DMAA controversy continues

The controversy over the presence of 1,3- and 1,4-DMAA in geranium plants and their addition to sports supplements has been extended by a new study that found both compounds in geraniums from China. In their open-access paper in Analytical Chemistry Insights, Heather Fleming, Patricia Ranaivo and Paul Simone from the University of Memphis used an LC-tandem-MS method to measure both isomers of dimethylamylamine in plants collected from three different regions of China at three different times (June 2011, March 2012, and May 2012).

The plants from the Kunming and Guiyang regions did not contain any DMAA but those from Changzhou contained both 1,3-DMAA and 1,4-DMAA at 68-496 ng/g and 13-162 ng/g, respectively. The results were confirmed by independent analysis by another lab, which were reported in Analytical Chemistry Insights earlier in 2012.

The researchers recognise that the results are in conflict with other reports which found no DMAA in geranium plants and say that the reason might be geographical. "This may not be a case of right or wrong," they say. "Until now, none of the samples analyzed have been identical or reported as from the same region." So, the differences could be ascribed to regional variations, a proposal which could be confirmed by a multi-lab blind analysis of plant samples from different regions.

The absence or presence of DMAA in geraniums and their oils has been a source of controversy due to the claims made by the manufacturers of sports supplements that their products contain "natural" DMAA when others have proven that the products are synthetic, as reported recently in separationsNOW.com.