If we haven’t done it, we’ve all seen a friend inhale the gas from a helium balloon to give themselves the voice of a cartoon character. I’ve done it and helped the kids do it.
If I’m honest I sometimes feel a little weird afterwards but I never thought that I was teaching my kids a potentially deadly party trick.
Inhaling helium into your lungs can have a similar effect to drowning.
More than 79 Australians were found to have died from inhaling the gas between July 2005 and December 2009, an increase of 163%, a 2011 study in the Journal of Forensic Sciences found. WHAT! 20 people a year die from this joke. That is insane!
Even high profile TV and radio shows regularly get guests to try this which has prompted the gas industry to do an awareness campaign.
Check it out and warn you kids 🙂 … I will be.
UPDATE:
The research mentioned is actually about suicide however the a new advertising campaign beginning on Sunday night, which is backed by gas suppliers BOC and ELGAS, actor Michael Caton, who played Darryl Kerrigan in 1997 film The Castle, will warn inhaling the gas from a helium balloon could be fatal.
