Global alert over the killer diet pills
Interpol issue warning after deaths of 6 Britons
INTERPOL issued a global alert last night over diet pills feared to be responsible for the deaths of six young Britons.
Police in 190 countries were warned the il l i cit chemical is a lethal threat to unwitting customers using shadowy online dealers.
It came after the death of eloise Aimee Parry, 21, who took eight tablets of 2,4-Dinitrophenol (DNP) last month.
The student died after buying the chemical to slim down – despite being a normal weight. Five others have been killed since 2008. A French man has also been left seriously ill after taking the drug and Australian authorities are studying it after a victim suffered a dangerous seizure.
The toxic chemical is falsely marketed as a ‘miracle diet pill’ and sold online for as little as 70p a tablet. Dealers hiding
Eloise Parry: Took eight pills behind anonymous websites based overseas promise nextday delivery in plain packaging and even offer free samples.
The Interpol orange Notice is a signal of the danger posed by DNP and how authorities are struggling to block its sale.
experts have been working with the World Anti-Doping Agency after a laboratory was sent a sample in Australia.
They found the obvious risks associated with its use are amplified by unregulated manufacturing methods.
A spokesman said: ‘In addition to being produced in clandestine laboratories with no hygiene regulations, without s pecialist manufacturing knowledge the producers also expose consumers t o an increased chance of overdose.’
The chemical, a yellow organic compound, comes as a powder or capsule but is also available as a cream. It is used as a pesticide and explosive. It was popular as a diet aid in the 1930s but was banned after it was found to be poisonous and potentially carcinogenic.
Despite this, it has become popular again, particularly among bodybuilders and those desperate to l ose weight quickly. one company claiming to be based in the UK is offering to sell 100 pills for £70. others based in China were offering the powder contained in the capsules in bulk, allowing anyone to make pills and sell them online.
The National Poisons Information Service said there were just six enquiries from GPs about DNP in 2012, a year later there were 300.
Miss Parry died on April 12. her mother Fiona – a chemistry teacher – said she found the chemical in her handbag in a plastic bag labelled with the letters DNP. She said her daughter ‘burned up from within’.
The pills work by causing the body to overheat, accelerating the metabolism so it burns more fat. But it also causes dehydration, vomiting and a rapid or irregular heartbeat.
Long-term use can lead to cataracts and skin lesions and may cause damage to the heart. There is also evidence DNP causes cancer.
It is illegal to sell for human consumption, but sellers get around this by claiming to sell is as a pesticide or dye, which is not illegal.
‘Links to cancer’