Some analyses on black market steroids in diverse countries

Brazilian steroids market flooded with fakes and copies

The quality of steroids on the black market is abominable. Laboratories worldwide report that almost half of all steroids are fakes. And the situation is no different in Brazil, according to a report by the National Institute of Criminalistics van het Brazilian Federal Police Department. About forty percent of the steroids on the Brazilian black market are of dubious quality, and the percentage is on the rise.The Brazilians will soon publish the results of a study in Forensic Science international for which they analysed 2818 preparations that had been confiscated by the police during the period 2006-2011. In total the Brazilian Federal Police Department confiscated 3676 substances, but only had some of these analysed. About thirty percent came from Paraguay and fourteen percent from Brazil.

Sixteen percent of the confiscated goods were deemed to be fake from the packaging and so were not analysed. The Hemogenin produced by Sarsa was one of these. It's supposed to contain oxymetholone, but the Brazilians discovered that there's no factory called Sarsa registered anywhere. Below left you can see the real Hemogenin – made by Aventis – and below right Sarsa Hemogenin.

 In other cases the researchers noticed that the ink on the labels had run, such as on the Hormotrop shown above right. Another giveaway was typos on the lables: 'Dacanoate' instead of 'Decanoate'. Or that text had been erased on a box and replaced by new text. Click on the image for a larger, colour version.Any preparations that did not show visible signs of forgery were analysed. The figure below shows how much of the substances listed on the label were actually present per preparation type.

The safest buy on the Brazilian black steroids market is clenbuterol. About 98.6 percent is genuine. The least safe buy is boldenone. This steroid was only present in 12.2 percent of the preparations that claimed to contain boldenone.Stanozolol would seem to be a reasonably safe buy, but the same can't be said for the injectable Stanozolol Suspension. Eleven preparations contained talcum powder and not a trace of stanozolol. If you inject this you're almost certain to develop complications.

During the period when the study was being carried out the number of fake steroids increased: by 2011 about 38.8 percent of the substances were not genuine.

Of the 1167 fake preparations half contained no active ingredients at all. In the other cased the researchers found other substances, or not all the substances listed on the label. Interestingly, in some steroids they found DHEA  as the active, and unlisted, substance.The researchers did not measure the exact quantities of steroids in the preparations they examined, so they don't know actually know how many of the preparations that they say are ok are actually under-dosed. The percentage of fake steroids is probably higher than the percentages reported."The results found in this study indicate that the total amount of anabolic products available on the clandestine market is rising in Brazil, requiring continuous efforts by the government to decrease the availability of these products in the country", the researchers conclude.Source: Forensic Sci Int. 2013 May 10;228(1-3):e81-3.

His retrospective study reports data obtained from the National Institute of Criminalistics of the Brazilian Federal Police Department (DPF) on 3676 anabolic products seized between 2006 and 2011. Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) were declared on the labels of 96.2% of the products. About one third of the products declared to be from Paraguay, and 14.3% from Brazil. Stanozolol, testosterone and nandrolone were the substances most declared on the labels. Package and qualitative chemical analyses (performed on 2818 products) found that 31.7% of the seized products were counterfeit, with an increase in the counterfeit detection rate during the period. Almost half of the fake products did not contain the declared substances, and 28.3% had only non-declared substances. Testosterone and its esters were responsible for 45% of the 582 cases of non-declared drug detection. Package analysis alone was responsible for the identification of 4.6% of all counterfeit products. These results indicate the need for a continuous effort by the government aimed at decreasing the availability of these products in the country.

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Italian research of  black market steroids

If you're searching for bargains on the steroids market, you may come across some dirt-cheap pills and bottles from Biotech Pharmaceuticals. Don't buy them immediately is our advice. Check first what they contain according to analyses done by the Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanite... or rather what they don't contain…

According to the labels Biotech Pharmaceuticals is based in Sydney, Australia, but their products turn up everywhere. Below is a row of shots of Biotech Pharmaceuticals Oxandrolone. They come from DutchBodybuilding.com. [dutchbodybuilding.com 16 October 2012]

The photos were posted by a buyer who had wondered whether the product did indeed contain oxandrolone. He was suspicious. And rightly so, it turned out.

In the summer of 2012 an Italian government laboratory published analyses of 15 steroids that had been confiscated. Of these 13 came from Biotech Pharmaceuticals factories – or from the factories of someone making Biotech Pharmaceuticals copies. That's also possible of course.

The researchers tested the following Biotech Pharmaceuticals products: Methandienone, Masteron-200, Oxandrolone, Nandrolone-200, Primabolan-200, Enanthate-500-ANDROLONE-200, Trenbolone-150, Oxymethanolone, Testomix-300, Propionate 200, Boldone and Testex Prolungatum 250.

Testomix 300 was one of the tested preparations, and this one has also turned up in the Netherlands. [dutchbodybuilding.com 29 March 2013] The purchaser of this product was also not convinced that the stuff was the genuine article. And it wasn't.

The table below shows what the ingredients of the 15 preparations were according to the analyses. The shaded entries are the ones for Biotech Pharmaceuticals products. As you can see, none of them is what they are advertised as being, with the possible exception of Testex Prolungatum. Click on the table for a complete version.

This is everything we know about these substances. The Italians did not publish any photos or serial numbers.

Source:Ann Toxicol Anal. 2012; 24(2): 67-72.

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Belgian research of  black market steroids

This research has one major drawback and that is the fact that it doesn’t list the dosing. From other research that did list the dosage, we know that most items are strongly underdosed. See dosing on above samples. Sometimes detection of the listed active ingredient but in very small amounts.

In total, 74 preparations in closed or sealed packaging with different batch numbers and 2 unlabeled preparations were analyzed. For the items whose identified compound(s) did not

correspond with the labeled active ingredient(s), a reanalysis was performed on a second aliquot. All results confirmed the initial results, which are summarized in Table I.

In tablets, capsules, oral gels and water-based injectables one of the following compounds was identified: methandrostenolone, sildenafil, tamoxifen, quinine, clomiphene, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), anastrazole, clenbuterol, stanozolol, oxandrolone, liothyronine, finasteride and melatonin. Item 9 was claimed to contain methandrostenolone, but quinine was identified. Clenbuterol

was found in tablets labeled to contain ephedrine (item 38) and in aqueous solution for i.m. injection (item 39) supposed to contain clenbuterol and yohimbine. Anastrazole was present in tablets (item 44) claimed to contain mesterolone. 4-chlorodehydromethyl-testosterone in tablets (item 47) was found to be substituted by metandrostenolone. Item 73 consisted of non-labeled fragments of film-coated tablets (blue coating with white core) in which finasteride was identified. With the exception of item 45, all oil-based injectables contained androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS). The following

anabolic steroids (esters) were identified: testosterone enanthate (17), testosterone propionate (16), nandrolone decanoate (8), boldenone undecylenate (5), testosterone phenylpropionate

(3), testosterone decanoate (3), testosterone (3), testosterone isocaproate (2), nandrolone (2), trenbolone acetate (2), methandrostenolone (1), masteron or drostanolone propionate (3), testosterone cypionate (1), masteron enanthate (1), methenolone enanthate (1), trenbolone enanthate (1) and testosterone isocaproate (1). The number of oily solutions in which the compound was identified is stated between brackets. In items 11, 16, 21, 42, 43, 52, 53, 54 and 55 the labeled active ingredient(s) were substituted with one other or moreproperties and its supposed anabolic effects. Clenbuterol was

found in tablets labeled to contain ephedrine. Liothyronine sodium is a synthetic thyroidal hormone used medically as a substitute for the natural thyroid hormone triiodothyronine for the treatment of fatigue, metabolic disorders, obesity and thyroid insufficiency. Liothyronine sodium is used by bodybuilders to burn off excess body fat without the restriction of protein intake. On bodybuilders’ forums it is advised to use it in combination with clenbuterol or AAS to heighten its fat-burning ability. In tablets claimed to containmethandrostenolone, quinine was identified as the active ingredient.

Thin-layer chromatography was applied to distinguish the diastereoisomers quinine and quinidine. In traditional medicine quinine is prescribed as a muscle relaxant and to treat malaria. On bodybuilders’ forums little information was found regarding its use, although it was mentioned that quinine prevents muscle-cramping. Melatonin is a natural hormone secreted by the pineal gland. It is suggested as a supplement to ease jet lag, hasten sleep and to strengthen the immune system.

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are synthetic derivatives of the male hormone testosterone and can be taken orally, by intramuscular injection or in creams or gels. In medicine AAS are used to treat diseases such as delayed puberty, osteoporosis, endometriosis, weight loss due to illness and some types of impotence, anemia or breast cancer. AAS are taken by bodybuilders for their ability to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat. Methyltestosterone, methandrostenolone, oxandrolone, stanozolol and dehydroepiandrosterone were identified in tablets or capsules. Oil-based injectables containing esterified AAS are popular among bodybuilders since they slow the release of the parent steroid from the site of injection, avoiding the need for daily injection. Out of 40 steroidal oily solutions, the active ingredients of 21 (52.5%) did not match the label: one preparation did not contain an active compound, 20 contained other or more active ingredients. The additional compound(s) were often present in smaller quantities than the claimed compound(s). This may be indicative of contamination of raw materials or contamination occurring duringproduction and/or packaging. Testosterone enanthate, testosterone propionate, nandrolone decanoate and boldenone undecylenate were most commonly found in, respectively, 17, 16, 8 and 5 of a total of 41 analyzed oil-based injectables. One of the oil-based injectables did not contain an AAS. In this item only tocopherol was identified and benzyl alcohol and benzyl benzoate were absent. The co-solvents benzyl alcohol and benzyl benzoate were identified in all oily solutions in which AAS were identified. The appliedmethods do not allow the detection of trace amounts, therefore liquid chromatography and

mass spectrometry methods with the use of deuterated internal standards are more suitable. Despite the reported illegal use of protein- and peptide-based substances and selective androgen

receptor modulators in elite and amateur sport, no products labeled as such were present in the preparations seized [5].

Conclusions

The aim of this study was to identify active ingredient(s) present in pharmaceutical products seized from the black market among bodybuilders. Despite the finding that packaging from counterfeits produced in underground labs cannot be visually distinguished from packaging originating from legitimate pharmaceutical companies, this proved not to be a guarantee that the active ingredient(s) present in the preparations match the information claimed on the labels. Out of 74 analyzed products, 25 (33.8%) contained other or did not only contain the labeled active ingredients. Besides the health issues

associated with their use, unexpected side effects can occur when preparations do not contain the claimed active compound(s) or amount(s).

Anabolic androgenic steroids are commonly found on the black market among bodybuilders, predominately esterified in oil-based injectables, but also in tablet or capsule form. Out of 40 steroidal oily solutions, the active ingredients of 21 (52.5%) did not match the label. The additional compounds were often present in smaller quantities, which could be indicative of contamination.

Prescribed drugs used in traditionalmedicine are often purchased by amateur athletes as counterfeits on the black market.

They are mainly taken to alleviate adverse effects associated with the abuse of anabolic steroids.

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