Turble:
I had a nephew who died in his early 20s as a result of huffing canned air. Brilliant college student one semester from graduation in computer science at a major tech university with industry recruiters chasing him like crazy. He went into a state of deep depression after his three lifelong BFFs were killed in a fiery crash on their way home after a road trip to visit him and he started huffing canned air.
He spent time in a hospital burn unit after sticking his face into a bag of the vapor while having a lit cigarette in his mouth. He lost his drivers license after having several car crashes; he said he didn’t think it was fair that they took his license because they couldn’t prove he was under the influence of anything. He was found floating face down in about a foot water in a local swampy area behind an office supply store where he had purchased the two cans of air that were found empty floating next to him.
BTW, I buy a can of air for blowing out my computer now and then but one time several years ago when I had a very long ponytail the clerk at that same office supply store had told me they didn’t carry those cans; he obviously just thought because of my hair length that I was going to use it as a drug since I have bought the stuff at that store both before and after my nephew’s death.
What a terrible story!
As for yanking his license, he could have ended up doing something like this.
jjakucyk:
Why not use propane? I think that’s the typical propellant when food is involved (spray cooking oil, etc.). Since difluoroethane is highly flammable when used in canned air anyway, I don’t see that being a concern, and propane is apparently not as addictive or dangerous for huffing. Might it freeze up the can too quickly? Propane as a refrigerant has similar properties to R-22, which is generally considered better/more efficient than the R-134a variants. Maybe it’s more chemically reactive and could cause problems with the plastics used in electronic equipment?
Difluoroethane and other refrigerant gases are not as flammable as propane when used properly, and at that, are flammable in their liquid form but not gaseous. Propane is flammable as a gas and spraying it into the air creates an even more volatile mix of air and fuel, particularly problematic when combined with electrostatic buildup associated with discharge of compressed gas. Since dusting sprays are often used on electronics and other electrical equipment, a flammable gas is a bad idea.
Additionally, when products with propane-based propellant are used properly, minimal propellant is discharged into the air, which is unlike a dusting sprayer.