The grieving family of a man who died after sniffing fumes from an aerosol can yesterday warned other young people to be aware of the dangers.
Joseph Doyle (21), a bartender, Shangan Park, Ballymun, Dublin, died on September 23rd, 2004 after inhaling butane gas from a can of Lynx deodorant.
His sisters, Linda and Anne-Marie, said after the inquest: "We want everyone to know the dangers of it."
Alan Doyle told the Dublin City Coroner's Court his brother came in at about 4am. "Other than being drunk he seemed normal, the same as usual," he said. However, he discovered his brother's body in bed the following morning, with a can of Lynx deodorant in his hand and a plastic bag over his head.
His devastated mother said he had worked since he was aged 14, starting out collecting glasses in a pub and working his way up to becoming a bartender.
"He worked all his life. He was against drugs," she said. "He could never understand why people took hard drugs. With my hands on my heart, I tell you as a mother he wouldn't take his own life, he loved life."
Deputy Dublin city coroner Maria Colbert said: "The plastic bag smelled of deodorant. The indication was he was sniffing butane from the can of deodorant through the plastic bag. Butane is the propellant that is used in a lot of aerosol sprays."
She added that she believed Mr Doyle's death was accidental. She said an autopsy report showed he had consumed a fairly large amount of alcohol, which could have been enough to affect his judgment.
In a postmortem report, State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy, said: "If you inhale butane it is toxic to your heart - it causes your heart to beat irregularly, which causes you to collapse and die."
Ms Colbert, who passed a verdict of death by misadventure, said Mr Doyle had died from butane inhalation, and the amount of alcohol he consumed was a contributory factor.