Alarms about both deaths and injuries linked to blogging have been noticed around the country in recent weeks. Following the incidents, both the police and the Poison Information Centre have issued warnings.
Hanna Nordmark Grass, chief physician at the Poison Information Centre, explains why the phenomenon should be taken seriously.
"This is life-threatening, that's why we're issuing this warning," she says in Morgonstudion.
May cause cardiac arrest
Boffing in this case involves inhaling propellant, which is often found in dry shampoos, to achieve an intoxication effect. The gas is transported via the lungs, meets the blood and then spreads to the brain whereupon a brief intoxication occurs.
The actual danger arises when the agent also reaches the heart. The powder in dry shampoo, for example, can also cause damage to the lungs in the long term.
"The heart is very sensitive to this, because the heart becomes a direct poison. We depend on electrical impulses in the heart for it to beat at a steady rate just as it should. But this is knocked out and there is a risk that it will hit completely irregularly. And then you can have a cardiac arrest and die bang and fall. You can die the first time you do it," says Hanna Nordmark Grass.
"A poison"
According to Hanna Nordmark Grass, the dangers of boffing differ from a more traditional addiction.
"It's more of a poison, I would say.
She now advises parents and adults to talk to children and young people about the risks.
"It can be good to talk to your children about this. That you can die the first time," she says.