They say there’s nothing new under the Sun, and most TikTok trends are no exception, with users repackaging old fads into shiny Gen Z and Gen Alpha-friendly parcels. One that is currently causing concern among child health experts, however, is the practice of “chroming” – otherwise known as huffing.

Chroming is the act of inhaling toxic fumes from household items – think nail polish, aerosol deodorant, and markers. When Millennials were kids, they were probably more likely to be warned about the dangers of sniffing or huffing glue, but it’s all part and parcel of the same thing. 

It’s not dissimilar to how people misuse nitrous oxide, which is usually inhaled from little silver canisters called “whippits”; this continues to be a popular recreational drug, with no shortage of online content to match. Something all of these inhalants have in common is that they’re easy to access. Most homes are full of cleaning products and other chemicals that could be abused in this way, and nitrous oxide canisters can be purchased for a number of legitimate uses, such as in catering. 

“What is particularly concerning about chroming is that it uses everyday household items that are easily accessible to teens,” echoed Keerthi Krishna, a research assistant at Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center and first author of a new study on the topic, in a statement. “The covert nature of these items means that parents and teachers are less likely to detect the behavior, significantly increasing the risk of repeated usage and addiction among adolescents.”

Krishna and co-authors were concerned about the potential for trending TikTok videos to drive kids towards this risky behavior, so they analyzed 109 videos on chroming that had gained a collective 25 million views on the platform. They collected data on the creators who made the videos and on the behavior the videos were depicting (it’s worth noting that as of the time of writing, searching the term “chroming” on TikTok brings up a message warning of the dangers of substance abuse).

The most common items used for chroming in these TikToks were marker pens, which appeared in 31 percent of the videos. Cans of compressed air used for dusting came next at 17 percent, followed by nail polish at 12 percent. 

The researchers judged that 39 percent of the videos’ creators were minors. Most of the videos, 70 percent, were considered to be memes – following a trending format that was seen to be circulating on the platform – and 52 percent referenced addiction or repeated use. 

“Our findings underscore the urgent need for increased moderation efforts from social media platforms like TikTok to stop the dissemination of chroming content,” they write in their abstract, which was presented at a recent conference. “A concerning amount of video creators were minors, highlighting the vulnerability of children engaging in harmful behaviors.”

Earlier this year, the death of an 11-year-old British boy garnered a lot of attention after family members blamed chroming videos he had allegedly seen online. In March 2023, a 13-year-old girl from Melbourne, Australia died after inhaling aerosol deodorant, with her parents again citing chroming. But the risks of chroming were well documented long before it ever became a social media fad.

As the McGill University Office for Science and Society explains, the high produced from chroming or huffing is “similar to the effects of alcohol” – although they can be more short-lived, and vary based on what substance is being huffed. However, the long-term effects can be much more extensive, including the potential for heart failure, liver damage, and destruction of the myelin sheath, the protective layer around nerve fibers. 

TikTok consistently appears close to the top of mobile app popularity rankings, but this is not the first time that questions have been raised about the potential health risks of being influenced by certain videos on the platform. As the study authors highlight, “the high prevalence of chroming memes perpetuates its normalization among youth, which may lead individuals to view chroming as a ‘safer’ and socially acceptable alternative to traditional drugs.”

Chroming itself is not new – but the speed with which trending content can now spread among youth online makes this a distinctly 21^st century problem. 

The research was presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics 2024 National Conference & Exhibition.