A 12-year-old boy has died in Alice Springs after police suspected he sniffed at least two cans of deodorant with a group of teenagers.

Northern Territory Police superintendent Bob Harrison said the boy was found unconscious by an officer at the Coles shopping complex in the town about 8:15pm on Saturday night.

"His attention was directed towards a person collapsed near the Discount Chemist," he said.

"He checked for vital signs. Finding none, he commenced CPR.

"[Paramedics] conveyed the young fellow to hospital but unfortunately he passed away."

Police believed the boy had consumed "a couple of cans" of deodorant earlier that night at Billy Goat Hill, a notorious sniffing spot in the centre of the town.

"We received information from a security guard that they'd spotted about eight young people sniffing cans near the hill," Superintendent Harrison said.

"Unfortunately without pre-empting the coroner's findings and the autopsy we believe this contributed to the death of this 12-year-old."

Superintendent Harrison said sniffing deaths were incredibly rare.

"Going back through my memory I can't recall another [death] in relation to aerosol cans," he said.

"Yes it is [prevalent] in the centre of Australia but I can't think myself of a previous death."

Police were interviewing witnesses and scouring the site for evidence.

"I believe we found a number of cans there so they've been exhibited and will form part of the evidence base," Superintendent Harrison said.

Coles removes inhalable products from shelves

Coles in Alice Springs has taken inhalable products off its shelves until a new security arrangement is installed. ( ABC News: Robert Herrick )

Most retailers already restrict the sale of inhalable sprays in Alice Springs.

In a statement to the ABC, Coles said it "has already ordered a display cabinet which will restrict access to aerosols liable to solvent abuse" for its Alice Springs store.

But the supermarket chain said the Christmas holiday period had caused a delay in delivery of the cabinet.

"In the meantime, Coles is removing at-risk products from shelves."

The high-risk products were already off the shelves before the boy died.

Chroming prevalent in Alice Springs: youth worker

Young people are pressuring others to sniff sprays such as deodorant, according to Tristan Ray from the Central Australian Youth Link-Up Service.

"You see one or two kids [sniffing] but then suddenly they're influencing other kids and it just becomes what that they do when they're together," he said.

"They do it because they're trying to have fun.

"Some young people do it because they're hungry, when you sniff it you can feel better.

"And others have just got enormous issues in their lives and they want to get out of it anyway they can."

Mr Ray said the prevalence of chroming had increased because young people were bored at night.

"About two years ago there were four or five good night-time youth programs that were diverting young people, keeping them busy, giving them help if they need it and intervening when they were doing unsafe things," he said.

"But we haven't had those youth services for most of the last 18 months and we really have noticed that that sniffing has taken off in that time.

"It's a very dangerous practice and this is the kind of outcome that we all dread."