Lack of research means a new class of “poppers” - inhalant nitrites, marketed as “room aromas” since UK sale for explicit human consumption is illegal - may be just as dangerous as its predecessor, banned last year for being carcinogenic, concede health campaigners.

This is the surprise fall-out from an in-depth report compiled by Terrence Higgins Trust that sought primarily to alert gay men to the hiked risk of contracting HIV if using “high”-inducing poppers whilst having sex without a condom: since the drug can lower inhibitions – potentially resulting in longer, rougher sex – and since it increases blood flow inside the rectum.

Yet it seems poppers may carry potentially serious health risks, even if you do use a condom.

In 2006/7 isobutyl nitrite - until then the most commonly available kind of poppers, and bottles of which some may still possess (check labels) - was classified by the EU as a Class 2 carcinogen. This meant it was “potentially cancer-causing”, and – in tandem with new medical guidelines specific to the UK - made its UK sale illegal, under any guise or label.

Manufacturers and promoters of poppers simply switched from “isobutyl” to “isopropyl” nitrite – covered neither by the EU nor, at least in practice, by UK imposed bans – still in bottles marked "room aroma" and suchlike.

However, despite claims to the contrary made by some manufacturers, THT’s Richard Scholey, who complied their excellent report, has conceded: “The new formulation [isopropyl nitrite] isn’t necessary any safer [than the old isobutyl nitrite]. It’s just that it hasn’t as yet been researched to the degree that [the now banned] isobutyl nitrite has.”

Studies show that poppers are the third most used drug by gay men after alcohol and tobacco in the UK. Many UK gay media still opt to advertise them; arguably, putting financial gain ahead of more proactively safeguarding public health. Quite apart from any increased HIV-related risks of their use during sex without a condom, whilst there remains a lack of firm evidence to guarantee their cancer-related safety, it is still a case of “inhaler beware”.

For more on the potential dangers of poppers, visit: www.chapsonline.org.uk/biology