

PCA can cause liver tumours in test animals by damaging their genetic material. According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), this substance, which is formed during the production of paracetamol, is a genotoxic carcinogen. Laboratory analysis revealed that all three batches were contaminated with 4-chloroaniline, known by its abbreviation, PCA.

It is not known where in the world this contaminated paracetamol was sold. The three contaminated batches, which were manufactured in spring 2019, were enough to make 36 million pills. NRC and Zembla took samples from three batches of this temperature-lowering pain reliever that had been produced by Anqiu Lu’an to a certified laboratory in Germany for analysis. This information was uncovered by NRC, a Dutch newspaper, and the television programme Zembla. In recent years it has supplied the raw material used in much of the paracetamol sold in chemists, supermarkets and pharmacies throughout the Netherlands. Anqiu Lu’an Pharmaceutical is the world’s largest producer of the raw material of paracetamol. The Chinese company Anqiu Lu’an Pharmaceutical, has been selling the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) of paracetamol that is contaminated with a carcinogenic substance.
