Interpol has issued a global alert about the dangers of taking dieting pills bought online following the death of a young woman who "burnt up from the inside" after taking the tablets.

Eloise Parry, 21, died in hospital in England last month after ingesting pills containing the industrial chemical 2.4-dinitrophenol (DNP), an illicit and potentially lethal drug used as a dieting and body-building aid.

The chemical, used in pesticides and as a base material for certain explosives, also left a man in France critically ill last year.

Interpol issued an Orange Notice, warning of an imminent threat, to law enforcement agencies in 190 countries this week, after a sample of the drug seized in Australia was tested at a World Anti-Doping Agency laboratory.