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Deodorant Smothers 12-year-old To Death In UK

by Gopalan on Nov 22 2008 11:26 AM

If the Greek youth Narcissus pined to death over his own reflection, a 12-year-old, crazy over body sprays, has been choked to death by excessive application of deodorant.

If the Greek youth Narcissus pined to death over his own reflection, a 12-year-old, crazy over body sprays, has been smothered to death by excessive application of deodorant.

Daniel Hurley was overcome by the solvents in the can and collapsed in the bath. He died five days later in hospital.

An inquest heard that Daniel died from cardiac arrhythmia, or abnormal heart rhythms, caused by solvents in the Lynx Vice spray.
The boy’s father, Robert Hurley, said the youngster was proud of his appearance and was "lavish" in his use of deodorants and hair gels. "He was always putting gel on his hair and spraying deodorant and it was quite common for him to spray his clothing as well," he said.

Hurley told the inquest he had been making tea while his son used the bathroom at their home in Sandiacre, near Nottingham.

'The bathroom is adjacent to the kitchen and I shouted to see if he was OK,' he said. 'I heard nothing so I shouted again but did not get a reply.

'I forced the door open and found Daniel in the bath. I checked for his heart rate and his breath but he was not breathing.'

An ambulance took Daniel to Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre. He died five days later on January 12 this year.

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The boy apparently had apparently fallen for such promos like, “Get your vice squad on the trail of some nice girls turned naughty with this unique masculine fragrance. Lynx Dry Vice helps fights wetness and odour and makes you smell good – and intensive research has taught us that women like men who smell good.”

But Unilever, which makes Lynx, also warns on the cans against over-spraying and says it must be used in well-ventilated places.

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A coroner said people should read the warnings and be aware of the dangers of the products they are using.

Dr Andrew Hitchcock, who performed the autopsy, said: "There is a very reasonable assumption that the passive inhalation of the solvent almost certainly led to his death." The Derby and South Derbyshire coroner, Robert Hunter, recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying he was satisfied Unilever gave enough warning.

But he said: "I do not know how many people read the warnings about exposure awareness. People need to know about the risks that these products have on the cardiovascular system."

Source-Medindia
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