Nitrous Oxide

MONDAY, March 17, 2025 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is cautioning consumers against the recreational use of any flavor of nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas) from canisters, tanks, or chargers. Inhalation of these products can lead to serious health issues, including fatalities. Nitrous oxide canisters, both flavored and unflavored, are being marketed as a food processing propellant for whipped cream and other culinary uses. The products are sold under various brand names including, Baking Bad, Cosmic Gas, Galaxy Gas, HOTWHIP, InfusionMax, MassGass, Whip-it!, and Miami Magic. They are available at online stores such as Amazon, Ebay, and Walmart, as well as at smoke/vape shops and gas stations. The FDA warns that inhaling nitrous oxide can result in a range of symptoms and serious health problems, including abnormal blood counts, asphyxiation, blood clots, frostbite, headache, impaired bowel and bladder function, lightheadedness, limb weakness, loss of consciousness, numbness, palpitations, paralysis, psychiatric disturbances (delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, depression), tingling, trouble walking, vitamin B12 deficiency, and in some cases, death. Habitual nitrous oxide inhalation can lead to lasting neurological issues, such as spinal cord or brain damage, in certain individuals, even after they cease use. Consumers are advised against misusing or inhaling nitrous oxide products, and to contact their health care provider if they have recently used these products and have health concerns. "The FDA will continue tracking reports of adverse events resulting from the inhalation and misuse of nitrous oxide canisters and will take appropriate actions to protect the public’s health," the agency said in an alert. More Information Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

An industrial chemical used in plastic products has popped up in illegal drugs from California to Maine, a sudden and inexplicable shift in drug supply that has health researchers on alert. Elquon industrial chemicals tend to come in batches at random, but in recent months, the plastic flame retardant BIS (2,2,6, 6-tetramethyl-4-piperoyl) sebacate has been found to be a major drug problem, according to researchers involved in an initiative called the Loschein Chart Project, which collects and analyzes samples of illegal drugs sold in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. A chemical often abbreviated as BTMPS has become a common ingredient. By the end of August, researchers led by Mitchell Jaffe, director of the Edner Jaffe Center for Outbreak Preparedness and Adaptation, had detected BTMFS in 44 percent of 174 samples of more toxic fentanyl drugs collected at various suppliers from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, according to the analysis. Given the chemical's popularity, researchers describe it as the most abrupt change in the supply of illegal drugs in the United States in recent years. "This is actually unprecedented," said Morgan Godwin, director of the Los Angeles Drug Check Project and co-director of Drug impact research at UCLA. "We don't know exactly how many people have been exposed to BTEMPS, but if the high prevalence in the drug samples tested so far is any indication, it means that thousands of fentanyl users have been exposed to BTEMPS, sometimes in very large amounts." Over the summer, BTMPS in fentanyl also increased: The analysis found no BTMPS in the fentanyl samples the team tested in June. By August, 41 percent of them had been found to contain the chemical. By the end of September, however, the percentage of sputum samples containing BTMPS appeared to have decreased. In Los Angeles, Godwin's team tested a control sample set that included a handful of untested new drug samples collected between April and September and found that 27 percent contained BTMPS. Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, Jia Fei filed a series of legal actions against the company over BTMPS because his lab had identified the chemicals as being added in a shipment of fentanyl known as "Little Rock." "What we're seeing is a whole urban problem, a whole urban transformation," he said. The researchers were alarmed by the potential side effects suggested in studies of sleeping rodents, such as tremors and shortness of breath, which increase with the dose. In particular, given the possibility of being taken in a similar manner at the same time as regular cigarettes, smoking, as a common route of additional intake, has the potential to increase the risk for drug users. While some drug users who use these products have reported side effects such as blurred vision, nausea, and coughing, research into the potential effects of BTMPS on the human body is urgently needed. According to the PubChip database, BTMPS has also been linked to several possible hazards, including skin irritation and eye damage. In animal models, it can be fatal or even toxic when given in sufficient doses. "Given the ongoing public health debate and law enforcement efforts, this new, potential risk information raises additional concerns," the study notes. "At the same time, the risk to the public is increasing as new batches of chemicals come to light." While more information will likely come from Penn State's evacuation order for three chemicals, such as amitenafenats, researchers and treatment providers have so far known little about BTMPS. According to the Prescription Reversal Center in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, the chemical was not screened for in their services. "We really don't know the exact formula," said Fraunhan, the Scott Short Center's attending physician. "The combination of chemicals found in the fentanyl test kit is very confusing. We've been dealing with a whole lot of uncertainty." To some extent, changes in the supply of illicit drugs are dictated by deep-web groups who shun known synthetic drugs and seek utility in new channels. In many ways, it's still a mystery how one illegal chemical after another ends up in America's illegal drugs. Throughout the L.A. drug Office, Godwin and colleagues at the National Institute on Substance Abuse and Mental Health scrutinize the collection of illegal drugs, identifying and quantifying as much of their chemical content as possible. One of the key questions is: who is the true identity of the Dark Web's unseen creator. "I think there's some evil accelerators in there," Godwin said. "There is a risk that someone is making a mistake, improperly manipulating and getting out of touch with the business." Los Angeles and Philadelphia are just one of the places where the synthetic chemical BTMPS has turned up: The team has also found the chemical in several other drug paraphernalia, including samples from Delaware, Maryland and Nevada. As of last week, a project at the University of North Carolina that tested drug samples from across the country had also found BTMPS in more than 200 samples from at least 20 states from the West Coast to Maine. NabarunDasgupta, a senior scientist at the University of North Carolina, said the chemical began showing up in drug samples tested this summer, most often mixed with fentanyl, either as a powder form or in counterfeit form. Alex Krotolsky, director of the nonprofit Forensic Science Research and Education Center in Pennsylvania, said the levels of BTMPS found in the drug samples they tested varied widely - sometimes only a slight fraction of the sample, sometimes equal to the "majority" of the sample. Unlike other adulterants that are added to fentanyl to enhance its psychoactive effects, fentanyl doesn't have the nitrous oxide or other adulterants that people go out and want to use in pursuit of euphoria like other drugs. "People are not using fentanyl containing bullshit for fun or on impulse," Schauffer said. "It shows that counterfeiters really just want to increase the sensation and effect of opiates as much as possible, which is really vulgar." There is currently no test strip that can detect BTMPS as quickly as fentanyl stimulants. Also, doctors or medical examiners can't routinely test for the chemical, which means that if someone gets hurt by improperly taking BTMPS, clinicians won't be able to determine what caused the injury. To this day, even law enforcement or health regulators are not aware of the chemical's potential to cause overdose, although the warning declares that "every substance is toxic at certain doses." An analysis of drugs collected on the streets of the University of North Carolina suggests that the current situation calls for more sophisticated regulatory scrutiny. "This is another evolution of our system," Godwin said. "If you are able and want to protect yourself, I recommend you contact our Los Angeles Drug Check Center for drug testing analysis." Los Angeles is just one of the key battlegrounds in the ever-evolving war on drugs, led by BTMPS and other emerging dopants.