Ken Carlson – The Modesto Bee
(TNS)
Feb. 11—Another chemical agent is showing up in fentanyl sold on the streets. It’s a toxic industrial chemical used to increase the amount of fentanyl sold to unwary users, authorities said.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office and other agencies released a health alert Tuesday for an industrial chemical known as BTMPS, which is being mixed with fentanyl to increase sales volume.
The chemical, a fine white powder, has appeared in the illegal fentanyl sold in cities across the United States. The health effects of BTMPS have not been studied in humans, but animal studies have identified adverse health effects including respiratory and cardiotoxicity, blindness and sudden death.
Officials strongly suspect that BTMPS is in the illegal drug supply in Modesto and nearby cities.
Modesto police investigating transportation and sale of narcotics made a recent traffic stop and found what they thought were four kilograms of cocaine. Testing at the Department of Justice lab in Ripon revealed, however, that one kilo of the white powder was fentanyl mixed with BTMPS and the other three kilos were BTMPS.
Officials believe the separate BTMPS powder had not been used yet as a “cutting agent” to increase the volume of fentanyl for sale.
Fatal fentanyl overdoses became a crisis in communities because a minute amount can kill.
“The big concern now is the cutting agent itself is a toxic chemical,” said Stanislaus County Deputy District Attorney Patrick Hogan. “We were kind of aware it was out there but had never seen it in this quantity. We could already have a vulnerable population of drug users who, without realizing it, could be ingesting a toxic chemical.”
Illegal fentanyl is often smoked, but there’s no science yet on toxic effects of BTMPS on the lungs.
The District Attorney’s Office, law enforcement agencies and county Behavioral Health and Recovery Services joined forces in the public health alert that the dangerous industrial chemical may have been mixed in the drug supply in Stanislaus County.
According to the news release, the chemical has emerged in illegal drug markets across the country over the past few months.
A UCLA research team conducted testing that revealed large amounts of BTMPS in drugs sold as fentanyl in nine locations in the United States. The chemical often is used as a sealant, adhesive or additive for plastics, according to the UCLA Health website.
Samples of street fentanyl were tested between June and October last year, which identified a new “substance of concern” in the illegal drug supply. The drugs tested came from Los Angeles and Philadelphia. The UCLA research team also tested residues from Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Washington, Puerto Rico and two other places in California.
In some testing, the drug samples contained seven times more BTMPS than fentanyl, and the industrial chemical accounted for more than 50% of the drug sold to users, UCLA Health said.
The team published its results online Feb. 5 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“The emergence of BTMPS is much more sudden than previous changes in the illicit drug supply, and the geographic range where it was detected nearly simultaneously suggests it may be added at a high level in the supply chain,” said Chelsea Shover, leader of the UCLA study. “This is concerning because BTMPS is not approved for human consumption, and animal studies have shown serious health effects such as cardiotoxicity and ocular damage, and sudden death at certain doses.”
There is no commercially available testing to show if BTMPS is in the fentanyl sold by dealers. If people suspect they or someone they know ingested BTMPS, they may call 911 for emergency medical services.
Stanislaus County has recorded 159 drug-related deaths among residents in 2024. Of those, 92 have been confirmed as fentanyl deaths, though the total for last year won’t be known until March or April. The numbers are down from the 138 fentanyl deaths in 2023.
Help is available for those struggling with substance use or addiction by calling Stanislaus County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services at 888-376-6246.
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