Posted June 12th, 2007 at 1:01 PM by Courtney Albon
The sudden death of 17-year-old Arielle Newman, a cross country runner at Notre Dame High School in Staten Island New York, has been linked to a chemical contained in common muscle creams such as Ben Gay and Icy Hot.
Doctors said that the award-winning cross country runner died from absorbing too large an amount of methyl salicylate, an anti-inflammatory found in muscles creams that many athletes use to reduce pain before and after an event.
The medical examiner claimed that the level of Methyl salicylate found in Newman’s body at the time of death was six times the safe amount. Because Newman was running, her body absorbed the chemical at a faster rate.
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