Citation

Pascali JP, Fais P, Viel G, Cecchetto G, Montisci M. Egypt. J. Forensic Sci. 2019; 9(1): e29.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Forensic Medicine Authority of Egypt, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1186/s41935-019-0136-4

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Ethyl chloride (EC) or chloroethane is a colourless halogenated hydrocarbon gas regularly employed as a topical anaesthetic spray for pain-related injuries and muscle spasm in athletes. However, EC became also popular as a street drug in the 1980s. Brief inhalations of EC vapour can result in dizziness, euphoria, confusion, incoordination, hallucinosis, impairment of short-term memory and narcosis. Inhalation of higher doses, usually employed to "get high", may be related to severe depression of the central nervous system. Indeed, toxicity and deaths have been reported so far.

Language: en