Lethal TikTok craze ‘chroming’ is killing teens

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HOLDING the hand of his dead daughter, devastated dad Paul Green told her how much he loved her.

Hours earlier, the 14-year-old, who was autistic and had sensory needs, had been out shopping with her mum Clare and stocked up on her favourite deodorant.

When she got home, she sprayed the fragrance around the room – but it proved fatal. She was found dead in her bed, wrapped in a blanket she had covered with the scent.

Now her heartbroken parents are warning other families about the dangers of aerosols as a new craze – dubbed ‘chroming’ – sweeps social media.

It refers to inhaling fumes from a toxic source, which doctors warn can cause loss of consciousness, potentially fatal asphyxiation, and heart attacks.

There has been a rise in Gen Z experimenting with solvent abuse – widespread in Britain in the late 80s and early 90s – with an expert likening it to ‘cheap cannabis’.

While Giorgia’s death was a tragic accident, electrician Paul, 55, and administrator Clare, 54, are calling on manufacturers to put bigger warning labels on cans to make parents more aware they can kill, so that more youngsters don’t suffer the same fate.

Paul told : “I sat in hospital, holding my daughter’s hand and I couldn’t believe what had happened. I could barely speak. My baby was gone.”

TikTok has been forced to remove a dangerous chroming challenge after it claimed the life a of 13-year-old Australian girl, Esra Haynes, in March this year.

Paul said: “Giorgia might not have died under the same circumstances as Esra in Australia, but we found it very upsetting that someone had died from the same product.

“I really worry about this becoming a social media trend because people can die in an instant – that’s what’s so scary about aerosols.

“Everyone has a limit as to how much of any toxic substance the body can withstand.

“All it takes is to go a tiny bit over your tolerance level and you can end up like Giorgia.

“We knew Giorgia liked to spray [her deodorant] around if she felt a bit anxious because it gave her a sense of comfort. But we had no idea just how lethal it could be.”

We want to make it so no one else in the country – or the world – goes what we’ve been through

Paul Green

By law, aerosol deodorants must be printed with a ‘keep out of reach of children’ warning, but Paul suggests the writing is too small.

“Many people don’t notice the warning so don’t realise how dangerous the contents of those tins can be,” he said. 

“We want to make it so no one else in the country – or the world – goes what we’ve been through.

“We don’t want our daughter’s death to be in vain.”

‘Cheap cannabis’

Expert Tony D’Agosinto, who trains frontline drugs workers, said youngsters in deprived areas of Britain see solvents as a cheap alternative to cannabis.

He said: “There are pockets around the country where solvent abuse is more prevalent, especially deprived areas where it’s a cheap way of getting high. 

“Most of these products can be found around the house or bought cheaply.”

Paul and Clare, who have kept Giorgia’s room exactly as it was when she died, described their teenager as being “full of joy”.

“If you’ve ever seen the film Inside Out, Giorgia was the character Joy,” Paul said.

“She was passionately joyful and it was her natural state. She had an off-the-chart sense of humour that was so sharp it would take the average person a few seconds to get her wit.

“Giorgia’s autism meant she had sensory needs and gravitated towards certain textures and smells.

“On the day she died in May last year, she and Clare had gone into Derby centre to buy her some new blankets. She was over the moon to go and find some she liked.

“While Clare was there she bought three bottles of deodorant for Giorgia, because she doesn’t like shopping very much and tends to stock up.”

Afterwards, Clare and Giorgia’s older brother Corey, 30, went out and left her at home as part of an effort to build her independence.

But when they returned home Corey couldn’t wake his sister for a drumming lesson and raised the alarm.

As paramedics tried desperately to save her life, Paul was just five minutes from their home after getting a “weird feeling” while working 12 miles away.

He said: “I just had this really weird feeling in my stomach so packed up my stuff and started heading home. 

“I was about five minutes away when Clare called me in a panicked state, and when I got to the house the street was sealed off and I thought, ‘This is serious’.

“I ran upstairs and on the landing I could see the paramedics working on Giorgia.”

She was taken to the Royal Derby Hospital, where Paul said his tearful goodbye. Clare was too distraught to go.

An inquest into Giorgia’s death ruled the home-schooled teen died from misadventure after inhaling aerosol at her home.

Stark warning

Stephen Ream, director of the Re-Solv charity, warned youngsters against ‘chroming’: “Crazes or challenges seem to flare up locally and a friendship group might have a go, then some people find they like it and carry on inhaling secretly.

“It gives users short term obliteration but sobers you up very quickly, so some people see it as a quick way to escape any problems in their life.

“We often see it in young people who are really struggling with family issues.

“It’s very dangerous. It’s flammable so there’s always a risk of fire, but the real risk is death because the heart goes into an irregular beat and then stops.”

It’s very dangerous. But the real risk is death because the heart goes into an irregular beat and then stops

Stephen Ream, Re-Solv

He said parents should be aware of an unusual amount of empty aerosol cans around the house, adding: “Families will call us and tell us they don’t understand why their child is doing this.

“They say they can understand cannabis use because it’s very ‘out there’, but they find inhaling aerosols a very odd thing to do.”

The British Aerosol Manufacturer’s Association said it is carrying out a review of the ‘solvent abuse can kill instantly’ (SACKI) warning on solvents.

Chief executive Patrick Heskins said: “There are a number of warnings which we, as an industry, are required to place on pack by law. 

“The SACKI warning is a voluntary, industry recommendation. In conjunction with our Member Companies, we are carrying out a review of the voluntary warnings carried on pack to ensure that we fully communicate any potential risk, however small, to users. 

“The intention is to ensure that the language used in any warnings best communicates any such risk in a way which is easily understood.

“We hope to have completed this review before the end of 2024 and will then issue revised guidance for those marketing and manufacturing aerosols.”

He said social media firms should remove content which glamorises solvent abuse.

For advice and help about the issue contact https://www.re-solv.org/