in a sealed packet to protect the cloths from the Moths. Moths are winged inspects (कपड़ों मैं लगने वाला कीड़ा  या पतंगा)  which are destroyed by the fume of moth balls.  These are also used as  toilet bowl deodorizers also.  The smell of these balls also sometime becomes the point of attraction because of the fact that chemical used in these balls also provide a certain quantity of feeling  high. Feeling high means enjoying the selfbeing in the state of ecstasy just to forget some unwanted  happening that is taking place in the day to day life.  Inhaling fumes  from moth balls  helps to feel high.  It is not new mothballs are used as an intoxicant  for some time now, but it joins a long list of common household items used by teens to get high.

2. Pain reliving Balms

 First of all it important to understand what is a balm? It is  the oily aromatic exudation  (सुगन्धित रस)  of certain trees or shrubs, used for healing or soothing pains. So far it was oily aromatic , it was good for use by any one.  But  I purchased a Pain Reliving  Balm from my Chemist and carefully  read the  composition of the balm

I am sure every body in India must be using this pain reliving balm because if its BIG brand  name.  I personally  read on the bottle of the balm printed in such a way and miniature form that even a young person having  full eye sight intact, is not able to read what is written thereon. I was able to read this composition of the said very particular balm which every one In India  likes to purchase  for getting rid of any kind of pain.  The composition of this  pain reliving balm is given below:-

a) DICLOFENAC: This  drug is prescribed by doctors  to reduce pain of any kind whether by injury  or any other problem like arthritis.  But the  most important factor is  that in India  this drug called medicine , is  being sold at every shop of chemists ,  which in fact is combination of  potassium  or sodium salt.

Being not expert of chemistry  I am not able to go into details  but keeping in view the interest of children  I must say that every parent or teacher must be knowing what is  potassium  and sodium salts.  If not  such type of sodium salts combined with  potassium can  increase risk of serious effects  on the stomach and intestines which may result into vast bleeding. For school going children and other younger persons  such condition can be very serious leave about the older persons  who may have higher risk. Side effects  of  Declofenac  are given below:

     1. Breathing problems, not able to speak properly, eye sight blurriness, body pain                     etc.;

2.Loose motions  with blood  or black in colour.;

3.      Feeling like choking of throat an coughing

4.      Feeling like sleepy with dizziness

5.      Feeling like feverish with headache and numbness in  all over the body

b)   DIETHYLAMINE

It is  basically a chemical  which is used  in  electroplating, resins dyes,  pesticides. Mainly it is a poisoning chemical. Exposure to this chemical  may adversely effect the health of a child exposed to this chemical.

c)  LINSEED OIL: In our childhood we used to call it in hindi as Alsi ka tail.( अलसी  

 का  तेल  ) As a grain it has been found to be very much  healthy food among other grains.  As an oil also it is used in every Indian house as a pain reliever oil and mostly is used as  such even today.  But  it is very sensitive  to oxidation  and therefore more  spontaneous  combustion than petroleum  oils.  The use of this oil can be friendly and also as an enemy depending upon the use  of this oil.

d)      METHYLE SALICYLATE

This is a type of acid  which is colorless and is available in every nearby shop in the form of cream ,  lotion, powder, granular form. This chemical do not have any odor and is easily  soluble in water. In medical terms and also in the terms of the chemistry  this acid  not only can adversely effect  the health of any one but  is a factor of  causing  intoxication among young children inadvertently.

e)       BENZYL- ALCOHOL

It is an industrial chemical used in several types of produces like paints and thinners etc.  If swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through skin or otherwise may adversely affect the nervous system of young children.   After reading all these ingredients used in the pain relieving balm it must alert all the parents about abuses of pain balms. As excessive inhaling of such balms may cause respiratory problems. Each parent or teacher must read personally the composition written on the pain reliving balms