What is Chroming? The Dangerous TikTok Challenge
Using social media platforms like TikTok, a short-form video app, poses risks for users, particularly young children and teenagers. Young people are even more susceptible to the risks social media poses, as their brains are still developing. Younger users are more likely to participate in dangerous trends and challenges to “fit in.” Chroming is the latest dangerous challenge to spread on the platform, already resulting in the deaths of multiple children and teens worldwide.
Written and edited by our team of expert legal content writers and reviewed and approved by Attorney Matthew Bergman
- Content last updated on:
- November 11, 2024
Written and edited by our team of expert legal content writers and reviewed and approved by
- Content last updated on:
- November 11, 2024
What is the Chroming Challenge on TikTok?
“Chroming” is a TikTok trend in which users inhale toxic fumes from household items like nail polish, permanent markers, or spray-on deodorant in order to experience a short-lived high. The challenge gets its name from the residue left on the face and hands after inhaling metallic paint, and it has claimed the lives of multiple children worldwide in recent months. Like “huffing,” chroming can become addictive when practiced repeatedly.
Why Did the Chroming Challenge Gain Popularity?
Sniffing household products for their temporary hallucinatory effects isn’t new among young people. Abusing inhalants peaked in the 1990s, but until recent years, it was down-trending. Now, inhalant abuse is coming back as a new social media challenge, spreading quickly across the world due to more and more videos about it posted online.
Chroming is a concerning trend because it involves the abuse of everyday household items that are easily accessible to children and teens. Additionally, misinformed young people may believe that chroming is a safer alternative to traditional drugs. Some doctors also speculate that there is an underlying psychiatric component to the rising popularity of chroming, as children and teens look for ways to self-medicate.
Children and Teens Across the Globe Are Dying From Chroming
Since as early as 2019, the chroming trend has been claiming the lives of children and teenagers across the globe, particularly in the U.K. and Australia, where the trend is said to have originated. Children as young as 11 have died from inhalant abuse due to its online popularization on “WhipTok,” where users have dodged the term “chroming” after TikTok banned creators from using the tag. TikTok leadership recently published a statement that content involving aerosol challenges is prohibited and will be removed if found. Still, young people continue to suffer.
Esra Haynes
In March 2023, 13-year-old Esra Haynes went into cardiac arrest and sustained irreparable brain damage after chroming at a friend’s sleepover in Australia. Haynes was taken to the hospital in an unresponsive state and placed on life support but passed away eight days later. Haynes was not the first Australian teenager to die from chroming. At least three 16-year-olds died from inhalant abuse in 2019, 2021, and 2022. In 2021, some Australian supermarkets began locking their deodorant cans before purchase in response to the trend.
Sarah Mescall
In September 2023, 14-year-old Sarah Mescall is alleged to have died at the hospital after taking part in the chroming challenge. Irish police have investigated the incident, though most information about Mescall’s death has not been publicized.
Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington
In March 2024, 11-year-old Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington died after chroming at a friend’s sleepover in the U.K. Billington was taken to the hospital after becoming unresponsive, where he went into cardiac arrest and died. His family spoke out about shutting down TikTok and restricting all other social media platforms for children under 16.
Cesar Watson-King
In September 2024, 12-year-old Cesar Watson-King went into cardiac arrest after inhaling fumes from a deodorant can in the U.K. Watson-King’s mother found him on the kitchen floor having a seizure and performed CPR while waiting for an ambulance. At the hospital, Watson-King experienced more seizures and cardiac arrest and was placed into a medically induced coma.
Harms Caused by Chroming
Chroming can cause many kinds of short and long-term harm to the body, especially in children. However, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, even one instance of inhalant abuse can cause “sudden sniffing death syndrome.” The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that other side effects children and teens may experience after chroming include:
- Slurred speech
- Hallucinations
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Heart attacks
- Seizures
- Suffocation
- Permanent damage to the brain, heart, and lungs
- Death
A September 2024 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics on the effects of chroming on young people analyzed 109 chroming videos with a combined 25 million views on TikTok. The most common items used in the challenge were permanent markers, air dusters, nail polish, paint thinner, gasoline, spray deodorant, and hairspray. More than half of the videos referenced repeated use or addiction.
How Can You Tell If Your Child is Chroming?
Unfortunately, the often covert nature of chroming means it may be harder to detect if your child is participating in the trend. Because of this, the risk of repeated use and addiction is higher. Warning signs that your child may be participating in chroming include:
- Frequent use of household chemicals (e.g., spray deodorants, paint thinners)
- Strong chemical smells on their breath or clothing
- Dizziness, nausea, or disorientation
- Headaches or unexplained mood swings
- Sores around the mouth or nose
- Empty aerosol cans in their room or bags
- Decline in school performance or interest in activities
- Secrecy or isolation while using products
Educating children about the risks of chroming and setting clear expectations about chemical substances and social media use can discourage them from engaging in chroming. Limiting social media use and monitoring your child’s online activity may also help in identifying when there could be a substance use problem. Finally, social media companies should also be held accountable for spreading harmful content to spread to young users.
Taking Legal Action for Harms Caused by Chroming
The harm caused to teenagers and children by TikTok’s algorithm and lack of adequate content monitoring has been linked to numerous deaths in the United States and abroad. Overuse of the app has also been connected to various dangerous mental and physical impacts.
Parents and young people harmed by TikTok have legal options to hold the platform accountable. If your child or teen was harmed by chroming, another TikTok challenge, or social media addiction, contact us today to learn how we can help. Our attorneys are experts in social media litigation and have filed multiple lawsuits against TikTok for harming young people.
Chroming Harm Lawsuit Case Review
Chroming is a dangerous TikTok trend that is harming children and teens.
