19-03-2025
An industrial chemical is creeping into Philly's fentanyl supply
An industrial chemical used to produce plastics has infiltrated Philadelphia's fentanyl supply, researchers say.
Why it matters: Public health experts worry about the potential consequences for anybody ingesting BTMPS-cut fentanyl.
While the chemical's health effects on humans aren't known, studies using rats have shown it can cause heart defects, lung damage, blurry vision and death.
Driving the news: About 17% of fentanyl samples collected in Kensington, one of the East Coast's biggest open-air drug markets, over a four-month period last year contained BTMPS — shorthand for an industrial chemical that's often added to plastics and other polymers, Columbia University researchers found.
Plastic manufacturers typically add BTMPS to protect their products against heat and sunlight.
The intrigue: The average sample contained about twice as much BTMPS as fentanyl (4% compared to 2.3%), with one containing 18% BTMPS — far exceeding levels people are normally exposed to from plastic products, per the study published last month.
Flashback: Philly health officials put out a warning late last year after BTMPS was discovered in the Philly drug supply, saying it's still unclear whether the chemical increases the likelihood of overdoses.
Philly officials said BTMPS was initially discovered last June in about a quarter of their samples, but by November, that number had jumped to 55%.
People who have reported smoking BTMPS-laced fentanyl said it smelled like bug spray, while those who've injected it said it burned, per the city.
Additional observed effects include ringing ears, blurred vision and a bloody cough.
By the numbers: Philly had more than 1,300 overdose deaths in 2023, fueled largely by opioids, including synthetic fentanyl. They were down 7% from 2022, the first decline in five years.
The animal tranquilizer xylazine has also increasingly infiltrated the city's illegal heroin market over the past few years, which has been linked to overdoses.
Zoom out: The findings, published in JAMA, are part of a larger study by a team of researchers who tested samples from nine sites in California, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Washington and Puerto Rico.
BTMPS was found in all locations, typically in greater amounts than fentanyl.
What they're saying: The same drug additive rarely appears simultaneously in the U.S. drug supply, Columbia researchers Karli Hochstatter and Fernando Montero write.
That means it's likely BTMPS is being used to manufacture fentanyl rather than just being added to the drug supply as a cutting agent.
Savage Sisters, a Kensington-based recovery nonprofit that helped local researchers obtain drug samples, was first warned of BTMPS from other harm reductionist groups across the U.S., executive director Sarah Laurel tells Axios.
After finding traces of BTMPS here, Savage Sisters talked to Philly's street dealers who had "no idea what we were talking about," Laurel tells Axios.
"We're all talking through this together: Is it something that's being adulterated into the supply? Was it being added to the bricks to preserve it through the trafficking spaces?" Laurel says.
The latest: Philly police have only detected two cases of BTMPS in 2025, Nicole Martin, chemistry lab manager at the city's Office of Forensic Science, tells Axios.
But officials acknowledge numbers could be skewed since BTMPS isn't currently a controlled substance, so suspected drug samples aren't specifically tested for the chemical.
Philly's forensic team says identifying new drug trends is a game of whack-a-mole, with dealers always looking to stay ahead of authorities.
