Aquarium cleaner promoted as elixir of youth. Police investigate

• Online stores and online creators promote the consumption of a chemical called methylene blue
• It is supposed to help with all kinds of ailments and also delay the aging process.
• The substance is used in a narrow scope, including in medicine, biology and aquaristics. In Poland, it is not approved as a medicine or dietary supplement.
• The Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector, having received information about people promoting the consumption of methylene blue, referred the matter to the police
• The drug registration office warns that methylene blue may interact dangerously with drugs
• This is another example of influencers being used to promote the consumption of dangerous substances.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector received a report from a whistleblower, according to which methylene blue was presented as a product for consumption, and at the same time it was attributed with medicinal properties. (...) In connection with the above, the competent local law enforcement authorities were notified - GIF officials tell the editorial office of Rynek Zdrowia. According to our information, the police are already taking action in this matter.

The mentioned methylene blue is an organic chemical compound in the form of a dark green or brown crystalline powder which, when combined with chloroform, methanol and water, creates solutions with an intense blue color.

Its effects include antioxidant and antibacterial properties. In the past, this substance was used in Poland, among others, as a disinfectant and an auxiliary drug in various clinical indications. The substance is currently used, for example, in aquariums, for the purpose of fungi control and removal of parasites from water.

The Internet is swarming with creators presenting methylene blue as a remedy for many ailments: depression, heart disease, cancer, autism, Alzheimer's disease, COVID-19, AIDS, and Lyme disease.

The reagent is supposed to improve brain function, memory, creativity, relieve pain, and speed up the healing of injuries and wounds. "Rocket fuel for mitochondria", "elixir of youth", "blue biohacking" - these are just some of the claims used by Internet creators.

The trend of using methylene blue came from the United States, where the reagent was heavily promoted on social media (mainly on TikTok). Creators boasted about the characteristic blue-tinted tongue and showed how they added drops of blue to water, giving it a bright color.

Actor and director Mel Gibson once said in an interview with Joe Rogan that his friends were cured of stage IV cancer by using a combination of methylene blue with ivermectin and several other substances.

It's hard to say what Gibson's idea was. American influencers themselves don't act for charity - they cooperate with online stores selling methylene blue. And it's no different with domestic creators. On the social networking site Instagram, we can find dozens of profiles providing advice on treatment with the reagent (in combination with, for example, oral paste for horses, for deworming the body).

Some entries link to online stores, contain offers of discounts on purchases and the "cooperation" tag, confirming the commercial nature of the message.

It is therefore of little significance that the indicated online stores offering methylene blue contain a disclaimer that it is an "analytical chemical reagent for synthesis and educational purposes, any other use of the chemical reagent is at your own risk."

Officially, the online store, with its registered office address in Poland, recommends using the product, among others, in chemical analyses and biological tests, staining preparations in microscopy, aquaristics and indicating its fluorescent properties.

In the "opinions" tab next to the product, we can find entries from alleged consumers about the chemical reagent (original spelling retained):

• "Finally a pharmaceutical grade product available in Poland, sometimes you have to wait a while for the effects but at least I stopped taking all other supplements, I don't have to take the whole box, so it's also a saving",
• "It definitely works and you can feel that it is great quality. I will be ordering in a multipack because then the price is also very competitive",
• "As a young mother I am delighted with this product, as soon as I stopped breastfeeding I started taking the supplement encouraged by my friends' recommendations and I can actually see how it works! After 3 weeks of regular use I definitely feel an improvement in my sleep, rest and regeneration (when waking up at night to see my baby) and an overall improvement in my well-being. I am also counting on the effects slowing down the aging process, but even without that it is a great product!"
• "It's great! Lyme disease rash disappears and doesn't get bigger."

We asked the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspectorate, the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products and the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate for their assessment of the phenomenon.

GIF employees tell us that the body "is familiar with the scale of the phenomenon of offering methylene blue for sale on websites". Officials stipulate that the substance is not a medicinal product intended for humans within the meaning of the Pharmaceutical Law . In terms of treatment, it does not have a marketing authorization, nor is it a registered dietary supplement. It is only a chemical reagent used as a diagnostic agent.

GIF emphasizes that presenting methylene blue as a food, and attributing medicinal properties to it, is a crime punishable by imprisonment from 6 months to 8 years. After receiving information from a whistleblower about the activities of online stores, GIF notified the relevant law enforcement authorities.

Jarosław Buczek , spokesman for the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, confirms that methylene blue currently does not have a marketing authorization as a medicinal product.

It tells us that in some countries (e.g. USA, Canada or UK), methylene blue is approved as a medicinal product in the treatment of:

• rare disease methemoglobinemia,
• cyanide poisoning (as a supporting agent),
• as a surgical and diagnostic dye in urology and gynecology.

Methylene blue is also the subject of intensive clinical trials as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Phase III studies of the methylene blue derivative failed to demonstrate significant efficacy compared with placebo in the overall population, although subgroups not taking other drugs showed slower brain atrophy and improved cognitive scores.

Despite these results - as Jarosław Buczek cites - the product was not approved for marketing, neither by the European Medicines Agency nor by the American Food and Drug Administration (the latter already in 2011 and then in 2017 warned about dangerous interactions of methylene blue with antidepressants, and in 2020 warned against the use of therapy in the treatment of the consequences of COVID-19).

The URPL representative adds that available literature data and scientific reports indicate that the consumption of methylene blue may be associated with the risk of serious adverse reactions , especially when used without medical supervision. This includes potential hypersensitivity reactions, risks for people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, and the possibility of serotonin syndrome with the simultaneous use of serotonergic drugs. Central effects, such as neurotoxic symptoms, have also been reported.

The Chief Sanitary Inspectorate did not answer our questions.

The methylene blue case is reminiscent of another procedure already described by Rynek Zdrowia. In October 2023, we reported on an online store selling substances "for research purposes only."

The entrepreneur uses such a clause only in the description of his assortment, because information on this subject cannot be found on the packaging of the products themselves.

The creators of the store also provide detailed information about the effects of the substance on humans, including links to scientific studies and even providing a calculator to help adjust the doses to your own needs.

On social media, the seller is even less conservative. He frivolously writes that his products are "very effective and safe". He also encourages "experimenting with doses and finding the right one for you". His product range promotes various types of peptides and GLP-1 analogues, used in the treatment of diabetes, but more often obesity (this is a substance found in the drug Ozempic).

The online store is doing well, and its products are still openly advertised by a number of Polish influencers on social media. Their images and names have even been posted on the website, naming them "brand ambassadors." No one is holding the internet celebrities accountable, although theoretically they could even be charged with criminal offences, e.g. for endangering life or causing serious bodily harm.

GIF employees wrote back to us at the time that the GLP-1 receptor agonist can only be legally purchased with a doctor's prescription. Mail-order sale of medicines is only possible for over-the-counter medicines (excluding those whose issuance is restricted by the patient's age).

The pharmaceutical inspection assured that it constantly monitors websites offering medicines "for research purposes". When it locates such a website, it tries to identify the entity that is the administrator of the website and establish its contact details, necessary for GIF to take action.

The thing is that these types of sites are usually administered by foreign entities that do not have a registered office in Poland (unlike the store offering methylene blue). The shipment of goods - according to GIF - takes place from a third country and the only possibility of contacting these entities is to fill out a form available on the website.

- Law enforcement agencies, the Police or Prosecutor's Office units competent for a given area, are informed based on the reports they receive. These reports are anonymous, come from law firms or are reported through WGEO reports (notifications from competent foreign bodies). Over the past two years, there have been about 15 such reports - wrote GIF employees.

The online store we described indicates that it is based in Cyprus. However, it offers shipping of products via InPost parcel lockers, which does not have its own parcel lockers in Cyprus (it operates in Poland, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal). Despite this, the website states that orders are processed within 48 hours.

A few seconds spent in an internet search engine tells us that purchasing a so-called virtual office service in Cyprus costs 69 euros per month. This is not much for an effective umbrella of protection against liability on the part of the Polish state.

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