Interpol has issued a global alert about the dangers of taking dieting pills bought online following the death of a young woman who "burnt up from the inside" after taking the tablets.
Eloise Parry, 21, died in hospital in England last month after ingesting pills containing the industrial chemical 2.4-dinitrophenol (DNP), an illicit and potentially lethal drug used as a dieting and body-building aid.
The chemical, used in pesticides and as a base material for certain explosives, also left a man in France critically ill last year.
Interpol issued an Orange Notice, warning of an imminent threat, to law enforcement agencies in 190 countries this week, after a sample of the drug seized in Australia was tested at a World Anti-Doping Agency laboratory.
In a statement, Interpol said the pills were produced in clandestine laboratories with no hygiene regulations, and "without specialist manufacturing knowledge, the producers also expose consumers to an increased chance of overdose".
"In the 1930s DNP was used to boost metabolism and encourage weight loss, but it was taken out of circulation because of several deaths," Interpol said.
Fairfax Media visited a number of websites selling the diet pills that advertised that they shipped the products to Australia.
The chemical is usually sold in yellow powder or capsule form, but is also available as a cream.
The powder resembles the yellow spice turmeric, and black market manufacturers selling the pills online often try to mask the true ingredient of their product by claiming it is the spice, Interpol said.
The packaging on one box purchased online said: "Health and Beauty Turmeric capsules Extra Strength 125 mg each capsule. Contains 125 mg of Turmeric Powder DO NOT USE IF SEAL IS BROKEN."
Ms Parry died in Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in Shropshire, in the West Midlands of England, last month after taking eight of the tablets she bought online.
She began feeling unwell and drove herself to hospital on April 12, and explained to doctors that she had taken the pills.
She was "completely lucid" at first, her mother Fiona said in an online tribute to her daughter, but doctors realised how seriously ill she was when they carried out a toxicology report.
Fiona said her daughter's metabolism "exploded like TNT" after she took the pills to lose weight.
"As the drug kicked in and started to make her metabolism soar, they attempted to cool her down but they were fighting an uphill battle," Fiona wrote.
"She was literally burning up from within. When she stopped breathing, they put her on a ventilator and carried on fighting to save her.
"When her heart stopped they couldn't revive her. She had crashed. She had taken so much DNP that the consequences were inevitable. They never stood a chance of saving her. She burnt and crashed."
NSW Police have been contacted for comment.
