ATLANTA -- A drug that promotes lean muscle growth in cattle may be turning up in heroin on the East Coast, sickening users and stoking fears of a wave of such poisonings, U.S. health officials said.
Traces of clenbuterol were found in the urine of eight reported heroin users who became ill in New York and Connecticut in the first three months of 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Legal in some countries but not in the U.S., clenbuterol has also been linked to 18 other cases that surfaced in New York and four states along the Atlantic coast around the same time, according to the CDC report.
Many of those sickened developed dangerously rapid heart rates and palpitations, chest pain and hypotension. The majority said they had snorted rather than injected what they thought was heroin before becoming sick. "The 26 cases described in this report likely represent a fraction of actual cases of clenbuterol poisoning," the CDC said in its report, the first published investigation into the problem.
The federal agency said it was possible that those sickened earlier this year had taken pure clenbuterol that was sold to them as heroin. It urged health-care providers and others dealing with heroin users to be aware of the symptoms associated with ingestion of clenbuterol. The warning came one week after six people died of apparent heroin overdoses in lower Manhattan. [wsj]
~An e-mail friend notes:
"Do you know of a list of approved drugs that can be administered to animals that we eat? I'm interested in knowning how many different things that promote growth and weight gain are being used on our food source."
[Cieciel]
I've no idea how many different substances not fit for human consumption are used on the animals we eat or by drug abusers.
The drug in question is illegal in the US. Could it be legal in countries like Brazil and Argentina, both exporters of beef to the US?
The Wall Street Journal doesn't say if clenbuterol's manufactured or distributed by USA companies.
The Sustainable Table reminds us:
"According to expert scientists appointed by the European Union, the use of growth hormones in food animals poses a potential risk to consumers' health.The scientists reported that hormone residues found in meat from these animals can disrupt the consumer's hormone balance, cause developmental problems, interfere with the reproductive system, and even lead to the development of cancer...AND...According to the Cattlemen's Beef Association, 90% of all U.S. feedlot cattle are hormone implanted." link
Maybe illegal drug users should be added to the "Canary Database"?
Posted by Cieciel at August 20, 2005 10:32 PM