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MYTH: You canoverdose by touching fentenyl. FACTS!

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Bekeart

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original post:



MYTH: You canoverdose by touching fentenyl. FACTS!
No, you can/t accidentally overdose by touching fentanyl

Here is the truth behind the myth and three other common myths about fentanyl.

Here is the truth behind four common myths about fentanyl.

Myth: You can overdose by touching an item containing fentanyl.
Fentanyl isn't absorbed well by the skin. For fentanyl to have a physical effect on the body,
it must enter the bloodstream.
The symptoms people have reported when claiming they've touched fentanyl-laced items,
such as dizziness, heart rate increases and passing out, aren't consistent with a fentanyl overdose,


Myth: Breathing air in a room with fentanyl can make you sick.
Medical experts said this is false.
That's because fentanyl isn't volatile, meaning it doesn't easily become a vapor.


Myth: Fentanyl deaths in the U.S. are increasing because immigrants
are smuggling the drug through "open borders".
This is False.
most fentanyl is seized at official ports of entry and not between them,
where most migrants try to cross the border,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows.
And in 2022, 89% of convicted fentanyl drug traffickers were U.S. citizens.
"Drug traffickers deal with professionals, not amateurs, and they prefer U.S. citizens,"
Sanho Tree, director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies,
a progressive Washington, D.C.-based think tank, told PolitiFact in 2022.


Myth: Fentanyl smells like popcorn when it burns.
This is False.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that fentanyl is odorless and tasteless
There is no evidence that burning or smoking fentanyl will produce a popcorn-like scent,

Updated with work
Updated with source links.

Poynter - Poynter

No, you can’t accidentally overdose by touching fentanyl - Poynter

This fact check was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute.
See the sources for this fact check here.

PolitiFact | Common myths about fentanyl debunked: No, you can’t accidentally overdose by touching fentanyl

From Poynter Institute
PolitiFact
 
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Tom S. said:
Because if you Google it, you will see multiple sources stating the same thing.
Click to expand...

And those Google sources probably use the word Unlikely, and not Impossible. If you find one that says impossible, it's likely qualified by saying don't touch your eyes, mouth or nose. But I am admittedly biased on the subject since my daughter has to deal with these people daily, and had to administer a dose of narcan to a trooper she was helping take a subject into custody. The smart money is on those that prepare or the worse, and know they could be the one in the one in a million.
 
I read a couple of days ago that Narcan, the nasal antidote to fentanyl, is either already or will soon be available over the counter in pharmacies. If I recall correctly, it costs about $40, with prices expected to drop. Would be a good thing to have handy nowadays.

Here's the article I was recalling: Narcan Available for Over-the-Counter Purchase: What to Know - The New York Times

The article says that for people with commercial insurance or Medicaid, an antidote is already available in many places with a "standing prescription," meaning a specific prescription from a doctor is not required for purchase.
 
I’ve heard a lot of issues with cops exposed to it which I tend to believe that don’t particularly jive with the info above. Im sorry, but I don’t recall specifics of the exposures. I recall some of them being saved by Narcan. I don’t necessarily disbelieve the info provided and no offense but I’ll just stay away from it if it ever presents itself.
 
Poynter Institute is teaches serious journalism.

Poynter Institute is teaches serious journalism.
Mostly aimed at newspapers.
Any Opinion article is Clearly identified as Opinion.

Poynter - Poynter


No, you can’t accidentally overdose by touching fentanyl - Poynter

This fact check was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute. See the sources for this fact check here.

PolitiFact | Common myths about fentanyl debunked: No, you can’t accidentally overdose by touching fentanyl

From Poynter Institute
PolitiFact
 
LVSteve said:
I'm confused. If it is so poor at being absorbed through skin, how do fentanyl patches work?
Click to expand...
I think it has to do with the length of exposure. A patch is designed to maintain contact for a long — days? — time.

From the article:

..."A more practical example of extreme exposure is provided in his case report, noting that using in vitro modeling to calculate a massive exposure to carfentanil (a substance 100 times more potent than fentanyl) “demonstrated the drug would need two minutes of exposure to the full palmar hand surface area of each hand to absorb a biologically relevant dose and up to 44 minutes to absorb a lethal dose.”1 Simply put, it is difficult, or perhaps nearly impossible, to quickly achieve a toxic exposure to fentanyl via the skin."...
 
Like this:

Transdermal fentanyl patches include four layers that regulate the delivery of fentanyl in a complex mechanism.

The first layer is a silicon adhesive that attaches directly to the skin.
The second layer is an ethylene-based membrane that controls the rate of fentanyl delivery.
The third layer contains the fentanyl drug and dipropylene glycol mixed with cellulose that allows the fentanyl to be absorbed by the skin.
The fourth layer is a protective, backing sheet of foil that protects fentanyl from leaking out of the controlled, patch membrane.
Fentanyl patches are a sort-of last resort pain management system after other approaches have not worked. They are only prescribed if someone is already opioid-dependent as a result of taking at least 60 mg of morphine, 30 mg of oxycodone, or 8 mg of hydromorphone daily. The risk of a fentanyl overdose is significantly higher for someone who is not already opioid-dependent.

Dry fentanyl tablets are as safe to handle as any other prescription drug. So is powdered fentanyl so long as you don't lick your fingers after handling it and before you wash your hands. The Zheng Group fentanyl is the most common over the past 5 years - I don't directly work dope and I've seen as much as 3 pounds.

If Americans quit buying it, Chinese criminals will quit sending it.
 
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Something seems at odds here?? Whether an overdose or a high caused by the drug, my answer is no thanks! As a general rule, I do not believe you should not ingest the drug, plus we know the drug is administered by a patch contacting the skin, and you should not inhale the drug. All of which have nothing to do with injection into the bloodstream, but apparently it still delivers the drug to the individual. Perhaps for the majority of people, exposure to the drug causes no great harm, but as with any drug, some people are at higher risks than others. I am certainly not going to test their findings.

Inhalation was recently the cause of a Milwaukee policeman's exposure and reaction to fentanyl. This drug is often ground into a powder like flour and likely became part of an accident scene, I would certainly not want to breath the air or touch anything!!

The OP's statements immediately remind me of the use of terms always and never. Statements like that always diminish their impact. All I know is I am avoiding any and all exposure to fentanyl!!!!!
 
Everything Bekeart posted is correct. The only thing I'd add is that the smell when burning, if there is any, is from the adulterants used to cut it.

Unless you have open wounds and get Fentanyl (or Heroin, or Cocaine) into the wound, you will have no ill effects.

I'm skeptical of all of the reports of police officers "overdosing" when touch something they think is Fentanyl. Overdosing on hysteria maybe, but not Fentanyl.
 
Myth: Fentanyl deaths in the U.S. are increasing because immigrants
are smuggling the drug through "open borders".
This is False.
most fentanyl is seized at official ports of entry and not between them,
where most migrants try to cross the border,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows.
And in 2022, 89% of convicted fentanyl drug traffickers were U.S. citizens.
"Drug traffickers deal with professionals, not amateurs, and they prefer U.S. citizens,"
Sanho Tree, director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies,
a progressive Washington, D.C.-based think tank, told PolitiFact in 2022.

This part I do question. The problem with using these numbers is that it only accounts for the drugs that are found and not the ones that get past everything. Naturally, the most drugs being found will be at the ports of entry where there is the most control and the most scrutiny. Much still gets through by the container system just because it is so big and difficult to police. I think it is hard to quantify how much gets through "undetected" because it is, well, undetected. How can they say how much they didn't detect and where the stuff they didn't detect came from? I think what is going on with this statement is that it was made by a progressive think tank that is trying to steer the immigration debate. I'm taking it with a grain of salt.
 
I appreciate Bekart providing a breath of fresh air and science in the wild imaginings of fear ginned up about this drug.

Unfortunately, many LEOs and other first responders have bought into the hype about the impact of handling this stuff. It’s not uncommon for a LEO to have a panic attack after discovering that they’ve handled fentanyl.

The panic attack is very real and incapacitating, but it’s not a reaction to consuming it through the skin (it doesn’t absorb through the skin). The panic attack is a result of having erroneous information about the drug.

Unfortunately, these myths are so widespread and firmly held among the first responder community, that members of that community are often not able to incorporate opposing information.
 
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I have been around it but, it is always sealed and usually in a metal can. I think with all things out in the world, some are more susceptible to some things than others. As part of my training I have seen videos that confirm it is not you touch it and die. I think the main problem is what else may be in the pills with Fentanyl. To error on the side of caution on this is prudent.

After seeing multiple videos where officers have become exposed and are given multiple Narcan nasal sprays to me says that something is truly going on.
 
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