New Minnesota law aiming to prevent huffing of aerosol products goes into effect Jan. 1
MINNEAPOLIS — Aerosol dusters will need to be kept behind store counters in Minnesota starting Jan. 1, 2025.
It's part of a new law aiming to prevent Minnesotans from huffing or inhaling the products to get high. The legislation also requires purchasers to be 21 or older and are limited to three at a time.
State Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina, is the bill's author. According to the State DFL Caucus, she was approached with the idea for the measure by the family of Tommy Byers, who died in 2022 as a result of inhaling aerosol dusters.
The products in the dusters, used to clean electronic products, contain difluoroethane, which produces a brief high, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Mann worked on the measure with State Rep. Heather Edelson, DFL-Edina, and Byers' mother, Katie O'Meara.
"I'm grateful that in the wake of Tommy's death, his family chose to work with me and with Representative Edelson to get this law enacted so that we can prevent other people from dying in the same way," Mann said in a written statement.
Huffing is the act of sniffing inhalants or chemicals found in many household products, according to Dr. Joseph Lee, medical director at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in Plymouth.
The chemicals starve the body of oxygen and then force the heart to beat irregularly.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 1,115 deaths and 28,000 emergency room visits have involved the inhalation of aerosols.
