It Shouldn't Need Saying But Huffing Your Steam Deck's Exhaust Fumes Is Not Recommended

It should go without saying but do not lick your Nintendo Switch cartridges, blow vape smoke into your Xbox consoles, or generally follow any internet trend. This is especially true for any trend that necessitates a company putting out a formal warning if and when it goes viral, even if there is no real scientific backing, as it would seem common sense is not so common. Now, Valve is joining the list of companies who have put out dumb warnings for people who are inhaling the exhaust on their Steam Decks.

Over the past year, the meme about inhaling fumes from the exhaust of the Steam Deck has grown quite a bit. Folks around the internet were posting that they had “huffed” their Steam Deck as it had a nostalgic plastic-y smell that people could not get enough of, likely not too far off from why people like the smell of gasoline. For example, people such as Lawrence Sonntag, voice actor, producer, Twitch streamer, and former RoosterTeeth employee, were joking about the Steam Deck’s fumes and treating it like a good bong hit.


With all these folks huffing what is presumably just heated plastic fumes, one Redditor, Metapod100, became curious about its safety. Therefore, they did what any logical person would do and submitted a Steam support ticket asking whether or not it was safe to inhale the fumes as they “kinda… like it.” Steam replied, explaining that it is generally not recommended to inhale exhaust fumes from electronics and that while there are no safety concerns, it should be avoided.


It is unknown what the health consequences could be, so using just a modicum of common sense would tell someone it is a bad idea. However, this is the internet we are dealing with, so nothing is truly surprising anymore (Tide Pods, anyone? Don't eat those). However, please don’t go huffing your Steam Deck. Light a candle or something that will engage your nose all the same; they make “Video Store” scented candles, after all.