Indonesia says chemical sold as pharmaceutical grade syrups

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Indonesia says chemical sold as pharmaceutical grade syrups

JAKARTA: Indonesian police said on Monday that a local trader of industrial-grade chemicals sold them as pharmaceutical-grade, leading to their use in medicated syrups that authorities suspect may have caused deaths of more than 200 children across the country.

Authorities say two ingredients, ethylene glycol EG and diethyelene glycol DEG, found in some syrup-based paracetamol medications, are linked to acute kidney injury, which many of the children have suffered.

The two ingredients are used in antifreeze, brake fluids and other industrial applications, but also as a cheaper alternative in some pharmaceutical products to glycerine, which is a solvent or thickening agent in many cough syrups. They can be toxic and can lead to acute kidney injury.

Pipit Rismanto, a senior police official, told reporters that CV Samudera Chemical sold industrial-grade EG and DEG as pharmaceutical-grade propylene glycol manufactured by Dow Chemical Thailand and supplied them to distributors of local drug-makers.