• Join Chef Success Today! Get support for your Pampered Chef business today! Increase your sales right now! Download 1000s of files and images, view thousands of Pampered Chef support threads! Totally Free!

Very Scary... Dusting Beware True Story!

In summary, a police officer's son died from using Dust Off to dust his computer. The can of compressed air contains a propellant called R2 which killed him.
heat123
Silver Member
6,977
I checked out Snopes.com for the authenticity of this email and sadly, it was found to be true :(:

Dusting 'Dusting'

First, I'm 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 ther e was no way to bring dr ug s 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.

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 one of them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my two 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 di dn't have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I wen t home and set it down beside my computer.

On Mar ch 1st, I left for work at 10 PM. Just before midnight my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 5:30 am the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was propped 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 thi s. 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 < B>best friend said so.

Kyle was wrong. It's not just compressed air. It also contains a propellant called 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. 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. IT'S NOT AN OVERDOSE . You don't die later. Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You usually die as you're 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. And that's why its more accepted. There is no chemical reaction, no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he die d of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.
It's easy to say hey, 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 so ul 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 nig ht. And my wife, I can't even describe how bad she is taking this. I thoug ht 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 all seem to know about it. April 2 nd 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.


This Officer is asking for everyone who receives this email to forwa rd it to everyone in their address book, even Law Enforcement Officers!
 
Huffing and stuff like this is very dangerous and kids don't even realize it!
 
This is a very sad story. They put a bitterant in the cans of air I buy. I hate it so much because it gets on my keyboard, and everything I spray it on to remove dust. Then I'll type at my keyboard, and scratch my mouth or something and WHAM!!! Bitterant just seeps into my mouth! YUCK!

I'm sure it's still an issue however, because I can never seem to find cans of it when I need it! Wal*Mart is always out, and Target will normally just have the cans that 3M makes (with the bitterant) but only 1 or 2 at that.

Thanks for passing this message on- I don't have kids in the house but I'll pass it on to people I know who have kids.
 
First, let me say I'm glad to see Snopes was checked. I hate when people pass around those bogus emails.

I checked it as well - here's the link if anyone wants it
Urban Legends Reference Pages: Dust Off Death

Second - It shocks me when I hear the things kids are doing these days to have a little "fun"
 
This story is true, and has been verified by snopes: Urban Legends Reference Pages. This is the Law of Unintended Consequences at work again - you used to be able to buy cans of compressed air to blow dust from keyboards and such, but the propellant was banned, causing makers to use other propellants. The propellant? Freon. (You may not recall that Freon was the first product to be villified as an agent of global warming. The banning of Freon resulted in screwing up the air conditioning industry and now this.)
 
The department head of our School Nurses just passed around a flyer about "the choking game" too. Sadly, one of my high school friends had a very bright and well liked son who was a casualty of this game.

It ALMOST makes the 60's and 70's drug experiences look a little less harmless.

This seems more frightening because you don't have to buy anything illegal to get these highs. Also, because I am a parent of a teenager right now.
 
My DH and I had a friend several years ago die of sniffing Air Conditioning Anti-Freeze. This young man a few friends decided to go around to the side of the boy's house and punctured a hole in the line that sends the cold air in the house and inhaled it and it killed our friend. The other two boys freaked out and ran to get help. But the he was DOA. It was really sad.
 
Where I work we have to ask for I.D. for people buying canned air. I've actually had to tell 16 year old kids that I can't sell it to them. Although until reading this I never knew what they could have been using it for. wow.
 
I had a situation I can talk about because it wasn't in my town and I wasn't an EMT yet. My DH and I were about to walk into a Sam's Club in another town when I suddenly heard a horn go off. I turned to react because it didn't pulsate like a car alarm. A man was slumped over the steering wheel. I smacked my husband to go react. We got to the van and luckily his door was unlocked. We called 9-1-1 and my DH went to help him while I sent someone in to get Sam's Club Management...(why you ask, because I THOUGHT they could get a MSDS for me). Anyway, I stand by the driver's door. DH finds 12 cans of air in there, 10 used, 2 full. The guy had JUST gone in to buy a 6-pack (the limit at most stores) and had huffed 4 of them. Huffing air was newer at the time so I wasn't sure the contents that triggered it. I asked the store manager to get a MSDS sheet on the product. He looked at me dumbfounded and asked what a MSDS sheet was...idiot...anyway...The Paramedics came and he was taken to the hospital. He started to come to while we were there and would only trust my DH. He thought all the other people around were there to "steal his air".Want to read something else scary for your kids???? Read about Salvia...http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iL07qPrDwTnT98gXva3EWcl0sxXAD8VBHBHG0
 
  • #10
I had to spend some time in a half way house as a teenager. So many kids would go home on home visits and drink Robotussen because it would get them drunk but it wouldn't show up on a UA. They also were doing the choking game in the bathrooms at night. And huffing fingernail polish. That's all I remembered about my stay there because these kids were really out of it! I've done some stupid stuff in my life but never anything that dumb.

Janet, I heard about that drug, it's supposed to be really crazy. I actually heard about it along time ago. They suggest that you have a "sponsor" person to be sober and with you while you are on it just to make sure nothing bad happens. Sounds like a safe back up to me!
 
  • #11
wadesgirl said:
I had to spend some time in a half way house as a teenager. So many kids would go home on home visits and drink Robotussen because it would get them drunk but it wouldn't show up on a UA. They also were doing the choking game in the bathrooms at night. And huffing fingernail polish. That's all I remembered about my stay there because these kids were really out of it! I've done some stupid stuff in my life but never anything that dumb.

Janet, I heard about that drug, it's supposed to be really crazy. I actually heard about it along time ago. They suggest that you have a "sponsor" person to be sober and with you while you are on it just to make sure nothing bad happens. Sounds like a safe back up to me!

That is REALLY scary - a "sponsor"!!!!
 
  • #12
janetupnorth said:
I had a situation I can talk about because it wasn't in my town and I wasn't an EMT yet.

My DH and I were about to walk into a Sam's Club in another town when I suddenly heard a horn go off. I turned to react because it didn't pulsate like a car alarm. A man was slumped over the steering wheel. I smacked my husband to go react. We got to the van and luckily his door was unlocked. We called 9-1-1 and my DH went to help him while I sent someone in to get Sam's Club Management...(why you ask, because I THOUGHT they could get a MSDS for me). Anyway, I stand by the driver's door. DH finds 12 cans of air in there, 10 used, 2 full. The guy had JUST gone in to buy a 6-pack (the limit at most stores) and had huffed 4 of them.

Huffing air was newer at the time so I wasn't sure the contents that triggered it. I asked the store manager to get a MSDS sheet on the product. He looked at me dumbfounded and asked what a MSDS sheet was...idiot...anyway...
The Paramedics came and he was taken to the hospital. He started to come to while we were there and would only trust my DH. He thought all the other people around were there to "steal his air".

Want to read something else scary for your kids???? Read about Salvia...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iL07qPrDwTnT98gXva3EWcl0sxXAD8VBHBHG0

Okay, I'm an idiot...what is a MSDS sheet? Man- so much for my 141 IQ coming in handy- I guess I won't be applying for a MENSA membership this year... ;)
 
  • #13
Kitchen Diva said:
Okay, I'm an idiot...what is a MSDS sheet? Man- so much for my 141 IQ coming in handy- I guess I won't be applying for a MENSA membership this year... ;)
Material Safety Data SheetIt is supposed to be with any "hazardous" chemical and contains composition and ways to handle it.It is "supposed" to be in the drivers door of any truck carrying anything hazardous...of course you have to have a certain amount of a substance for it to be hazardous so many places transport a skid of this, a skid of that to circumvent having to account for everything. That is even more dangerous because in an accident all these "little" bits of things can mix.
 
Last edited:
  • #14
This hit home for me today. I found a kid my son's age (about 12) doing this in the middle of the aisle of Rite Aid with no one around. I hollered at the boy, with no parent in sight. He left and I had to go and tell the cashier what had happened. The smaller ones are sold by packs of 2 and are plastic wrapped together. The larger one was open by itself, but the plastic straw was plastic wrapped. Made no sense to me.
 

What is "Very Scary... Dusting Beware True Story!"?

"Very Scary... Dusting Beware True Story!" is a popular cookbook from Pampered Chef featuring delicious and spooky recipes for Halloween.

What types of recipes are included in "Very Scary... Dusting Beware True Story!"?

This cookbook includes a variety of Halloween-themed recipes such as spooky snacks, creepy desserts, and frighteningly good main dishes.

Are the recipes in "Very Scary... Dusting Beware True Story!" easy to make?

Yes, all of the recipes in this cookbook are designed to be easy to make and are perfect for busy families or Halloween parties.

Do I need special equipment or ingredients to make the recipes in "Very Scary... Dusting Beware True Story!"?

No, most of the recipes in this cookbook use common kitchen equipment and ingredients that can be found at any grocery store.

Can I purchase "Very Scary... Dusting Beware True Story!" from Pampered Chef?

Yes, you can purchase this cookbook directly from Pampered Chef or through a Pampered Chef consultant.

Similar Pampered Chef Threads

  • Jean DeVries
  • General Chat
Replies
4
Views
2K
raebates
Replies
2
Views
794
lockhartkitchen
  • ChefJeniLobdell
  • General Chat
Replies
4
Views
1K
pkd09
  • pampered1224
  • General Chat
Replies
27
Views
3K
pampered1224
  • lockhartkitchen
  • General Chat
Replies
12
Views
1K
pcchefjane
  • SilverCeladon
  • General Chat
Replies
7
Views
1K
dianevill
  • esavvymom
  • General Chat
Replies
5
Views
1K
pkd09
Replies
12
Views
2K
twinchefs
Replies
23
Views
1K
chefsteph07
  • lockhartkitchen
  • General Chat
Replies
4
Views
1K
lockhartkitchen
Back
Top