“Most parents kind of know what alcohol abuse looks like. Most parents kind of know what marijuana abuse looks like. But with inhalant abuse, it’s a different story,” said Dalene Dutton, executive director of Five Town Communities That Care, a Rockport-based, nonprofit group devoted to healthful youth development. “Unfortunately, sometimes they don’t know anything is going on until they find their child dead in their bedroom.”

And this does not have to occur just because parents have been ignorant of a longtime problem. The frightening fact is that any time a household chemical is abused, it can cause death – even the first time.

That’s why Dutton is so keen to get the word out about the abuse of household chemicals. As one of 19 inhalant abuse experts available through the Maine Inhalant Prevention Task Force, she knows the inhaling of these toxins by children and youths is a problem statewide, with one in seven eighth-graders (14 percent) reporting they have tried inhalants. But in the five towns that her agency serves – Appleton, Camden, Hope, Lincolnville and Rockport – “our problem is even worse,” she added. This midcoast area reports that one in five children (20.1 percent) have used inhalants by the time they reach the eighth grade.

Why is the problem so insidious?

First of all, children, teens and even some parents may not view the inhaling or “huffing” of household chemicals as being as gravely dangerous as drug use. While it may be obvious that some of the more odiferous chemical fumes are bad for you, others may seem relatively benign, especially if they come from the propellant in a common food dispenser.

While with most drug abuse, kids have to seek suppliers and spend considerable money on their habit, household chemicals are readily accessible on your pantry shelves, under the sink, or in your garage. Many of them can be legally purchased, too.

And while parents may realize that the middle-school years are a key time to be alert for kids’ experimentation with drugs and alcohol, many moms and dads are unaware that inhalant abuse often occurs long before kids try other harmful substances. Dutton said 9.7 percent of sixth-graders in the five-town area report experimenting with inhalants.

This early use is particularly alarming not only because death can result but, for those kids who do not die, inhalant abuse is a predictor for additional drug abuse as the child ages. It is also a certain path to numerous medical problems affecting the heart, lungs, bloodstream, liver, brain lining, brain cells, muscles, eyes and more. Psychological and personality disorders, heart arrhythmia, brain cell death, loss of coordination, slurred speech, tremors, the development of kidney stones, muscle wasting and leukemia are just some of the problems that can result from inhalant abuse. Many of these problems persist.

What can a parent do?

Dutton recommends getting educated about the signs of inhalant abuse. A reliable source of information is www.inhalants.org, the Web site of the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition. Or look for a free online course for parents at www.inhalantabusetraining.org/. Dutton, too, will answer questions by e-mail at dalene@fivetownctc.org, or telephone at 236-9800.

If you suspect or observe a problem, don’t explode. A measured approach may be life-saving if you catch your child in the act of huffing. That’s because a common result of huffing is heart arrhythmia, which can trigger death if the child is badly startled, agitated, or runs away from a parent or authority figure.

The best thing to do when you catch a child or teen huffing is to remain calm, ventilate the room, and keep the child safe. Look for containers or other evidence of the product that has been inhaled. Make sure to follow up with treatment by a doctor and counselor who has experience treating inhalant abuse. If the child is in medical distress, call 911 but emphasize that this is a huffing or inhalant abuse incident and ask that emergency medical personnel arrive and behave calmly as they care for the victim. Increasingly, EMTs are trained to exercise caution in these cases.

THE WARNING SIGNS

This week is National Inhalant and Poison Prevention Week, an ideal time to learn to recognize the signs of inhalant abuse. It’s also a great time to do your own outreach on the topic; you might just save a life.

Some of the indications of inhalant abuse or huffing include:

Sores around mouth or nose

Bloodshot eyes, runny eyes or nose

Paint stains on body (particularly fingernails) or clothes (including shirt cuffs)

Chemical breath odor

Loss of appetite, nausea

Staggered gait, dazed or dizzy appearance

Anxiety, irritability, excitability

Unexplained depletion or disappearance of household products

Sources: Dalene Dutton and the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition