Alastair Stewart informs latest AAP FactCheck
Prof Alastair Stewart, Dept of Biochemistry & Pharmacology, advises the Australian Associated Press (AAP) in the latest fact check around graphene oxide.
In a recent claim via a Facebook video, a woman claimed Nurofen uses graphine oxide in the ink for the pill’s identifiers.
Following the AAP’s fact checking review process on this claim, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has confirmed that the allegation is false. Nurofen does not contain graphene oxide instead the colourant used in the ink is iron oxide black – an approved colourant for use in oral medicines. The TGA has strict regulatory requirements in place to ensure medicines and ingredients are safe for human consumption.
Prof Alastair Stewart, Head of the Stewart Lab and Co-Director of the Lung Health Research Centre in the Department of Biochemistry & Pharmacology, advised AAP that graphene oxide is not registered for use as an ingredient, nor is it approved as an active pharmaceutical by the TGA.
“Further research could see these types of nanomaterials be developed as medicines, but only after much preclinical and clinical research the outcomes of which are subjected to stringent, independent review process by agencies such as our own TGA and the FDA in the US to assess safety and benefits,” Alastair told the AAP.
The AAP is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. Experienced journalists apply fact-checking methods, rigorous questioning, consideration of evidence and verification using multiple sources.
The AAP FactCheck for this Nurofen claim was originally published by AAP on 17 March.