What is "chroming"? Family demands action after 11-year-old dies following apparent TikTok challenge
A family in the UK is warning parents of an apparent social media trend called “chroming” after they say their 11-year-old son died after taking part.
Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington died on Saturday after being found unresponsive at a friend’s house in Lancaster, according to the Lancashire Post.
After suffering a suspected cardiac arrest at around 12:30 pm GMT, Billington was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, paramedics were unable to save him.
Lancashire Police told the Lancashire Post that his death is currently “unexplained.” While an investigation is underway, Billington’s grandma, Tina Burns, says she knows the cause of his death.
“We need the cause, the reason to get out there in the media of what killed my grandson,” Burns told the news outlet. “He died instantly after a sleepover at a friend’s house. The boys had tried the TikTok craze ‘chroming.'”
What is “chroming”?
“Chroming” has been around for a while, but many older adults may instead know it as “huffing.”
The medical term for this practice — which is estimated to affect over 22 million young people in North America, ages 12 and older — is inhalant abuse or addiction.
“Chroming” or “huffing” is the act of inhaling chemical vapours or gases as a way to get high.
According to The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), substances that are usually used as inhalants include glue, gasoline, household cleaning chemicals, and aerosols like paint cans.
“Inhalants are cheap, legal and easy to get. They have a high potential for abuse—especially by children and young adults,” reads the CAMH site.
The hospital says the main demographic that tries inhalants are kids between the ages of 10 and 16, mostly because of how accessible it is.
Inhalant abuse can lead to serious health issues like damage to the liver, kidney, lung, heart, break, bones and blood. It can also cause sudden sniffing death (SSD).
Is social media perpetuating the dangerous practice?
Burns, who’s a teaching assistant at a local school, told the Lancashire Post that her grandson’s death has the family heartbroken.
Burns says Billington’s mom and dad’s families want to raise awareness about how dangerous TikTok is for kids, calling on the social media company to do more to keep children safe online.
“In fact, we want to get TikTok taken down and no children to be allowed on any social media under 16 years of age,” she told the media outlet.
“One person said that she had no idea about these social media crazes and that her children happily stay in their rooms on TikTok,” Burns added. “She never knew there were things like this on it. She has now removed all social media from their devices and is so grateful that we are openly talking about it.”
The devastating news about the supposed “chroming” death has reached TikTok, where one content creator points out that this doesn’t help the proposed bill to ban the app in the US.
“Why can’t we bring back the simple ice bucket challenges?” said the creator in a post.
@damonjennings2.0 11-year-old loses his life to a TikTok trend known as chroming ##chroming##tiktoktrend##fyp ♬ je te laisserai de mots – ☆☆
Others are defending TikTok, saying that they haven’t seen a “chroming TikTok challenge” trending anywhere on the app.
“Anytime anything like this happens, they blame TikTok,” said one TikToker. “I feel for this kid and his family, but quit demonizing TikTok.”
@dopamine.tanner Rip to him #757 #animethighssavelives #fruitsalad #hahahahaha #iq #tanner #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Tanner 🍉
Daily Hive did a quick search of “chroming challenge” on TikTok and was met with a safety warning.
Results under the search “what is chrome trend” or “chrome trend” showed TikTokers reacting to Billington’s death, but there were no videos seen having to do with a “chroming” challenge.
GoFundMe for Tommie-lee Billington
While the authorities continue their investigation into Billington’s death, family friends have set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral costs.
“I will make sure to the best of my ability that your name and your beautiful face will become the reason that other children’s lives will be saved and other families don’t have to suffer this deep, deep hurt,” Burns wrote in a final, heartfelt post on Facebook.