Purpose: In collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE)’s NPS Discovery program has developed this report to notify public health, public safety, forensic and clinical laboratories, clinicians, medical examiners and coroners, and all other related communities about new information surrounding the emergent adulterant BTMPS and newly discovered fentanyl-related substances.
Summary: BTMPS has been detected in all regions across the United States, demonstrating vast prevalence. BTMPS has appeared in more than 600 drug materials tested by our laboratory. Tetramethyl-4-piperidinol (TMP) was first detected in August 2024 and since has appeared in more than 20 drug materials. Tetramethyl-4-AP (TM-4-AP) and tetramethylnorfentanyl (TMNF) were first detected in April 2025 and since have appeared in more than ten drug materials, often together. To date, a substance suspected of being tetramethylfentanyl (TMF) has been identified in only small (or trace) amounts alongside these other related substances; however, confirmation of this substance is pending acquisition of standard reference material.
