New Research Finds No Presence of DMAA in Geranium Oils

Tweet

A new study has concluded that geranium oils do not contain the stimulant dimethylamylamine (DMAA), an ingredient in a number of best-selling dietary supplements. The new research once again questions an antiquated study often cited by pre-workout and weight loss supplement companies who market DMAA-containing products. Over the past several years, DMAA has been increasingly associated with a number of serious side effects including seizures, heart injury, kidney and liver failure, and death.

DMAA Update 7/16/12: Researchers from the University of Texas, Arlington, recently tested and compared a number of DMAA-containing dietary supplements against commercially available geranium extracts, and detected no presence of the controversial substance in the geranium samples. The source of DMAA is a hot button issue as of late, because it could ultimately determine the outcome of a string of class action lawsuits filed against DMAA manufacturers and distributors. Click here to learn more.

DMAA Update 6/20/12: This week, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) warned Australians not to consume dietary supplements containing the controversial ingredient dimethylamylamine (DMAA). The Australian Federal Department of Health and Ageing and the Advisory Committee on Medicines Scheduling are considering a ban on the substance, and are set to meet at the end of the month when the problem will be ‘urgently discussed.’ Click here to learn more.

DMAA Update 5/8/12: Ten days after the FDA sent letters to a number of dietary supplement manufacturers requesting safety information on their DMAA-containing products, Harvard researcher Dr. Pieter Cohen is calling for an outright nationwide ban on the controversial ingredient. “The main message about DMAA is that it should be avoided,” says Cohen, who is an internist at Cambridge Health Alliance and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. “This ingredient should never have been in supplements in first place.” Click here to learn more.

DMAA Update 5/7/12: As DMAA’s future regulatory status appears bleak, dietary supplement manufacturers are scrambling to come up with effective alternatives. But the question remains, will DMAA’s replacement be safe to use as directed, or something just as controversial? Click here to learn more.

DMAA Lawsuit Update 5/4/12: Four DMAA supplement manufacturers who received warning letters from the FDA late last month have been slapped with class action lawsuits alleging their products are ‘illegal and dangerous.’ The litigation process will be watched closely, as the cases center around a hotly-debated point of contention regarding new dietary ingredients (NDIs): that synthetic versions of botanical derivatives are not classified as dietary ingredients, and are therefore not permitted for use in supplement products. Click here to learn more.

DMAA Update 4/27/12: The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) today sent warning letters to 10 manufacturers and distributors of DMAA-containing dietary supplements for marketing products whose safety has not been proven. Specifically, the FDA’s letters accuse the companies of marketing products for which a notification has not been submitted for the use of DMAA as a New Dietary Supplement (NDI). Click here to learn more.

DMAA Update 3/9/12: DMAA is to be banned in New Zealand after numerous reports of serious side effects and at least one stroke. It is the first substance other than a synthetic cannabinoid to be banned in New Zealand using the Temporary Class Drug Notices, and is scheduled to be completely off the country’s store shelves by early next month. Click here to learn more.

DMAA Update 3/7/12: Drugmakers and retailers that deal in dietary supplements containing DMAA are coming under increased scrutiny as questions of source and safety mount. The central issue currently causing the most debate about DMAA is the question of whether the stimulant is – as many supplement companies content – derived from the geranium plant, or whether it is a synthetically manufactured compound. Click here to learn more.

DMAA Update 3/6/12: Dietary supplements containing DMAA are being stripped from retail shelves and online catalogues in the UK as part of a crackdown on supplement makers by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). To date, the agency has ordered several companies to stop selling DMAA-containing pre-workout supplements like Jack3d, OxyElite Pro, and Hemo Rage Black. Click here to learn more.

Free DMAA Lawsuit Evaluation: If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury after taking a dietary supplement containing DMAA, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a suit against the manufacturer of the dietary supplement and we can help.

What’s the problem?

After a comprehensive analysis of the Chinese study Ping Et al, along with an in-depth investigation into geranium oils and DMAA, researchers have determined that the controversial substance is not in fact derived from the plant.

The study, which was led by Angelo Lisi from the National Measurement Institute in Australia, concluded that the practice of marketing DMAA-containing supplements as all natural products is a bogus ‘marketing ploy.’

“These studies as well as closer scrutiny of the original publication by Ping et al show that geranium oils do not contain methylhexaneamine and the use of the name Geranamine for this compound appears to have been a marketing ploy which has resulted in a large number of athletes returning adverse findings,” Lisi wrote in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis.

Since 2008, at least 76 athletes around the world have been banned from their respective sports after being found to have DMAA in their systems, as the ingredient is included on the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list.

In addition to causing problems in the world of sports, adverse events have been steadily mounting against DMAA over the past several years, including the deaths of two U.S. soldiers who were found to have the stimulant in their systems when they died. As a result of these tragic events, all DMAA-containing supplements have been banned from American military bases.

The new research states that after analyzing the ingredients and supplement products, “methylhexaneamine was not found in any of the geranium oils,” and that in the Ping study, “their identification was incorrect or possibly incorrectly translated.”

The study suggested the detection of 4-methyl-2-hexanamine and 5-methyl-2-hexanamine in Ping was likely due to a mistranslation or misidentification. In reality, what had been found was 2-hexanamide,4-methyl and 2-hexanamide,5-methyl, altogether different molecules.

“Considering that the researchers simply ran the chromatogram then library searched each peak and presumably reported the best match without analysis of any standards, their assignments of structure are dubious.”

USP Labs, the company that makes DMAA-containing dietary supplements such as Jack3d and OxyElite Pro, is disputing the results of the new study, and has stated that is in possession of new data that will “further demonstrate the occurrence of DMAA in the geranium plant, Pelargonium graveolens, and its edible oil.”

Do You Have a DMAA Lawsuit?

The Product Liability & Defective Drug Litigation Group at our law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus on the representation of plaintiffs in DMAA lawsuits. We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently accepting new seizure, heart injury, kidney failure, liver failure, and death cases in all 50 states.

Free DMAA Lawsuit Evaluation: If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury after taking a dietary supplement that contains DMAA, you should contact our law firm immediately. You may be entitled to compensation by filing a DMAA injury suit and we can help.