The Australian Steroid Market 2022 – Insights from Customer Results

Since PEDTest Australia was started in November 2021, we have been recording customer results in a database. The purpose of the database is to track steroid brands available in Australia and how their quality changes over time to provide statistics to the fitness community. The database is also used for product development, kit quality control and product development. 

The database records the date, brand, steroid type, test result for each kit vial, comments, and whether the result indicates chemical contamination (precipitation when tested). Each result is classified as Confirmed, Swapped, Bunk or Inconclusive. No customer information is recorded. 

The database is not public, and we do not “name and shame” brands unless they pose an obvious threat to public safety. We do not recommend brands, suppliers or websites, or encourage illegal drug use. 

During 2022 customers reported results for 523 oils, 243 orals and 18 raws, for a total of 784 samples. 

Brands

There were 138 unique brand names reported, 15 samples with no brand name reported and 10 that were unlabelled. Almost all of these brands are produced by underground labs within Australia using imported Chinese “raws”.  

Steroid Types

Results in 2022 covered 28 different steroid products (types and blends). In addition to this was an estrogen blocker, a beta agonist, Human Growth Hormone and 3 types of SARMS (we provide free trial kits for substances that we would like to produce kits for, hence the wide range of substances tested). 

It has become evident throughout the year that enanthate esters from multiple brands were showing evidence of “chemical” contamination (residue left in the “raws” during manufacture in China) – when tested they have varying degrees of precipitation (when adding steroid to kit vials, the results go cloudy, chunky or even solid). This contamination interferes with the reaction of the steroid being tested for, causing result colours to be lighter and harder to interpret.  

The contamination is very hard to identify with the laboratory methods currently available to us, and prior to us noticing it in our kits results, the steroid using community was totally unaware of it. We consider it of utmost importance to continue researching this contamination and the potential side effects from short and long term exposure to it. 

Prevalence of Scam Brands Reported

	Total number of results	Confirmed	Swapped	No Steroid	Inconclusive
Oils	469	322	56	27	64
Orals	243	142	41	48	12
Raws	18	15	0	1	2
	(54 oils results were potency only and hence are not included)

Orals showed a much higher potential than injectable oils to contain no steroid, with 20% of results showing no steroid and another 17% showing a different steroid present to what was on the label (swapped). Oils in comparison, had only 5% of results showing no steroid, with another 12% showing a different steroid present to what was on the label. 

The 83 oil results with no or swapped steroid results were from 43 different labelled brands, in addition to another 7 that were unnamed. The 89 oral results with no or swapped steroid results were from 31 different labelled brands, in addition to another 15 that were unnamed. 

This doesn’t include brands where the dosage of steroid doesn’t match what is on the label – so the likelihood of steroid brands providing products of poor quality is much higher than indicated here.  

This also shows how hard it is to avoid brands that are “scams”, as so many active brands in Australia  show poor results. Many of these brands have had good results at other times, reflecting the high variation and inconsistency between batches of steroid manufactured. 

Popular Brands

We consider a “popular brand” to be one that has had 10 or more results (orals or oils) reported to us during a year. Keep in mind that not everyone reports results, and people are more likely to buy kits when they are unsure of the quality of a steroid brand. 

During 2022, there were 16 “popular brands” reported. Of these, 4 are well known scam brands, and another 5 are brands that are known to have very poor and/or variable quality. 

Of the remaining 7 popular brands, almost all showed significant variability in test results through the year. 

We get asked regularly which brands are “reliable”. Essentially, none. EVERY brand varies from batch to batch, and we have seen in the data that even the most “reliable” brands vary in potency and quality. For steroid users, using a test kit to testing a sample of each batch you buy is the most cost-effective and efficient way to monitor changes in quality of each brand used.  

Lab Results

PedTest Australia periodically organises for donated samples of steroids to be sent to a laboratory overseas for analysis. The purpose of this is for quality control of our kit results, new kit development, and to provide the steroid user community publicly available analysis results. All our lab analysis results can be found in a saved story link on our Instagram page. 

During 2022, we received analyses of 23 oils, 13 orals and 2 “raws”.  

	Total number of results	Correct compound and dose	Swapped compound	Underdosed	Overdosed
Oils	23	10	4	13	1
Orals	13	7	0	4	2
Raws	2	2	0	0	0
	(some swaps are also underdosed, and counted in both columns)

We plan on doing more lab analyses in 2023, so keep an eye out for our announcements on our Instagram page. 

PED Test Australia is your go-to supplier for at-home steroid test kits, narcotics test kits, and sample vials.  

Our kits help users make informed decisions about the substances they choose to take and therefore reduce the risks they are exposed to. Get in touch with PED Test Australia for all your PED test needs. PED Test Australia is run by members of the strength community, for the strength community – with the aim of improving safety, education and minimising harm for those who choose to use PEDs. We have answered several of your frequently asked questions, but feel free to email us if we have missed a question on the list. Also, you can explore our store here.