A pharmaceutical company in Zhejiang province has reported finding an impurity that can cause cancer in a drug it makes as an ingredient in blood pressure medications, the State Drug Administration said last Sunday. The products have been recalled.

国家药监局上周日称，浙江一家制药公司报告，该公司生产的一款降压药原料药被发现含有可致癌的杂质。目前该产品已被召回。

Huahai Pharmaceutical reported on July 6 that it had discovered traces of a chemical impurity called NDMA in valsartan, the active ingredient in drugs widely used to treat hypertension, the administration said. Valasartan normally contains no such contaminant.

药监局称，7月6日，华海药业股份有限公司报告其缬沙坦原料药中检出微量化学杂质N-亚硝基二甲胺(NDMA)，缬沙坦是一种被广泛应用于降压药的原料药，正常情况下不含有杂质。

Experiments have shown that NDMA can cause cancer in animals, but there is little evidence ofa problem for humans, the administration said. The chemical is widely used elsewhere -- for example, in products such as salted foods.

相关部门表示，实验表明，NDMA可能会导致动物患上癌症，但几乎没有证据表明会导致人类出现该问题。这种化学物质在其他地方被广泛使用--例如，在盐类食品等产品中。

The administration said the presence of NDMA does not present serious health risks forpatients who have used products from Huahai Pharmaceutical. However, measures must betaken to stop production and recall the involved products.

该管理部门称，NDMA的存在不会给使用华海药业产品的患者带来严重的健康风险。但是必须采取措施来停止生产并召回所涉及的产品。

Huahai's production technique was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency.

华海药业的生产技术得到了美国食品药品监督管理局和欧洲药品管理局的认证。

The authority has inspected six other companies in China that produce valsartan, and no meaningful traces of NDMA were detected.

当局已经对中国另外六家生产缬沙坦的公司展开了调查，并没有检测到NDMA的痕迹。