Philly’s street fentanyl contains an industrial chemical called BTMPS that’s an ingredient in plastic

Adulterants such as xylazine, medetomidine and now BTMPS are common in Philly's street fentanyl. Juan Pablo Pino/AFP via Getty Images

As much as half of the fentanyl sold on Philly’s streets contains an industrial chemical used in plastics manufacturing. That’s according to our November 2024 testing of fentanyl samples collected in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood, regarded as the largest open-air drug market on the East Coast.

What’s more, the amount, or concentration, of this industrial chemical in the drug samples often exceeded the amount of fentanyl.