According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), there were 729,000 persons aged 12 or older who had used inhalants for the first time within the past 12 months; 70 percent were under the age of 18. In fact, inhalants — particularly volatile solvents, gases, and aerosols — are often the easiest and first options for abuse among young children who use drugs. National and state surveys report that inhalant abuse reaches its peak at some point during the seventh through ninth grades. Further, NIDA's annual MTF survey of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders consistently reports the highest rates of current, past-year, and lifetime inhalant use among 8th-graders.

According to the 2009 MTF survey, inhalant use has decreased significantly among 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders compared to its peak years (mid-1990s). Past-year use was reported by 8.1, 6.1, and 3.4 percent of 8th-, 10th-, and 12thgraders, respectively. Although recent patterns differ slightly among the grades, trends in inhalant use have been relatively stable over the past few years in all grades and measures surveyed. Interestingly, however, and according to data compiled by the National Capital Poison Center, the prevalence of inhalant cases reported to U.S. poison control centers decreased 33 percent from 1993 to 2008. The prevalence was highest among children aged 12 to 17 and peaked among 14-yearolds.

Gender differences in inhalant use have been identified at different ages. The MTF survey indicates that in 2008, 11 percent of 8thgrade females reported using inhalants in the past year, compared with 7 percent of 8th-grade males. Among 12th-graders, 3.2 percent of females and 4.4 percent of males reported using inhalants in the past year. The NSDUH reports that, for all prevalence categories measured, similar percentages of 12- to 17-year-old boys and girls used inhalants in 2008. However, the percentage of 18- to 25-year-old males who used inhalants within the past year was nearly two times that of females in that age group (2.1 percent versus 1.1 percent, respectively) in 2008, suggesting that sustained abuse of inhalants is more common among males.

In terms of ethnicity, African- American youth have consistently shown lower rates of inhalant abuse than Whites or Hispanics in the MTF survey. White youth generally report the highest rates of use across grades and prevalence periods, with one exception: Hispanics have the highest rates of past-year use among 8th- and 10th-graders.

People from both urban and rural settings abuse inhalants. Further, research on factors contributing to inhalant abuse suggests that adverse socioeconomic conditions, a history of childhood abuse, poor grades, and school dropout are associated with inhalant abuse.