Drug info - Air conditioner gas: what is it? Freon (Huffing)

[brighteyes88]

the other day, swim was at his friends house.
the demons had somehow gotten their hands on a huge canister. it had two valves on it, one was a liquid valve and the other a gas valve. he was told it was definately airconditioning gas, but there were no markings on the canister (except for liquid/gas labels).

when swim inhaled a smallish amount of the gas his voice went deep for a few seconds and then the world started to sort of get further away. his body was vibrating, and he was only vaguely aware of the room and people in it. he started hearing the sound of a pool cleaner underwater and this pretty much drowned all other sound out. all in all it was over in about a minute.

now, swim is very curios about this.
1. is this really a dissociative?(if not apologize for posting here)
2.is there another way to take it to make it last longer?
3.what, if any, are the dangers in taking this? one or two of the cats who were taking it with swim had much bigger doses and seemed to be completely gone, non responsive.

any help would be appreciated.

[Micklemouse]

The gas is most likely a refrigerant called Freon, which is chlorofluorocarbon, which is highly toxic, to humans & the environment in general. To lengthen the effects, keep sucking on that pipe & the effects may well be permanent.

From http://www.inhalants.org/final_medical.htm

Mortality/Morbidity
Inhalant abuse is associated with significant morbidity and mortality rates. Use of inhalants can result in death. Bowen reported 39 deaths in Virginia between 1987 and 1996 from acute voluntary exposure to inhalants. Median age was 19 years with 46% of the cases involving butane or propane. Maxwell reported 144 deaths in Texas between 1988 and 1998 in which use or abuse of inhalants was mentioned on the death certificates. Median age was 24, and 35% of the cases involved chlorofluorocarbons or Freon®.

CAUSES OF DEATH:
* Sudden Sniffing Death:
* Suffocation
* Trauma:
* Choking:
* Asphyxia:

Reputation Comments on this post:

Excellent wake-up call.

[brighteyes88]

whoa...thanks, swim will keep far away.

[fnord]

basicly a big can of dust off,from what i remember,swim was researching it a while back beause every year swim town has heavy item pickup day which meant swim and his arhead friends would go from fridge to fridge cutting the lines and inhaleing surely unhealthy leaves of that stuff,

[Nagognog2]

Likely not Freon - unless it was a very old can, or SWIM was in China. But one of the newer chlorofluorocarbons. Might be less toxic to the environment - but just as lethal to a human if inhaled for a buzz.

Thread moved to Various.

[FrankenChrist]

*bangs head*

Why do people keep doing things like these to themselves, especially with unlabeled inhalants?

Anyway, it's probably still good you posted about this experience so no one has to repeat it.

[brighteyes88]

Originally Posted by FrankenChrist

*bangs head*

Why do people keep doing things like these to themselves, especially with unlabeled inhalants?

Anyway, it's probably still good you posted about this experience so no one has to repeat it.

im afraid its swims ridiculous belief that older and more experienced people than him know what theyre doing.

and of course, he was worried about his lack of knowledge in the matter, and therefor asked me to find out for him.
mind, he has no regrets about trying it out. it was fun, but probably wont be doing it again.

[Nagognog2]

If you do this stuff, you don't need rolling-papers. Or a spoon. Just a shovel.

[seanman05]

Tell swim to stay away from this shit.

[beentheredonethatagain]

your can is it yellow? what you have is a refrigerant {freon} recovery tank.
it's used to recaputre old freon. so your huffing old used contaminated cfc's. I hope your next of kin are ready to lay you to rest. I see no rec. in using a nasty substance as what is in there. please don't

[tayo]

albueterol inhalers used to have have CFCs they switched to HFCs.... now its more expensive but healthier supposedly. wonder why

[beentheredonethatagain]

cfc's are now illegal hence the Montreal Protocal. They have been linked to ozone depletion, per the EPA. the cfc when vented to the atmosphere the carbon links with an oxygen in the ozone taking it with it.

[brighteyes88]

the can was grey/blue color. they discovered it cos swims mate works with airconditioners, and was installing or refilling one, when there was a leak or something in a confined space and then he felt the effect and took it home.
it mite have been just blue, i cant remember, but definately not yellow. there was a liquid valve too, and when that got out was VERY cold, kinda froze the one guys hand.
thanks again for making swim aware of how deadly it is and all. wont be doing it again, stop telling swim how stupid he is plz

[bcubed]

If it was freon (R12), CFCs were used in inhaled atshma medications (though they will be phased out as of 2009, per wiki. It didn't specify WHICH particular CFC was used, though).

The one overriding thing about CFCs are that they are virtually inert. They were DESIGNED to be, as previous gases used in refrigeration (ammonia, sulphur dioxide) were reactive and/or poisonous. The selling point of CFC's "nonreactivity" were ultimately their downfall, once it was known that they act as a catalyst to the breakdown of ozone. Because it's so damn hard to destroy them, they get to knock off beaucoup ozone before they expire.

I've never noticed any intoxicating effect from the CFCs in prescribed Albuterol, so I'm guessing this was oxygen deprivation, or possibly one of the lubricants in the used container. When SWIM was young, dumb, and etc, he had a nearly-empty 2L pop bottle and decided to see if CO2 gave a buzz. (It did, but CO2 is probably closer to a "pharmacologically active" chemical than R-12).

[fnord]

swims felt some mild effect from albuterall inhalors when takeing several puffs,similar to a super weak dust-off buzz.Warning!this dosent mean go out and huf your intire bottle of albuteral!

[toe]

Sounds like freon. A donkey on my uncle's farm used this once a long, long time ago, along with pretty much any other aerosol-type inhalant handy in burro daddy's basement around 1990. I think "handy in daddy's basement" is the key phrase for understanding the appeal of this type of mindbender.

For those that put stock in this sort of thing, it might be interesting to note that the tested I.Q. of the aforementioned ass has dropped 3-4 points every decade or so since age 4.

[Stimulants]

Since there's not much covered on inhalants I'll add a few things.

The action of nitrous oxide, or other inhalation anesthetic works by the dissolution of gas in lipids.

The higher the lipid solubility of the vapor, the more potent it is and it can be in the fractional percentage range to over 100%(need more than 1 atm to obtain anesthesia). Nitrous oxide is 105%.

The longer molecule halocarbons are far more lipid soluble and far more potent. Halothane is an example that is so potent that it's effective concentration is in the fractional percentage range.

As for air conditioning gases, there are many many many different kinds. Older refrigerator and automotive ones are CFC12. Newer refrigerator/autos are HFC134a.

Home ACs are HCFC22, however it's being slowly converted to HFC410a for environmental reasons.

Substances that do not get metabolized are safer for organs and solvent/refrigerants are in SWIMs opinion safer than hair spray and such that contains particulate matters.

Dusters:
looong time ago: CFC12, then HCFC22, then HFC134a. Each change represent reduction in environmental impact. All three of these are completely non-flammable.

The slightly older HFC134a based duster is completely non-flammable and is still available for high-safety/specialty application, however the most common one today is HFC152a, which is flammable, because it only has 1/10th the global warming potential of HFC134a.

When HFC152a catches on fire, it will release highly toxic hydrogen fluoride and carbonyl fluoride.

A little while ago, the big talk was ozone depletion. Now the talk has moved to global warming potential. It's actually illegal to vent HFC134a from refrigeration devices and automobiles. It must be recovered.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Although it may be good as a new general warning thread so that it gets more attention, great info nonetheless
	Great info.

[Greenport]

Lol when swiM's unicorn was way young, it got offered to do this. It politely refused though haha. Looking back, it's glad it did xD

[sandoz1943]

I once read this quote in a Freak Brothers Comic and feel it fits this thread.

" If it can kill you it can get you high"

SWIM was once young and stupid enough to try this once. Sounded like crickets chirpping and left a nasy headache.

[beentheredonethatagain]

here is a picture of what the original poster is speaking about, and just because it may not be flamable, it will produce a very toxic gas if exposed to open flame, and because the contents are of used refrigerant, which is usually contaminated with acids and oils. yuk

[Stimulants]

Originally Posted by beentheredonethatagain

here is a picture of what the original poster is speaking about, and just because it may not be flamable, it will produce a very toxic gas if exposed to open flame

Correct, but reaction is localized. The reaction is not self sustaining So, when non-flammable CFC of HCFCs are fed into a flame or one smokes a cigarette in an air containing a significant amount of halocarbon, there's a risk of hydrogen halide inhalation, but lighting a match around them doesn't cause them to violently react into toxic gases.

Highly flammable inhalants, such as diethyl ether, propane, gasoline and such are a seriously ignition hazard. Literally, vapor reaches the pilot light of a water heater and BOOM! If the user(s) got just the right air/fuel mixture, the flame will get into their lungs as well.

, and because the contents are of used refrigerant, which is usually contaminated with acids and oils. yuk

SWIY is correct that used refrigerant maybe contaminated with hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride from decomposition while in use. The oil isn't much of an issue as when inhaled in vapor form, the boiling point is differentiated enough that vapor will not contain appreciable amount of oil.

Otherwise, refrigeration grade HCFCs, HFCs and CFCs are quite pure and are quite safe. These are the very reasons they're used as refrigerants.

[chickensunited]

For similar safer trip AFOAF would recomend Nitrous Oxide. Its sold as Propellent gas for whipped cream chargers. Would like to add thoguh, it is legal to purchase in UK but illegal to inhale or knowingly sell. Hes not sure on world regulations.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Factually wrong. Of course can "knowingly sell" nitrous, although probably not if it is known that it will abu...

[Stimulants]

Originally Posted by chickensunited

For similar safer trip AFOAF would recomend Nitrous Oxide. Its sold as Propellent gas for whipped cream chargers. Would like to add thoguh, it is legal to purchase in UK but illegal to inhale or knowingly sell. Hes not sure on world regulations.

The potency does not even compare. The MAC(lower the better) of N2O is 105%, many halocarbons are in single digit to teen percents while the most potent such as halothane being fractional percentage.