What is Chroming trend on TikTok? 11-year-old Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington dies from social media challenge gone wrong

An 11-year-old boy died after allegedly participating in a TikTok challenge on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at a friend's house in Lancaster, as per his family. School student Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington suffered a reported cardiac arrest after participating in a social media challenge called chroming.

Chroming, otherwise known as sniffing and huffing, is a social media challenge where people inhale toxic chemicals like petrol, cleaning liquids, solvents, paint, and aerosol cans. The word originated in Australia, signifying the inhalation of toxic fumes to get inebriated.

The toxic fumes reportedly affect the central nervous system and slow down brain functions in the inhaler. The effects include hallucinations, dizziness, slurred speech, nausea, and disorientation, per The Mirror.

A spokesperson from TikTok told The Mirror that there is no proof suggesting chroming was a TikTok-specific challenge or originated in the platform.

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Tommie-Lee Gracie Billington died after participating in an alleged TikTok challenge

Tommie-Lee was reportedly found unresponsive at a friend's house in Greenset Close, Lancaster. He allegedly suffered a cardiac arrest at around 12:30 pm on Saturday, March 2. The boy was rushed to the hospital immediately. However, the paramedics were unable to save him.

As per Lancaster Police, Tommie-Lee's death is currently "treated as unexplained." A spokesperson told Daily Mail that a police investigation is ongoing.

As per Tommie-Lee's family, the boy died because he participated in the chroming trend. His grandmother, Tina Burns, said he allegedly participated in the challenge at his friend's house. Burns said to the Lancashire Post,

"He died instantly after a sleepover at a friend's house. The boys had tried the TikTok craze 'chroming'. Tommie-Lee went into cardiac arrest immediately and died right there and then. The hospital did everything to try and bring him back but nothing worked. He was gone."

Tina described her grandson as a "bright, energetic boy" and urged the online platform to do more to protect children. She said he had a "heart of gold."

"He had a heart of gold just like his dad. Our family is utterly devastated."

Tommie-Lee lived with his mother, Sherri in Lancaster. His father's side of the family stays at Clayton-le-Woods and the South Ribble area of Lancashire, per The Mirror.

Both sides of the family suggested that children should "not be allowed" to be on "social media." They suggested that the social media platform be taken down.

"Both our families are utterly devastated but we all want the same thing. We don't want any other children to follow TikTok or be on social media. In fact, we want to get TikTok taken down and no children to be allowed on any social media under 16 years of age."

Tina Burns mentioned to Lancashire Post that they want to "help save other children's lives" by spreading awareness. She continued:

"This is breaking us all but we want to help save other children's lives and give families awareness to keep their children safe. I have had so many messages from parents thanking me for making them aware."

Taking to Facebook, Tommie-Lee's mother Sheri urged parents to "hide all deodorants" from their children. Chroming, the trend that allegedly killed Tommie-Lee, refers to the inhalation of such toxic fumes to get "high".

As per Daily Mail, the trend has been prevalent in the UK since 2018, before the launch of TikTok. The social media platform has blocked any searches by the term since the incident.