Police are investigating the possible link between the use of poisonous tree frog secretions, known as kambo, and the death of a woman on the New South Wales north coast.

Key points: Police are investigating the death of a woman during a natural therapy procedure

Police are investigating the death of a woman during a natural therapy procedure Natasha Lechner died on March 8 and was reportedly a qualified kambo practitioner

Natasha Lechner died on March 8 and was reportedly a qualified kambo practitioner Kambo is a toxic secretion that come from a South American tree frog and used as an alternative medicine

Podcast The Signal Why are people using frog poison? There's a growing underground community in Australia that uses a substance called Kambo - a psychoactive tree frog poison from the Amazon - as an alternative medicine. About

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Natasha Lechner, 39, died at a home in Mullumbimby on March 8.

Detectives from the Tweed-Byron Police District said Ms Lechner went into cardiac arrest during a natural therapy procedure, and that they were "investigating reports she had participated in a kambo ceremony".

However, police said the exact cause of death was yet to be determined by the coroner.

Ms Lechner described herself on social media as a kambo practitioner qualified with the International Association of Kambo Practitioners.

She advertised her service in the Byron Shire under the name Deep Forest Kambo.

What is kambo?

Kambo is the name given to a secretion, or psychoactive poison, taken from South America's giant green monkey tree frog.

Martin Williams, from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, said the frog's toxic peptides were used to induce vomiting in humans as part of a cleansing or purging process.

He said it was generally introduced to the lymphatic system via wounds created, often by burning skin, on the shoulder or ankle.

Poisonous secretions or "kambo" from the Amazon's giant green monkey tree frog are used as an alternative medicine. ( Facebook: Viva Kambo )

Dr Williams said the process was often undertaken during a ceremony or circle, and that there was a new trend towards applying kambo to a person's "chakra areas" such as the chest.

He said if kambo was applied to the chest it could quickly make its way into the bloodstream and result in cardiac arrest.

"There's no quality assurance or control at all because at this stage kambo toxin is unregulated by the Therapeutic Good Administration," Dr Williams said.

"It really comes down to the experience of the practitioner when it comes to calibrating or measuring the dose.

"I recognise that it doesn't seem to make much sense, but there's certainly a sub-section of the community who do believe that measured challenge to a body's system will give them a positive health outcome."

Kambo practitioners' warning

The ABC sought comment from the International Association of Kambo Practitioners (IAKP), but did not receive a response.

Its IAKP website warns that kambo secretion "is regarded as a medicine in the Amazon, however this should not be confused with the western definition of a medicine. Kambo is not a medicine and those that administer it are practitioners and not doctors".

The site said kambo is very safe when given by a properly trained practitioner, but should not be used by people under 18 or those with a wide range of existing conditions including heart problems, serious mental health issues, anyone recovering from major surgery, and pregnant women.

Natasha Lechner's twin brother Christian posted a tribute on social media after a memorial service was held at Brunswick Heads earlier this month:

"I witnessed the most beautifully authentic, deeply loving, respectful and sweetest send-off I could have imagined for my twin sister and best friend Natasha. I grew with her in our mother's womb, I watched her grow as a child, every minute. She was my reflection, my connection, my other half. But she found a family outside of me, sisters, true sisters, and brothers, and I watched as they showed that even though they only knew her a handful of years, as opposed to a lifetime, they loved and understood her implicitly, immaculately and without question."

New South Wales Health has declined to comment.