At 12, he nearly died because of chroming, this TikTok challenge that worries doctors

in collaboration with

Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director)

A 12-year-old boy from Great Britain nearly died after inhaling toxic fumes from a bottle of deodorant. This challenge, which is not new, has been popularized by various social networks, particularly TikTok. It is called “chroming”.

What is chroming and what are its risks?

“Chroming is the practice of inhaling vapors from spray paints or other products that originally contain chromium to achieve a euphoric effect.” explains Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of Doctissimo. This “challenge” therefore gives the person who takes it on the feeling of flying.

But it is not without risk, as Cesar Watson-King is proof: his heart stopped after trying the experiment last month.

A seizure just after inhaling these vapors

The young Englishman heard about the challenge from an older friend. He wanted to do it but moments after inhaling the fumes of an antiperspirant deodorant, he had a seizure. It was his mother who discovered him lying on the floor of their kitchen, in cardio-respiratory arrest.I thought he had fallen and hit his head. I had no idea what what had happened. He turned blue and stopped breathing” she says in the columns of Daily Mail. “I thought he was dead“.

She had the immediate reflex to perform emergency procedures and alert the emergency services, the best strategy.”In case of breathing difficulties, whether in an adult or a child, you must immediately call 15″ insists Dr. Kierzek.And if there is a loss of consciousness and no signs of breathing, you must call for help and also perform a cardiac massage and defibrillate using a defibrillatorif necessary.”

What are the health risks?

After being taken care of by emergency services and spending eight days in hospital, Cesar Watson-King is doing better, but he has some after-effects, particularly in his memory. Unfortunately, other teenagers have not been as lucky and several deaths have been reported following the completion of this dangerous challenge. As also reported by Daily Mailtwo teenagers aged 11 and 14 recently died following such an experiment.

“Inhalation of concentrated vapors may cause headaches, nausea, vomiting and dizziness. The vapors irritate the respiratory tract and can cause breathing difficulties and even lung damage such as lesional edema and asphyxiation. Chroming can also cause arrhythmias heart disease and increase the risk of heart attack” says our emergency doctor.

“And repeated exposure can damage the brain and nervous system, leading to cognitive and motor impairment, liver and kidney damage, and some chromium compounds are carcinogenic, increasing the risk of lung cancer in particular.” he adds. A challenge that is better not to repeat!