HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — The first time he noticed a shiny, metallic container about the size of his pinky finger on the ground outside his Florida neighborhood, Paul Hauck had no idea what he was looking at.
“I just thought, ‘This is a new dimension of littering,'” Hauck recalled. “I’ve never seen it before.”
That was about two years ago. In the time since, Hauck said he’s picked up more than 2,000 nitrous oxide canisters, mostly around his neighborhood located near the boundary of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
“Like everyone else, I thought they were CO2 cartridges,” Hauck said. “I’ve since learned that it’s nitrous oxide, and it’s sold commercially for the purpose of making whipped cream.”
That’s why the canisters are also known as ‘whippets.’ According to the Cleveland Clinic, the gas inside can be inhaled to produce a high, which can be harmful.
“One day, I picked up 150,” Hauck explained. “Two days later, I picked up 200 more.”
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said it’s contacting its Environmental Enforcement Unit about the issue.
Neighbors still have no idea how the containers ended up in the road and along the sidewalks.
“They all had their theories,” Hauck said. “You know, it had to be a golf cart, it had to be a kid, it had to be someone, or this one or that one. But we don’t know. We really don’t know why, and it’s a mystery.”
Hauck also said he worries about the dangers of the cartridges. The tire shop across the street from his neighborhood told NewsNation affiliate WFLA a vehicle came in with a canister in its tire once, and cars have to swerve to avoid the whippets in the morning.
Hauck said tractors and mowers sometimes tear the canisters apart, and he’s concerned a machine will spit a canister out at someone in the future.
“That’s my biggest concern, and that’s why I pick these up,” Hauck said. “I don’t want to see anybody hurt because of someone else’s negligence.”
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office told WFLA it can be difficult to prosecute cases like this, since it’s small amounts of litter over a long period of time, and there’s no direct evidence of someone dumping the canisters.