Two men sent to clean a downtown LA apt. Found dead. Exposure to fentynal

[Demovictory9]

[LeftInTX]

1. OMG

[wryter2000]

2. Exposed?

You don't have to swallow it? Did they inhale it? Find the tenant, and arrest the bum.

[LoisB]

3. Apparently, all you have to do is inhale it.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. CDC & NIOSH Both Recommend...

...PPE for first responders.
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/fentanyl/risk.html
But, a Vermont study describes the risk as low.
This is a study on PubMed that debunks dermal exposure risk.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34112568/
I couldn't find specific tox data on incidental exposure by inhalation, but found a reference to minimal concern over a 200 minute exposure.
I think we need a lot more information on this case to understand it.

[Mariana]

17. *Suspected* exposure.

The OP left that out in their headline.

[Maraya1969]

4. Another one who almost died. And he was just handling the stuff.

I'm beginning to think they should outlaw this stuff. Of course that won't stop the illegal trade.

[tenderfoot]

7. Copaganda

The video drew strong pushback from public health experts. “The probability that the deputy shown in that video experienced harm related to opioid exposure is zero percent,” says Lucas Hill, a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Texas at Austin. “Absolutely nothing in that video is consistent with an opioid overdose.” Hill calls these incidents allegedly involving secondhand exposure “complete nonsense.” He helped organize an online petition asking news organizations to retract their accounts of the San Diego incident; it’s been signed by more than 400 health experts and others.

“The only way to experience intoxification or overdose from fentanyl, or any other opioid,” says Hill, “is to take it intentionally: to inject it, to snort it or to ingest it orally.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/fentanyl-police-overdose-myth-san-diego-video/2021/08/13/5be44ec0-fbb3-11eb-8a67-f14cd1d28e47_story.html

[Maraya1969]

9. Well then those two who just died must have been sampling some even thought it says

"exposure" which makes it seem like it came from the air.

[Mariana]

19. The OP's headline says exposure to fentanyl.

The story says suspected exposure. The autopsy findings and the test results aren't back yet. We don't know how they died, and if it was fentanyl, how it got into their systems.

[gldstwmn]

23. Most of it is actually illicit now. It's a huge problem where I live.

[RussBLib]

6. touching it can be deadly

we used gloves to apply it to my late bro-in-law to ease his pain. He had quite a high tolerance, eventually using a morphine implant to achieve a semblance of a normal life, for a while. He died at 59, in his sleep.

Touching that shit can lead to an overdose. It's absurdly strong.

Kinda wish we could go back to the days when the Mexican cartels just smuggled weed and cocaine. Now that weed isn't so profitable, they have switched to meth and fentanyl. And kidnapping for ransom. Deadly shit.

And sometimes packages from China are intercepted, full of fentanyl. WTF?

I'm all for killing pain, but moderation, please.

[Nevilledog]

8. Misinformation is rampant about fentanyl exposure

https://healthandjusticejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40352-021-00163-5

Abstract

Misinformation about overdose risk from accidentally inhaling or touching fentanyl is widespread among police in the United States. This may aggravate already elevated burdens of officer stress and burnout, while chilling lifesaving overdose response. Police education has shown promise in reducing false beliefs about fentanyl. To better understand the potential of training interventions in correcting officer knowledge, we administered a 10-min online training with corrective messaging about occupational overdose risk from fentanyl contact to 204 police officers in Indiana. Overall, 129 officers (63%) completed baseline survey and 69 (34%) completed follow-up instrument. Using a 6-point Likert scale, we documented assent with the statement: “First responders who encounter fentanyl are at great risk of overdose by touching it or inhaling it.” At baseline, 79.8% expressed agreement, while 20.2% disagreed. At follow-up, 39.1% agreed, while 60.9% disagreed



For some reason it won't let me post more

[milestogo]

10. So how come patients who have a legitimate prescription for fentanyl don't die from touching it

or ingesting it?

[Nevilledog]

11. It's misinformation regularly pushed by police

https://healthandjusticejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40352-021-00163-5



I really recommend people read this before passing on fentanyl "horror stories"

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. Thanks for your work in this thread.

[Nevilledog]

14. I think we've been down this road together in the past.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

20. Indeed.

[LymphocyteLover]

12. I'm guessing the dose is titrated down to a level that is therapeutic

Fentanyl is just so potent in pure form that it apparently can cause overdoses super easlily

[keithbvadu2]

15. MAGA apt?

https://democraticunderground.com/100216689430

“If you wanted to kill a bunch of MAGA voters in the middle of the heartland, how better than to target them and their kids with this deadly fentanyl?..."

[Demovictory9]

16. Magas in downtown LA?

[keithbvadu2]

18. Proselytizing

[rollin74]

21. A woman who lives near me had fentanyl powder

in her home. She’s an addict. Her toddler got exposed to it and wound up in the ICU

the Fire Dept hazmat team was called out to the house and spent several hours decontaminating the place

[Demovictory9]

22. Powerful stuff

[littlemissmartypants]

24. Iso...

Iso is a synthetic version of etonitazene, an opioid first reported in 1957 but not approved for medical use because it is highly addictive and very dangerous.

Iso appears to be slightly more potent than fentanyl, which itself is as much as 100 times more powerful than morphine, according an analysis of the new drug published last year in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis.

https://www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/news-statistics/2020/06/23/iso-deadly-new-synthetic-opioid-has-hit-american-streets

...iso might not trigger the test strips that drug users utilize to test for the presence of fentanyl in other illicit substances, since it's not a widely used opioid, Aussem said.

"Users think they're doing the safe thing by testing the substances they're getting, but it may not show up," Aussem said.

Second, police have indicated that iso will respond to the lifesaving overdose drug naloxone, but that someone might need several doses for it to be effective, ...

https://consumer.healthday.com/bone-and-joint-information-4/opioids-990/iso-a-deadly-new-synthetic-opioid-has-hit-american-streets-758412.html

Counties With the Worst Drug Problem in Every State
Hristina Byrnes, Grant Suneson
March 2, 2021 8:54 am
Last Updated: March 2, 2021 9:02 am

The U.S. has experienced a massive surge in drug addiction, and consequently fatal overdoses, in recent years. In 1999, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported an age-adjusted rate of 6.1 fatal overdoses per 100,000 Americans. By 2019, that figure had more than tripled to 21.6 fatal drug overdoses per 100,000 people.

While this problem has affected every part of the country, certain areas struggle with an outsized share of drug overdose deaths. There are dozens of counties and county equivalents in which drug overdose deaths are more than twice as common as they are nationwide. Each state has one place where the drug overdose problem stands out as especially severe.

To determine the county with the worst drug problem in every state, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the annual average number of drug-related deaths per 100,000 residents in all U.S. counties and county equivalents from 2015 to 2019, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Addiction and drug use are complicated and multifaceted issues that touch Americans nationwide and at all socioeconomic levels. Still, the counties that have the worst drug problems tend to have certain characteristics in common, including relatively lower income, higher unemployment, and higher poverty. This is the poorest county in every state.

Complete list at the link.

https://247wallst.com/special-report/2021/03/02/counties-with-the-worst-drug-problem-in-every-state-3/1/