Washington § 69.57.010 - Findings.

(1) The sale of sodium nitrite is a matter of statewide and national concern as there are increasing reports about the extreme health risks of ingestion of sodium nitrite, particularly by people attempting suicide. Sodium nitrite has been promoted online as an effective method to complete suicide as it is readily available and fast acting, and there is a false perception that it provides a painless asymptomatic course prior to death.

(2) Sodium nitrite is commercially available for use as a food preservative, as a curing agent, and for certain limited industrial and medical uses. It can be purchased easily and without restriction from multiple online and brick-and-mortar retail vendors. The national poison data system showed an annual increase in the number of reported exposures to sodium nitrite from 2017 to 2020. In 2021, the national poison data system annual report revealed 16 fatalities across all age cohorts related to sodium nitrite, data that likely underreports actual occurrences. Nationally, 222 deaths were linked to sodium nitrite in 2022 by a single private laboratory. Victims of sodium nitrite ingestion become cyanotic and short of breath within minutes due to methemoglobinemia, which is a blood disorder resulting from an abnormal increase in the hemoglobin methemoglobin. The reversing agent of methylene blue can be ineffective and difficult to administer in an acutely ill patient and is not widely available, even in emergency departments.

(3) The federal centers for disease control and prevention reported that in 2021, 22 percent of high school students seriously considered attempting suicide during the past year, trending significantly upward since 2011, particularly among female students. One in 10 high school students attempted suicide in 2021.

(4) Limiting access to lethal suicide methods, known as "means restriction," is an important strategy for suicide prevention. Although some individuals might seek other methods, many do not and, when they do, the means chosen are less lethal and are associated with fewer deaths than when more dangerous methods are available. Restricting access to sodium nitrite will save lives, particularly among vulnerable and developing adolescents and young adults, and prevent the deleterious impact of suicide upon families, communities, and the public health system.

(5) The federal government and other states are currently enacting or considering legislation to restrict access to sodium nitrite and to properly label it by warnings. The enactment of such legislation, to be known and cited in Washington as "Tyler's law," will result in reduced numbers of suicides and suicide attempts and increase the likelihood that caretakers and health care providers will be able to intervene and interrupt suicide attempts.

Effective date—2025 c 13: "This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support to of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately [April 7, 2025]." [ 2025 c 13 s 11.]