DNP: the deadly 'diet pill' that 'burns people from the inside'

The toxic chemical dinitrophenol speeds up the metabolism and burns fat fast – but with deadly consequences

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(Image credit: Wikimedia/Psychonaught)

An inquest into the death of a woman thought to have taken highly toxic "diet pills" has been been opened, and her mother has urged others not to take the weight-loss aids.

Eloise Aimee Parry, a 21-year old student, died in hospital after tablets believed to contain the industrial chemical DNP caused her body temperature to rise dangerously. "Two tablets was a lethal dose – and she had taken eight," her mother Fiona Parry told The Guardian. "She was literally burning up from within."

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