Although I sympathize with the officer, there is one incorrect statement in
the story. There is a warning on the can of Dust Remover by 3M although I
don't know about Dust-Off (although I think there is). Below the label and
the weight is the statement "Warning! Harmful if inhaled." Maybe it is not
as large as it should be, but it has been on cans of this for many years. I
used it in the 70s in photography and it was know as a problem even then.
Hold the can upside down and spray and you can feel how cold it gets. It is
basically the same propellant that goes in freon that has been banned.
Carl Seale, Librarian -- Retired
cbseale@sbcglobal.net
http://www.antiquesnthings.net
We have met the enemy and he is us.
Walt Kelly
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cristal Crowell" <CECrowell@AOL.COM>
To: <LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 10:32 PM
Subject: [LM_NET] OT: DUST-OFF WARNING
> I know this strays a little from what we usually talk about on "our"
> list-serv. But after reading this, I thought it was important that I
followed this
> to the list. I know that I have Dust-off or similar products in my
library.
> I never allow students to use the product. But ---- well I am glad I
know
> this is a possibility with the product.
>
> I checked this on snopes.com and apparently this is true. Please
> forward to others, it could save a life.
> _http://www.snopes.com/toxins/dustoff.asp_
> (http://www.snopes.com/toxins/dustoff.asp)
>
> Cristal
>
>
> Dust Off- A Serious Fatal Hazard
>
> First IM going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is
> Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is
> known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs.
> At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita.
>
> I also have a police K-9 named Thor. He was certified in drugs and
> general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line
> of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he
> likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs
> into my house. Thor wouldn't allow it. He would tell on you.
>
> The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs. I
> have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least
> once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they won't.
>
> I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in
> February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They
> were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a
> 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off
> a computer.
>
> A few weeks later when I went to use them they were all used. I talked
> to my kids and my 2 sons both said they had used them on their computer
> and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10
> dollars I paid for them.
>
> On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn't have the
> 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust
> Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.
>
> On March 1st I left for work at 10 PM. At 11 PM my wife went down and
> kissed Kyle goodnight. At 530 AM the next morning Kathy went downstairs
> to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was sitting up
> in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to
> him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her
> like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up.
>
> She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had
> the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new
> can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.
>
> I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse
> and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner,
> after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was
> in his system. No other drugs.
> Kyle had died between midnight and 1 Am.
>
> I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9
> through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting. A take
> off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10
> seconds. It makes them dizzy.
>
> A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about
> a month before. Kyle showed his best
> friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. It's just
> compressed air. It can't hurt you. His best friend said no.
>
> Kyle's dead! Kyle was wrong. It's not just compresses air. It also
> contains a propellant. I think its R2. It's a refrigerant like what is
> used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas.-Heavier than air. When you
> inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out.
> That's why you feel dizzy, buzzed.
>
> It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right. It
> can't hurt you. IT KILLS YOU.
>
> The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level
> that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go
> randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you
> die. IT'S NOT AN OVERDOSE. It's Russian roulette.
>
> You don't die later. Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You
> usually die as your breathing it in. If not you die within 2 seconds of
> finishing "the hit." That's why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when
> he died. Why his eyes were still open.
>
> The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe its
> huffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together, but it doesn't
> fit here. And that's why it's more accepted. There is no chemical
> reaction. no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals.
>
> Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It
> probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.
> It's easy to say hay, it's my life and I'll do what I want. But it
> isn't. Others are always affected. This has forever changed our
> family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be
> fixed. The pain is so
> immense I can't describe it. There's nowhere to run from it. I cry all
> the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't
> really care.
>
> My kids are messed up. One won't talk about it. The other will only
> sleep in our room at night and my wife, I can't even describe how bad
> she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we
> were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.
>
>
> After Kyle died another story came out. A Probation Officer went to the
> school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found
> a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about
> another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather
> affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug
> problem there. They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So
> rather than tell everyone about this "new" way of getting high they
> found, they hid it.
>
> The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they the
> school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the
> media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house. We need to get
> this out of our homes and school
> computer labs. Using Dust Off isn't new and some "professionals" do know
> about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They know
> about it.
>
> April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his
> 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living
> room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the
> bus. I know Kyle is in heaven but I can't help but wonder if I died and
> went to Hell.
>
> Jeff Tracey Lowey, B.A., M.S.
> Crime Analyst
> Targeted Enforcement Unit #583 Calgary Police
> Service Office:
>
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