Butane Lighter gas and N2O

[BumpBump]

Hi When i was young we used to inhale Butane lighter refill.
I had a few baloons of N20 rcently and it's EXACTLY the same buzz!
Is there N20 in butane cans? or are you just getting the same solvent high?

[Nagognog2]

There is no N2O in butane cans. What was being experienced was lack of oxygen to the brain. Butane wipes O2 out. N2O is safer as it allows oxygen to transfer.

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[JDreaming]

Butane lighters contain... butane!

Which is a flammable solvent... which can cause serious brain damage, and would be rather foolish to use for intoxication.

C4H10 is not N2O!!!

[BumpBump]

never the less SWIM had exactly the same effect. SWIM was expecting somthing a little different. SWIM used lighter refill for a few years and had to watch for the same things like freezing SWIY's throat etc. none of SWIMS friends ever got serious brain damage either.

[Pondlife]

I've wondered about the safety of various inhalants, and also the underlying mechanism by which they operate. It seems to be generally accepted that inhalants are bad and cause brain damage. As I've never tried, I can't really comment personally, but I wonder if they are all really equally bad.

In my view, I can see why inhaling aromatic substances like toluene and xylene would be bad - these things are nasty. Likewise gasoline and other hydrocarbon mixtures containing lord knows what. However butane does not seem obviously "nasty" to me, as it's a simple saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon and as such should be relatively unreactive.

I note that the MSDS says: "May be harmful if inhaled. Can cause rapid suffocation. Eye irritant. Narcotic", which doesn't seem to imply any long-term health problems.

As for the method of operation, I can see how this could be similar to N2O because they are both fat-soluble and relatively unreactive in the body. AFAIK, the exact mechanism behind N2O's effect is still not fully understood though. I recall that cyclopropane used to be used as an anesthetic. Perhaps butane works in a similar way.

[geezaman]

Originally Posted by pondlife

I've wondered about the safety of various inhalants, and also the underlying mechanism by which they operate. It seems to be generally accepted that inhalants are bad and cause brain damage. As I've never tried, I can't really comment personally, but I wonder if they are all really equally bad.

...However butane does not seem obviously "nasty" to me, as it's a simple saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon and as such should be relatively unreactive.

As SWIM understands it the brain damage is caused by oxygen deprivation, rather than the inhalant chemical itself.

SWINag says "butane wipes oxygen out... while n2o still allows oxygen transfer" which would seem to say that at least between n20 and butane they are not equally as bad

SWIMs not too sure on this maybe someone could clarify, but doesn't breathing hydrocarbons increase risks of cancer?

although SWIbumpbump may have experienced the same effects from butane and n20, SWIM for one finds the experiences to be very different, after only doing butane intentionally a few times SWIM decided he would stick with nos as he found it much more interesting/enjoyable/worthwhile
peace

[Nagognog2]

Cyclopropane is a powerful anesthetic. But it's explosive limits in air are too dangerous unless your operating in a wind-tunnel.

[fnord]

back when my buddy was a lot more stupid,him and his friends used to steal computer duster,well their local store ran out one day so they looked around.what did they find?
an AIRHORN!!weee!!!not the most discreet drug in the world but the chemical in it was butane,and yes it did feel similer to n20/duster.

what do you mean by serious brain damage? is their non-serious brain damage?

[Psych0naut]

Originally Posted by fnord

back when my buddy was a lot more stupid,him and his friends used to steal computer duster,well their local store ran out one day so they looked around.what did they find?
an AIRHORN!!weee!!!not the most discreet drug in the world but the chemical in it was butane,and yes it did feel similer to n20/duster.

The things you think of when you're out of drugs...

[El Calico Loco]

Swim suspects that much of the nitrous high is oxygen deprivation, as with solvents. He thinks so only because the high from bulbs is so different than the high at the dentist's office, where he gets steady stream of 50/50 nitrous and oxygen for an hour or more. The dentist experience has all the dissociation and peacefulness, but none of the crazy visuals or sensations that he's just discovered and forgotten something very important (which he suspects is his mind realizing that it's HIM causing his suffocation).

He thinks nitrous just allows the user to hold his or her breath beyond what would be possible with regular air. It numbs the lungs and calms the user down, plus its presence does not produce air hunger (which is caused by the buildup of CO2 in the body).


ECL

[Nagognog2]

You mean I've been getting my phone stoned whenever some asshole calls up to sell me Indian valium and I use my airhorn on him?

[Paracelsus]

Another danger of most inhalants (besides lighting a cigarette next to a container of gasoline or other consequences of neuron damage) is malignant hyperthermia followed by cardiac arrest. Some people experience this (and many die), while others don't. This also happens with clinically used anaesthetics (halothane, fluranes, ethers, etc.). This does not happen with nitrous oxide to my knowledge.