Craven et al. 2025 — Heavy metals in illicit anabolic–androgenic steroids (Australia)

Summary

This is a forensic occurrence study of heavy-metal contamination in the illicit, unregulated anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) market, a research-chemical product category the Heavy Metal Index has not previously held data on. The authors chemically analysed 28 anonymously donated AAS products sold in Australia (16 injectable oils, 10 oral tablets, 2 raw powders) by GC–MS, LC–MS and ICP-OES, reporting both active-ingredient fidelity and heavy-metal impurity concentrations interpreted against ICH Q3D permitted daily exposure limits. The product-quality finding is that 15 of 28 samples were mislabelled or mis-sold and only 4 of the 21 with a defined expected dose fell within ±5% of label. The Heavy Metal Index load-bearing finding is that 12 heavy metals were quantifiable in injectable and oral products: lead, cadmium and arsenic were detected throughout but, for the studied samples, the per-unit means stayed below the relevant parenteral or oral PDE — with the important exception that oral nickel (mean 27.48 µg/g) could exceed the 200 µg/day oral PDE depending on dose size, and oral aluminium was high (mean 651 µg/g). The authors frame the result as a harm-reduction surveillance gap: heavy-metal contamination is well documented in supplements but largely overlooked in AAS, leaving consumers of an unregulated injectable/oral product exposed to repeated low-dose toxic-metal intake.

Key numbers

Source reports concentrations per product unit: injectable oils in µg/mL, oral tablets and raw powders in µg/g (Table 2, “Impurities summary”). Values are mean (min–max). PDE = permitted daily exposure (ICH Q3D / TGA), as cited by the authors. Total metals by ICP-OES (no speciation).

• Lead was detected in every product class but stayed below the 5 µg/day PDE on a per-unit basis (injectable 1.57 µg/mL; oral 1.94 µg/g; raw 1.18 µg/g).
• Oral nickel (mean 27.48 µg/g) “could exceed the 200 µg/day oral PDE depending on dose size,” the single flagged exceedance risk.
• Oral aluminium is the highest toxic-metal load (mean 651 µg/g, up to 1220 µg/g).
• Essential/other elements also measured (copper, zinc, iron, boron, magnesium, calcium) were within their PDEs and are not HMI target analytes.
• Product fidelity: 15/28 mislabelled or mis-sold; of 21 with a defined expected dose, only 4 within ±5% of label; substitutions common (e.g. oxymetholone replaced with mestanolone; stanozolol undetected).

Methods (brief)

ICP-OES (PerkinElmer AVIO 200) with acid digestion and external-standard calibration for heavy/trace metals; GC–MS (PerkinElmer Clarus 680 / SQ8) and LC–MS for active-ingredient identity and purity. Injectable oils (1–5 mL) diluted in methanol; oral tablets (~100 mg) crushed and dissolved; raw powders (~100 mg) dissolved; all filtered before analysis. Independent forensic laboratory (Sharp and Howells Pty Ltd) for an Australian harm-reduction testing service. No metal speciation; arsenic reported as total As.

Implications

• This is the Index’s first occurrence dataset for the unregulated AAS / research-chemical product category. It anchors the new research-chemicals-peptides-sarms scaffold with real per-unit Pb/Cd/As/Al/Cr/Ni concentrations across injectable, oral, and raw-powder forms.
• The cross-form pattern (oral loads of Al, Cr, Ni and As markedly higher per gram than injectable oils per mL) is relevant to any future certification framing for this category: the oral route carries the larger toxic-metal burden, and nickel is the analyte nearest a regulatory ceiling.
• For the metal pages, this contributes nickel and aluminium occurrence in a novel non-food product, and reinforces lead as a pervasive low-level contaminant of unregulated injectables.
• Fitness caveat: n=28 from a single country via anonymous donation, ICP-OES totals only, per-unit (not per-dose) concentrations. Treat as a category-opening B-to-A signal, not a population-representative distribution.

Wiki pages this source may touch

• research-chemicals-peptides-sarms — first heavy-metal occurrence data for the illicit AAS sub-category.
• nickel — oral AAS Ni near the 200 µg/day oral PDE.
• aluminium — high oral AAS Al (up to 1220 µg/g).
• lead, cadmium, arsenic, chromium — contaminant occurrence in injectable/oral AAS.

Verification notes

• All concentrations taken from Table 2 (Impurities summary) and the Results text. Injectable values are µg/mL; oral and raw-powder values are µg/g — bases not interconverted because the product forms differ (oil solution vs solid).
• No consumer brands are named; products were anonymously donated and identified only by form and expected compound, so there is no brand-by-brand mapping to withhold. Active-compound names (testosterone enanthate, oxandrolone, etc.) are drug identities, not consumer brands.
• “12 heavy metals” includes essential elements (Cu, Zn, Fe, B, Mg, Ca) reported for completeness; only the six HMI target analytes present (Pb, Cd, tAs, Al, Cr, Ni) are routed. Sn and Sb were not measured.
• Speciation: total metals by ICP-OES; arsenic recorded as tAs.
• PDE thresholds (Pb 5 µg/day, Cd 2 µg/day parenteral, As 15 µg/day, Ni 20 parenteral / 200 oral µg/day) are the authors’ citations to ICH Q3D / TGA guidance, reported as context, not as HMI/HMTc thresholds.

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