DNP –‘Not fit for human consumption’.
On 12th April this year, Eloise Aimee Parry, aged 21, (pictured above with some DNP pills) who had battled with bulimia – an eating disorder and mental heath condition, where people severely restrict the amount of food they eat - died of an accidental drug overdose after taking ‘diet pills’ which she had bought over the internet.
Although doctors were unable to save Eloise, they managed to uncover that the pills contained a combination of compounds known as DNP (aka 2,4-dinitrophenol). DNP’s formula is HOC6H3(NO2)2.
This drug had also been linked to three deaths in 2013.
What is DNP and what does it do to you?
DNP is a synthetic chemical product, which is known to be ‘extremely dangerous and not fit for human consumption’.
2,4-dinitrophenol accelerates our metabolism to a dangerously fast level and increases our body temperature critically high by interfering with the produce of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate), which gets lost as heat.
ATP is a complex chemical compound formed with the energy released from food and is stored in all cells, particularly muscles. It is a prime energy source during endurance activities.
Ingestion of DNP can also trigger a number of side effects like fever, dehydration, vomiting, flushed skin, nausea, restlessness, dizziness, headaches, excessive sweating, rapid breathing and irregular heartbeat. The combination of the side effects is massively harming to the body and can result in coma or death.
DNP is also carcinogenic (cancer causing) and increases risk of birth defects. Long-term use of DNP can cause cataracts (a clouding of the lens in the eye that can blur your vision) andskin lesions.
Some body builders and athletes have been known to take DNP as it speedily induces fat loss.
DNP is illegal to sell as a weight loss drug in the United Kingdom and doing so could result in criminal prosecution.
Commercial DNP is used as a pesticide and as an antiseptic. It is a chemical intermediate in the production of wood preservatives, sulphur dyes and some herbicides. It has also been used to create photographic developer and explosives.
By Cara Bromley
Interesting that ATP is mentioned here as this is the compound that takes energy, produced by respiration, from the mitochondria to all parts of the cell to be used for various processes. We were just looking at respiration last term! Doesn't this show how the things we learn in the lab help us to understand more about what is happening in the world. Well done Cara.
IRP
