Dust-Off
Dust-Off is a brand of dust cleaner (refrigerant-based propellant cleaner, which is not compressed air and incorrectly called "canned air") containing difluoroethane; it is used to remove particulates and dust from computers and electronic equipment. Dust-Off products are used to remove dust, debris, fingerprints, and smudges from hard to reach areas of keyboards, screens, and other components of electronic equipment. Dust-Off is manufactured by Falcon Safety Products.
The Dust-Off brand also encompasses a line of electronics and home office cleaning supplies, including LCD/Plasma screen sprays, microfiber cleaning cloths, and the Dust-Off Screen Shammy.
The compressed gas duster product gained attention for its abuse as an inhalant, such as by teenagers in the movie Thirteen. A warning email circulated by Jeff Williams, a police officer in Cleveland, whose son, Kyle, died after inhaling Dust-Off in Painesville Township, Ohio.[1]
Wrestler Mike "Mad Dog" Bell died of an inhalation-induced heart attack brought on by an accidental inhalation of difluoroethane in Dust-Off.[2]
Falcon has added a bitterant to the product to deter inhalation. Though a bitterant has been added, many people still inhale the product to get a quick high.
References
- ↑ "Riverside High School continues to grieve". The News-Herald. Retrieved 2006-06-10.
- ↑ http://blogs.poughkeepsiejournal.com/underthering/2009/03/26/bell-died-of-inhalation-induced-heart-attack/
External links
- Official Dust-Off Website
- Fotospeed UK Dust Off
- Snopes: Adolescents huffing from cans of Dust-Off brand compressed air have died
- Common Inhalants abused (Internet Archive)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- National Inhalant Prevention Coalition 1-(800) 269-4237