Senior Lecturer Tom Bassindale was approached by ITV News to test the contents of anabolic steroids they had obtained from an underground laboratory.

Underground labs have no quality control procedures and the steroids produced do not always contain the drugs listed on the label. Tom tested the steroids provided, using BMRC’s ultra-performance liquid chromatography instrument with mass spectrometry to identify the compounds present. In this case, the three vials did contain the correct ingredients, but many others do not.

ITV Calendar News sent a news crew to watch Tom doing the testing and discussed the general laws around steroids, the possible reasons people may use them and the potential harms involved in using steroids particularly when injected. The finished clip can be viewed here.