What is the social media trend of dusting, and why should you never follow it?

On Sunday, a 19-year-old girl in Arizona, in the US died on Sunday after taking part in a deadly social media trend called "dusting". According to news reports, Renna O'Rourke died after spending four days in the intensive care unit (ICU). Her parents said that she and her boyfriend ordered aerosol keyboard cleaner without their knowledge. After inhaling the keyboard cleaner, the teen went into cardiac arrest, spent a week unconscious in the ICU and then was declared brain dead. 

What is this dusting trend?

In this trend, social media users record themselves inhaling keyboard cleaning spray to get higher views on their profiles and videos. While copying the trend, this Arizona teen went into a cardiac arrest.

Why shouldn't one try following it?

While explaining the danger of the “dusting” challenge, doctors are saying how it affects the body, which even leads to death. When the cleaning sprays are inhaled, the chemicals in the gas actually replaces the oxygen within their lungs and within the rest of their body.

Inhaling the gas can make someone feel euphoric for a few minutes but the damage done by is irreversible and fatal. Doctors explained that it can cause failure of the liver, heart failure, disease of the lungs.

This is not the first time that a dangerous social media trend has resulted in loss of life. Remember the Blue Whale challenge that surfaced in 2016, which saw several youngsters losing their lives to complete the challenges? To follow another social media trend, a 14-year-old Brazil boy lost his life after he injected a mixture of water and dead remains of a butterfly into his veins. He passed away a week late at the hospital, after going through excruciating pain.

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