Dutta A, Uno H, Holman A, et al. Long-term nitrite inhalant exposure and cancer risk in MSM. AIDS. 15 May 2017. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000001451; Related News.

Poppers are among several forms of recreational inhalants (drugs you breathe in). ... This includes amyl nitrite, butyl nitrite, isobutyl nitrite, isopropyl nitrite, and cyclohexyl nitrite.

Commercial inhalant gases include refrigerant gases, medical anesthetic gases, e.g., ether and nitrous oxide (so-called laughing gas), and other medical inhalants, e.g., amyl nitrate.

Reported alkyl nitrite exposures more than doubled in the U.S. annually between 2013 and 2022 (from 138 to 365), and the number of people who needed medical attention rose from 59 to 185.

Most people using inhalants recreationally are using “poppers” or “whippets”. Poppers is a slang term that refers to the chemical class called alkyl nitrites that are inhaled.

Poppers, or nitrite inhalants, are vasodilators that expand blood vessels, relax muscles, and can cause euphoria. Many gay and bisexual men use them to make anal sex easier and more pleasurable.

Nationally, the Inhalant Prevention Coalition promotes Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week during the week of March 15-21 as an educational campaign to let people know the dangers that can lie ...

The inhalants have long been popular among gay men—in Australia, 60 percent of the gay male community reported having tried them—but are also a reasonably common party drug in other demographics.

For those unfamiliar with the inhalant, poppers were popularized by gay men during the 1970s for sex and partying. Sold in little brown bottles, the alkyl nitrite is inhaled by the user.