The new “chroming” trend on social media has already led to a number of deaths, but what is the trend and why is it becoming so popular now?
“You’re literally inhaling paint and thinner to get high … the problem is you have acetone in there, there’s formaldehyde,” said Fox News contributor Dr. Marc Siegel during an appearance on “America’s Newsroom”. “It’s called volatile organic compounds for a reason. It irritates your skin, it can get into your lungs, you can have seizures, you can go into a coma, and again, we occasionally see people dying from it.”
At first glance, the trend appears to be a variation on the decade-long trend of sniffing or sniffing different materials, this time involving inhaling everything from aerosol cans to metallic paints, gases and solvents. Two boys, both 16, died from participating in the trend in 2019, according to The Strait Times.
Despite the trend that has been around for a few years, searches for chrome increased around May 14, according to Google Trends. The trend attracted particular attention in Australia after 13-year-old Esra Haynes died while she was alleged to be chroming.
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03 June 2021, Berlin: Spray cans on a trolley during the graffiti workshop at Madame Tussauds Berlin. (Gerald Matzka/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Chrome plating has a broader definition, but the name comes from the act of sniffing chrome-based paint or deodorant as a means to get high, according to the National Retail Association.
“The biggest problem is long-term cognitive issues — which actually causes problems with concentration if you use it over time,” Siegel pointed out. “A really dangerous idea to put organically active compounds in – to sniff them out.”
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Esra Haynes with her parents Paul and Andrea and siblings Imogen, Seth and Charlie. (A current deal)
Siegel blamed platforms like TikTok for allowing the trend to grow, saying, “It’s one of the issues I have with social media and the impact it has.”
Esra Haynes fell victim to the dangerous craze called “chroming.” (A current deal)
The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne explained in a set of guidelines posted on its website that the trend carries a risk of tachycardia – a term for elevated heart rate – and “variable levels of CNS depression” or heart depression. central nervous system, which occurs when a substance slows down brain activity.
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A man on the Common gets drunk by “puffing” compressed air. Tuesday August 28, 2007. (John Wilcox/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
Additional side effects include slurred speech, dizziness, hallucinations, nausea, and vomiting. The effects may last for a short time – a few hours after exposure – but chroming can also lead to heart attack, seizures, suffocation, coma or permanent damage to organs such as the brain, heart, lungs, liver and kidneys.
A teenager sniffs a bag of glue on a busy street in the center of the capital. (Jerry Redfern/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The RCH lists additional items, such as petroleum products, paint thinner, nail polish remover, hair spray, and lighter fluid as commonly used sources of chromium plating. Children can inhale the chemicals by dipping them in a rag before breathing them in, by placing them in a plastic bag, or by inhaling them directly from the container.
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A 2021 New York Times report found that a 2018 report in the Journal of Neurology had noted a rapid increase in the abuse of nitrous oxide, another chemical inhalant. The Netherlands, in particular, is experiencing a wave of young people presenting to hospitals with neurological disorders.
The Times suggested the lockdown may have sparked interest in alternative substance abuse research as stress and isolation have forced people to find different outlets to ease their anxieties, though it doesn’t explain why chromium has gained new life in the 2023.
Australia’s Victoria Education Department said it would ramp up efforts to educate children about chromium plating and its deadly effects following Haynes’ death.
