Adulterants in selected dietary supplements and their detection methods.

Area of Science:

• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Public Health
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Dietary supplements (DS) are increasingly intentionally adulterated with synthetic pharmaceuticals.
• This adulteration poses significant risks to consumer safety and regulatory bodies.
• Undeclared analogues in DS present unknown efficacy and toxicity, leading to unpredictable adverse effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review common pharmaceutical adulterants in DS for erectile dysfunction, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.
• To cover the period from 2009 to 2019.
• To summarize analytical methods used for detecting these adulterants.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of scientific publications and regulatory reports.
• Data extraction on reported adulterants and analytical techniques.
• Focus on DS intended for weight loss, diabetes, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction.

Main Results:

• Identified a wide range of synthetic drugs and analogues as adulterants in DS.
• Erectile dysfunction, obesity, and diabetes medications were frequently detected.
• Analytical methods like HPLC, GC-MS, and LC-MS/MS are commonly employed for detection.

Conclusions:

• Intentional adulteration of DS with pharmaceuticals is a persistent and growing global issue.
• Analogues pose a significant, under-assessed health risk due to unknown toxicological profiles.
• Effective analytical strategies are crucial for regulatory oversight and consumer protection.