Dust-Off is a brand of dust cleaner (refrigerant-based propellant cleaner, which is not compressed air and incorrectly called "canned air") containing difluoroethane; it is used to remove particulates and dust from computers and electronic equipment. Some customers buy Dust-Off just to clean dust and debris from hard to reach areas. Dust-Off is manufactured by Falcon Safety Products. The product has also gained attention as it has been abused as an inhalant by teenagers, as seen in the movie Thirteen. A warning email has been circulated by Jeff Williams, a police officer in Cleveland, whose son, Kyle, died after inhaling Dust-Off in Painesville Township, Ohio.

Falcon has now added a bitterant to the product to deter inhalation, probably in response to the above and other cases.

References

External links

• Official Dust-Off Website
• Snopes: Adolescents huffing from cans of Dust-Off brand compressed air have died
• Common Inhalants abused (Internet Archive)
• Falcon: Issues surrounding inhalant abuse and huffing
• Statement from Falcon Safety about inhalant abuse
• National Institute on Drug Abuse
• National Inhalant Prevention Coalition 1-(800) 269-4237