Eleven popular brands of paracetamol that are for sale in supermarkets, drugstores and pharmacies in the Netherlands are not contaminated with the carcinogenic substance PCA, according to research by NRC and the television program Zembla.
NRC in Zembla had research conducted because it may be a carcinogen dust had entered the Dutch market. It is said to be the substance 4-chloroaniline, PCA for short, in paracetamol from the Chinese manufacturer Anqiu Lu’an Pharmaceutical. In addition to causing cancer, the substance can also affect human DNA.
Zembla in NRC had previously had samples of paracetamol from Anqiu Lu’an Pharmaceutical tested by a certified laboratory in Germany. Three batches were found to be contaminated with PCA.
The contaminated substance was created in early 2019. In total, about 36 million pills were made from the substance. It was not clear where in the world the pills had ended up. It was known that the Chinese factory had also delivered to the Netherlands in recent years, but regulators wanted cannot say whether the contaminated substance was also processed in pills in the Netherlands.
Following the tested samples left NRC in Zembla testing pills from eleven popular brands of paracetamol by a certified laboratory in Belgium. This includes private labels from Albert Heijn, Kruidvat, Jumbo, Etos and Trekpleister and paracetamol from Panadol, Livsane and Sanias. PCA was not detected in any of the pills.
‘Permanent stricter control required’
Emeritus professor of toxicology Martin van den Berg of Utrecht University concludes after studying the research results of NRC in Zembla that the pills are ‘safe’, but emphasizes that only a certain amount of all brands has been tested.
He calls for permanent stricter controls. “The fact that there is no PCA in these batches is a positive message, but that does not mean that you should not keep checking for the PCA content in paracetamol, because next time it could be different”, says Van den Berg. NRC.
The Royal Dutch Society for the Promotion of Pharmacy (KNMP) will soon be publishing its own research results and the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) is currently still researching paracetamol.
– .
