How Wirral litter picker is seeing increase in nitrous oxide use

Julie Forshaw, from Irby, has been a member of the litter picking group, Wirral Wombles since they started in 2021.

Wirral Wombles and The New Brighteners have been collecting nitrous oxide cannisters over the last two years which have been dumped in local beaches and parks in a mission to recycle them.

Julie told the Globe: “We used to see the small cannisters especially on Thurstaston Beach after end of exam parties. We’d pick up boxes with about 50 empty ones in and loads of balloons next to them.

170 cannisters have been collected by Wirral Wombles (Image: Julie Forshaw)

“Now we find ourselves picking up the massive creamers but not the actual balloons. Apparently people are now releasing the gas into pop up tents and their coats and inhaling it thar way.

“Over the last two years Wirral Wombles have been picking up more and more off beaches and parks and particularly around the back of B&Q in Bidston Moss.

“They weigh about 2kg each and are made of very thick heavy metal so we just decided there must be a way of stopping them from going into landfill when we collect them.”

There is currently a collection point at Wirral Country Park set up by the Wombles but Julie says the amount of cannisters that need collecting is “ridiculous”.

She said: “The only way they can be made safe is to remove the brass valve out of the top and get rid of the remaining nitrous oxide to prove their depressurized.

“We’ve asked all the scrapyards in Wirral if they’ll take them and they won’t so we’ve found one scrap yard in Liverpool that agreed to take them.”

Last week, Julie and her husband took the first lot of cannisters to be recycled.

She said: “We took 170 cannisters with us so that’s 200kg of waste metal which hasn't gone to landfill which is around the weight of a piano.

“It’s the tip of the iceberg though because not only is there masses of them across the borough it’s also a country wide problem.”

What is nitrous oxide?

Nitrous oxide (NOS) is a colourless gas sold in canisters, usually inhaled using a balloon.

Heavy regular use of nitrous oxide can lead to a deficiency of vitamin B12 and to a form of anaemia. Severe B12 deficiency can lead to serious nerve damage, causing tingling and numbness in the fingers and toes. This can be very painful and make walking difficult. It can even lead to paralysis, and the damage may be lasting.

Regular use can stop you forming white blood cells properly.

It is a Class C drug, which means it's illegal to have for yourself, give away or sell. Possession can get you up to two years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.

There are a broad range of legitimate uses of nitrous oxide, for example pain relief in medical settings, including dentistry. It is also used legitimately in industry, for manufacturing and technical processes, such as food packaging, but also in catering, as a whipped cream propellant. Hobbyists also use it in activities such as motorsport drag racing and model rocketry.

Julie, who is a retired nurse, is also hoping to make people aware of the damage nitrous oxide can cause to people's health.

She said: “I have treated a patient who couldn’t walk, and his fingers and toes were tingling from abuse of nitrous oxide. It damages your central nervous system and when that happens its irreversible. It causes neurological damage that you will never recover from.

“One of the main things aside from the recycling is the health message because people don’t realise the damage it’s doing to them. We're going to do an epidemic of people in wheelchairs.

“We’ve seen a massive increase in the cannisters since Covid. People seem to meeting up and having nitrous oxide parties. It’s appalling.”

To find out more about Wirral Wombles click here.