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Nitrogen-filled corn balls have become a popular trend on social media.
But the phenomenon can cause serious injury; in the western case, it can lead to a rupture of the stomach.
– I don’t think young people know it’s dangerous, but you do it as fun, says Christin Edmark of the Poisons Information Center.
“Dragon’s Breath” is a phenomenon that has emerged and has become a major trend on social media.
It involves stopping the liquid nitrogen-filled corn balls in your mouth and occasionally “blowing” gas that forms a smoke-like exhalation.
“This is being sold legally, and I don’t think there is any malicious intent behind the sale of this,” says Christin Edmark, chief physician at the Poisons Information Center.
The trend has spread to the Tik-tok and Instagram apps, among other things, which are two popular social channels with young people.
In a press release from the Medical Products Agency, the Poison Information Center writes that recently there have been cases where there has been a risk of serious consequences after people have performed “Dragon’s Breath.”
And now they go out and warn of the popular trend.
– A number of serious cases have been seen in other countries, and that is why we think it makes sense to go out and warn about this. It is unreasonable to wait until a large number of injuries have occurred, because we don’t want children and youth to be harmed by something that was actually meant to be “fun,” says Christin Edmark.
Photo: WIKIPEDIA
The popular corn balls that can cause a stomach rupture.
Getting liquid nitrogen or large amounts of nitrogen gas can be harmful in several ways. On the one hand, one can be exposed to unconsciousness, which according to Edmark is mainly due to the fact that ingesting nitrogen gas means that it replaces oxygen in the lungs, something that leads to a lack of oxygen.
But you can also see other risks associated with the “Dragon’s Breath” trend. Among other things, burns or, in the worst case, a ruptured stomach.
Nitrogen expands to 700 times its own volume as it evaporates. And in practice, according to Christin Edmark, this means that if you drink five milliliters of liquid nitrogen, for example, you can produce 3.5 liters of gas in your stomach.
– What is dangerous when you watch “Dragon’s Breath” is if not all the nitrogen has evaporated in your mouth, but you swallow liquid nitrogen. And that, in turn, can cause your stomach to burst, he says.
Photo: Nino Ramsby
Christin Edmark, chief physician at the Poisons Information Center.
But liquid nitrogen can also cause damage when it evaporates in the mouth.
– What usually happens is that you burn yourself. In other words, frost damage that almost turns into corrosion damage. Injuries that settle in the oral cavity, pharynx, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract and gastric duct, says Christin Edmark, adding that this type of injury should be viewed as “serious enough.”
The Poison Information Center hopes that with clear examples it will be possible to convey why the current Tik-tok trend is not good.
– We want the parents or the children themselves who read about this, to talk to each other and be happy to give concrete examples of why this is not good. That you can participate in information about what can happen. Because we don’t want people to do this, says Christin Edmark.
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