Poison for Your Pearly Whites
China is really killing it's international reputation. Toothpaste labeled "Excel" & "Mr. Cool" containing the poison diethylene glycol (DEG) was confiscated in Nicaragua. Not surprisingly the toothpaste was smuggled from Panama (note post regarding poisoning in Panama).

The FDA has issued warning and stopped imports of Chinese toothpaste into the U.S. The Associate Press reports that the former head of the China's FDA was sentenced to death four days ago (Tues., May 29, 2007) for taking bribes to allow companies to bypass drug regulations. A senior official of China said the levels of DEG were not harmful. However, the U.S. FDA rightly notes that such a poison does not even belong in toothpaste.

Come on China!! NY Times investigative journalism reports on a
poison in disguise sold to Chinese citizens and the world. Glycerine, an ingredient used in cough syrup, was replaced with diethylene glycol (DEG, typically used as a coolant and an organic solvent) and sold to pharmaceutical companies. Why the counterfeit? The same stinking reason... to make a larger profit. According to Wikipedia, glycerine costs ~3x more than DEG. There is more to this case than that... unlicensed, unqualified suppliers; forgery; failure to test the material; erasing records; poor labeling; not checking labels; changing labels; changing dates; failure to monitor sources through the supply chain.

Two sources of origin--a Mr. Wang and the Taixing Glycerine Factory--provided glycerine leading to mass poisonings. Given that a person or persons commit crimes in ignorance, ignorance shouldn't necessarily spared them. People died!! Over a hundred. In the Taixing case, the poison was labeled "TD glycerine." No one checked to find out that TD was abbreviation for a Chinese term for "substitute" as in "substitute glycerine." Makes you want to cry over the whole mess.

Via the investigation the path of 40 barrels of diethylene glycol:
Taixing Glycerine Factory manufactured the DEG in Hengxiang, China--> CNSC Fortune Way Company in Beijing, China--> Rasfer International in Barcelona, Spain--> imported by Medicom into Panama--> used to make 260,000 bottles of medication in Panama City--> distributed to the people of Panama

McGraw Hill's Access Medicine reports DEG as:

Highly nephrotoxic. Renal failure, coma, metabolic acidosis, and death have been reported after ingestion... Gastritis, hepatitis, pancreatitis, and delayed neurologic sequelae also reported after ingestion. Metabolic acidosis may be delayed > 12 hours after ingestion.

Treatment: "ethanol and fomepizole may be effective" but Poison Control Center should be contacted immediately.

Speaking of following up on sources I believe the NY Times may have some confusion between ethylene glycol and DEG. Ethylene glycol is used in antifreeze and deicers. Both compounds are described as sweet and highly toxic causes of medical emergencies.