Importance of Quality Science

Many athletes and consumers might think that any laboratory can analyze a dietary supplement for the presence of banned substances as well as the next. The truth is that detection of banned substances is a highly intricate science that should be carried out only by laboratories experienced in doping detection methods and research. Only a laboratory experienced in analyzing human biological specimens for prohibited substances can fully understand and evaluate the potential of a dietary supplement to contain a banned substance or cause an inadvertent positive doping test.

Limits of Detection

Possibly the most important aspect of a quality testing program is the sensitivity of an analysis method - otherwise known as the limits of detection. A method's detection limit is the smallest concentration of a banned substance that the method will be able to reveal. When even trace amounts of banned substances can cause an athlete to test positive, the lowest possible detection limit becomes absolutely crucial for the efficacy of a dietary supplement testing program.

To illustrate the importance of detection limits, consider a true story that occurred recently when an athlete tested positive for a banned stimulant. The athlete knew that he had not intentionally ingested the stimulant, so he sent a sample of the dietary supplement that he had been consuming to a laboratory to have it analyzed. After thorough analysis, the laboratory concluded that the product did not contain the banned stimulant. The national anti-doping agency became involved, and sent the product sample to another laboratory with a wealth of experience in the anti-doping sciences. This experienced laboratory found that the product contained a low concentration (~500 nanograms per gram) of the banned stimulant, and thus was the source of the positive test. As it turned out, the first laboratory's limit of detection was 50 micrograms per gram - roughly 100 times higher than would have been necessary to show that the dietary supplement could cause a positive doping test.

The detection limits used by the BSCG program are extremely low - 10 nanograms per gram for anabolic agents and 10 nanograms per gram for stimulants. Since it is a scientific impossibility to have detection limits equal to zero, athletes and consumers alike should always be sure that a method is sensitive enough to reveal the smallest concentrations of potentially dangerous banned substances possible.

100% Guarantee is a Scientific Impossibility

Certainly an athlete or consumer will want to take all precautions possible to ensure that there product is banned substance free. However, an absolute 100% guarantee is impossible and athletes and consumers should be wary of any program or laboratory that makes such a claim. One reason why this is true is because of an analysis method's limit of detection, as discussed above.

Another reason is that a laboratory can only test samples of a product. Even if the laboratory tests every batch, as occurs with products participating in the BSCG program, the laboratory can only test samples of the batch of product, but not the actual powder, capsule, or bar that is eventually consumed. This is because the analysis itself necessarily must exhaust the specific material (the sample) that is being tested. If the laboratory were to test 100% of each batch, there would be no product left to consume! While it is very important that a sample of every batch of a product is tested to ensure compliance as best as possible, it is still only a sample of the product that is tested and not the actual material that is eventually consumed.