Chemistry expert says the active ingredient in these pills was once used to make war weapons, is incredibly toxic

Apr 24, 2015 14:59 GMT  ·  By

Earlier this month, a woman in the UK died after making the mistake to take one too many diet pills, hoping that this would help her lose weight faster. The pills pushed her metabolism into overdrive and Eloise (Ella) Aimee Parry passed away in a matter of hours. 

According to the doctors who handled her case, the 21-year-old student went from feeling just fine to essentially burning from the inside. Eventually, her heart gave out and she passed away.

The reason the diet pills she took ended up killing her was because they contained a highly toxic chemical compound known to the scientific community as 2,4-dinitrophenol or DNP, for short. In fact, Ella's official diagnosis and cause of death was DNP poisoning.

How DNP works inside the body

Specialist Simon Cotton, currently a senior lecturer in chemistry at the University of Birmingham in the UK, says that this chemical works by triggering a drop in the body's production of molecules that serve to transport energy within cells.

With fewer such molecules at its disposal, the body finds itself wasting a whole lot of energy in the form of heat. To make up for this loss, it has no choice but produce more energy at a more rapid pace.

The body does this by speeding up the metabolism. On the outside, everything looks fine and dandy as the body digs into its fat reserves and weight loss happens. On the inside, however, all the natural functions are disrupted.

Health authorities don't want people taking DNP

Simon Cotton explains that, back in 2004, the UK Food Standards Agency asked people to stay clear of any products that might contain DNP. Even so, several deaths have since been reported in connection with this chemical.

“In 2013, an 18-year-old rugby player named Chris Mapletoft died after taking DNP. The preceding year a 28-year old High Wycombe bodybuilder, Sean Cleathero, died after his temperature rose to 42°C when he consumed DNP at his gym.”

“That same year a 23-year-old Leeds University medical student, Sarah Houston, died after consuming DNP that she’d bought over the Internet,” the University of Birmingham expert writes in a post for The Conversation.

In the US, the chemical was banned under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 after researchers found it too dangerous to be used as a dieting aid or for any other purpose.

DNP has a long history of killing people

Long before people started consuming it to get in shape, DNP was used to make war weapons. Simon Cotton explains that, during WWI, it was mixed with another chemical, i.e. picric acid, to make armor-piercing shells.

Being highly toxic, the compound took its toll on the health of pretty much all the workers who got to come into contact with it. The “luckiest” only lost weight. However, some were poisoned and died.

What's more, records say that, in 2009, DNP sickened several workers at a factory in China. On this occasion, the compound wasn't being used to make weapons. Instead, the workers were using it to make pesticides and herbicides.