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The makers of Rexona, the deodorant identified by retailers and police as the product most abused by Queensland children, says it is aware five deaths across two states have been linked to the misuse of its products.
Key points:
- Police and support workers say they have seen an increase in the number of lives claimed by volatile substance misuse
- Rexona's head of deodorant Scott Mingl said the company "is aware of four deaths in Qld and one in NSW"
- Oil giant BP was faced with a similar issue in 2005 and with support reformulated its fuel
Scott Mingl, the head of deodorant for Unilever Australia and New Zealand, Rexona's parent company, told ABC Radio Brisbane that the company was aware misuse of their product had been linked to the deaths of children.
In 2015 a 16-year-old died in Alice Springs as a result of volatile substance misuse, and the death of a 15-year-old from Redcliffe a year later was also linked to the misuse of their product.
"We are aware. We believe there has been four [deaths] in Queensland and one in New South Wales," Mr Mingl told Katherine Feeney's Afternoons program.
"As far as police and community groups go, we have been working to engage, understand the issue and better support them."
Earlier this week, the ABC spoke to Rosie and Jordan, two Brisbane teenagers whose lives had been affected by volatile substance abuse.
"Firstly, I was devastated to hear about the impact on these kids and the impact of volatile substance misuse resulting from people misusing these products on the market," Mr Mingl said.
"We take it really seriously and we've been working the last few years to solve the problem."
Mr Mingl said the company changed the design of the cans and had spent several years looking to change the ingredients.
"We take it really seriously and we've been working the last few years to solve the problem," he said.
'Action will come' … but not yet
But, despite Unilever spending 900 million euros ($1.4 billion) last financial year on research and development, Mr Mingle said the company was yet to find a way to change the recipe.
"The action will come. This has been a problem for a number of years and over the last few years … and the one thing we can take out of this is that we haven't been able to find a silver bullet.
"We've made changes to the can, including putting warning labels on the pack, specifically calling out solvent misuse.
"As well as we've redesigned the can so that you can't even isolate the gas that these kids are using to get high by itself."
A similar issue involving substance misuse of petrol in remote Indigenous communities affected oil giant BP in 2005.
As a result, BP, with the support of the Federal Government, developed a non-aromatic (or sniffable) fuel which has proven to be effective in reducing the rates of harm as a result of misuse.
Mr Mingle said Unilever also feared that changing the product could drive teenagers to turn to cleaning solutions and pesticides.
The company had not identified any difference in the Rexona product from other products on the market, he added.
"We've tested all types [of deodorant] on the market to understand why there is any sort of preference and technically they haven't been able to tell the difference," he said.
That is despite the Queensland Police Service (QPS) and National Retailers Association (NRA) identifying Rexona as the product of choice for children chroming.
"We haven't ruled out changing the product but there is nothing that exists currently that we can replace in our product to stop this from actually happening"
Retailers lament lack of support
Dominique Lamb, chief executive of the NRA, said the representative body had not received any support from Rexona.
"Rexona, in particular, is something that we're seeing fly off the shelves typically by theft," she said.
"What we're finding is that in a number of locations there can be piles of over 30 cans at a time. Also, we're encountering, or our security in shopping centres, are encountering groups of youths who are obviously under the influence.
"Often they'll have these deodorant cans up the sleeves of their jackets or their shirts, and it's quite obvious what they're doing because they're not trying to hide it and the impact is quite clear.
" In terms of engagement from those suppliers … right now it really is on those retailers' shoulders and you've got to remember many of them are small business."
QPS investigator Peter Lunney, who is leading the Community Against Substance Misuse initiative in the Brisbane CBD, agreed the Rexona product was the substance of choice among youth engaging in chroming.
"It's deodorant cans, without a doubt. There is no doubt, the evidence at the moment says it is Rexona," he said.
"We've actually spoken to them [Unilever] on a number of occasions and have actually met with them. They are well aware of the problem and are certainly willing to work with police."
Mr Mingl said Unilever had been engaging in ongoing discussions with several stakeholders involved in the issue.
"As far as police and community groups go, we have been working to engage, understand the issue and better support them," he said.
"These discussions are ongoing and we're here to play a supportive role. What we're trying to do is find out how we can best lean into this issue and how we can support both the police and the community groups."
For free and confidential advice about alcohol and other drugs, call the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015. If someone needs urgent medical help, call triple-0.
Topics: community-and-society, drugs-and-substance-abuse, youth, drug-use, health, drug-education, addictive, petrol-sniffing, people, human-interest, brisbane-4000, qld, australia, cairns-4870, loganlea-4131
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