SNIFFING
( Backround)
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 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 words even our TV programmes are being so designed that portray a factual position of using sniffing substance for seeking some relaxation from the complex problems of life.
The Society grows as individuals also tend to grow. The time came with development of industrial sector. During this period certain Organic Solvents were invented with composition of certain chemicals mainly for Industrial use. Mainly this group of solvents became popular as inhalant abuse among children, teen agers, marginalized people or Industrial workers where such solvents are used by the particular Industry.
Coming to modern age where different type of perfumes are 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 :-
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 nose. It is also akin to investigating what an old container or
jar kept in the corner of the kitchen contains by sense of inhaling the smell.
Sniffing is nothing other than 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 affect 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 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 .
Why Children are addicted to sniffing ?
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 gland 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 a stress is a Strain, a Pressure, a Force etc. If taken in a simple and strait 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 along may cause adrenal glands to bring out stress hormones. The stress response can be a Psychological and psychology 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 matter of dealing by the experts of this field. Here a pinch of stress has been given so that further reading can be understood easily. The children mostly fall prey to addiction of any kind including sniffing not only because of any type of stress. However the 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.
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 type 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 reliving 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
NAIL PAINT REMOVER
Nail Paint is popularly known as Nail Polish Remover also. Before we talk about the Nail Paint Removers, let us talk about what is Nail Polish and with what material it is made of. :
Nail Paint or Nail Polish
Why Nail Polish is used ? The answer is very simple, the Nail Polish is used for giving different look to Nails and this is done by colouring the Nails. For giving different colours to nails different pigments are used along with some solvents. It may be made clear that pigments for the purpose of this context are those powders that have their colour materials according to their chemical and physical properties. Whereas solvents are substances, usually liquid and capable of dissolving another substance. Not going into details of pigments and solvents used to give a particular colourn to the nail polish, it must be understood some such substances are used which may have ill effects for the health
Nail polish should be binding and adhesive components in order to ensure that the polish remain intact on the nails for some time. For making it sparkling some thickness is also require for which different chemicals are used.
Basically the formula of manufacturing the Nail Polish depends form company to company which use different combination of different chemicals as per their own formulas. But basic components remain the almost same : Names of some of which are given below:
Film forming Agents: Most known filming agent is Nitrocellulose which is highly inflammable and is also used in explosives. What to say in Dynamites also
Resins and Plasticizers: It is added to functions a resistant agent in order to enhance the durability of the polish. It works as resistant of water, soap and other day to day soluble particles.
Solvents: This agent works to hold the colour along with other material of the polish until its applied on the nails. Sovents evaporate instantly after application of polish. It helps the polish to stick on the nails
Colouring Agents: Pigments function as
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