In 2009 the Cologne Doping Control Lab checked seized black‑market items and regular supplements and found that some of them were mislabeled or contained hidden ingredients like the growth‑hormone‑releasing peptide GHRP‑2. Some products claimed to be growth‑hormone injections but had no active drug, while others tried to hide GH use or even contained unpurified IGF‑1. This shows that many over‑the‑counter or “research‑grade” products can be unreliable or contain unexpected peptides.

Doping control laboratories are frequently confronted with new substances that may be misused by athletes. Besides new pharmaceuticals, where method development for their detection is dependent on the availability of the substance and corresponding administration studies, some professional and amateur athletes are using illicit 'black market' products, which either differ from known pharmaceuticals but cause similar effects or still are undergoing clinical trials and are therefore rarely available to doping control laboratories. In the Cologne Doping Control Laboratory, different confiscated products and legally obtained nutritional supplements were analyzed in 2009, and various findings were reported including GH-labelled injection vials without any pharmacologically active content; combinations of products indicating the attempt to mask growth hormone abuse; unpurified long-R(3) -IGF-1; nutritional supplements containing the growth hormone releasing peptide-2 (GHRP-2); and ampoules containing the selective androgen receptor modulator Andarine (S-4). This review provides an overview on the substances that were analyzed in 2009. Ingredients relevant for doping control were identified by means of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry methods. The awareness of new products on the black market and in nutritional supplements is of utmost importance for laboratories to develop detection methods accordingly and screen for new substances as early as possible.