Anabolic Androgenic Steroids from Underground Market: drug Quality and Implications for Research

Abstract

Currently, a large portion of users of anabolic androgenic steroids purchase these drugs from non-legal sources, the so-called underground market. Studies involving drugs seizures from the underground market, and their respective product chemical analysis, indicated that the adulteration rate can vary between 18 and 86%, plus a potential serious contamination by heavy metals or microorganisms. Inadvertent abuse of underground market products can put users' health at additional risk, leading to more serious side effects or unknown adverse events. The poor quality of these products may also jeopardize proper verification of causality in case report studies or case series.