A two‐decade review of butane toxicity as a substance of abuse

Abstract

Butane, an aliphatic hydrocarbon with explosive and flammable properties, is widely misused especially by young people. Acting as an asphyxiant gas, butane mainly targets the central nervous and cardiovascular systems. We aimed to review butane‐attributed toxicities due to its harmful use or misuse reported in a two‐decade period. We searched English‐language publications reporting butane toxicities from 2000 up to 2021 and collected data on age, gender, route and source of exposure, country of origin, clinical presentation and outcome. Among 54 butane's harmful use/misuse cases identified in the literature, there were 11 survivors successfully discharged from the hospital. Patients were predominantly males with a mean age ± SD of 23 ± 13 years. The main route of exposure was inhalation. Manifestations were mainly cardiac and neurological. Majority of the cases were reported from Europe and Japan. To conclude, butane exposure is at risk of severe central nervous system and cardiac toxicities, which may result in a fatal outcome. Therefore, in the event of a sudden or suspicious death in a young individual, our findings suggest that butane's harmful use/misuse should be considered as a potential differential diagnosis.

Developing Hyperpolarized Butane Gas for Ventilation Lung Imaging

“…Light anesthetic effects were observed in mice exposed to 220 000 ppm (or 22%) butane for 25 min . The history of butane substance abuse in humans reports on butane primarily affecting central nervous system (CNS) and cardiac function . In human volunteers, a 10 min exposure with 10 000 ppm butane yielded some drowsiness, but no irritation was noted up to 100 000 ppm (or 10%) butane concentration with exposure for a few minutes .…”

Trends in substance use among sexual minority adolescents in South Korea

“…In addition, the present study does not explore questions regarding the causes, pre‐existing familial backgrounds, contributing characteristics or environmental factors of substance use and abuse (Joung & Chung, 2019; Joung & Saewyc, 2020; Maeng et al, 2021; Park et al, 2022) nor the various consequences in terms of mental and physical health (Evans‐Polce et al, 2021; Talley et al, 2019; Vahabzadeh & Mégarbane, 2022). Also worthy of note is that the few studies on sexual minority adults that have been conducted in Korea (Lee et al, 2021) were not directly related to the situation of adolescents, but identified the research problem, however, it served as a useful foundation for conducting research.…”

“…As the first study to focus on inhalant use among sexual minority adolescents in South Korea the results force us to undertake an examination of the factors that might contribute to the ongoing prevalence of inhalant use among this adolescent subpopulation who have been excluded from South Korea's national survey. Future studies will need to clarify such factors as the ease of access to and cheap prices of inhalants (Vahabzadeh & Mégarbane, 2022); the personal and cultural motivation for use; and the related physical and mental health issue including suicidality (Jung et al, 2019).…”

“…For inhalant use, Table 4 Abbreviations: BS, adolescents who reported sex with both male and female partners; CI, confidence intervals; CS%, complex samples weighted percentage aOR:age-adjusted odds ratios; HS, adolescents who reported sex with heterosexual partner(s); SS,adolescents who reported sex with same-sex partner(s). Park et al, 2022) nor the various consequences in terms of mental and physical health (Evans-Polce et al, 2021;Talley et al, 2019;Vahabzadeh & Mégarbane, 2022). Also worthy of note is that the few studies on sexual minority adults that have been conducted in Korea (Lee et al, 2021) were not directly related to the situation of adolescents, but identified the research problem, however, it served as a useful foundation for conducting research.…”

“…Around the world substance use by adolescents poses a major risk to their mental and physical health. It is a well‐studied phenomena (Vahabzadeh & Mégarbane, 2022). In South Korea, while there have been many studies of substance use among the general population of adolescents, (e.g., Joung & Chung, 2019; Maeng et al, 2021) there has been only one study of substance use among sexual minority adolescents which focused on alcohol (Kim & Seo, 2020).…”