First it was prohormones, then it was peptides - now a new black market sports supplement hyped as the "holy grail" has taken the Australian market by storm.

Every day, thousands of dollars worth of this 'prescription-only' substance is being illegally sold online and through retail stores.

It's called SARMs (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators) - the collective name for a group of compounds that were largely developed in the 1990s to help patients recover muscle after cancer treatment, and which haven't yet completed full clinical trials.

What are 'SARMs?' Promoted as like steroids but without the side effects

Not approved for human consumption

At least one linked to cancer in lab mice

Illegal to sell in Australia

Sellers could face time in prison

Thousands of dollars worth being sold every day

A two-part investigation into steroids and supplements by triple j Hack and Background Briefing has revealed the massive extent of SARMs sales in Australia.

There are currently no registered medicines containing SARMs in Australia. In the US as well, SARMs are not approved for human consumption.

On bodybuilding forums, they're sometimes called 'synthetic steroids'. They're promoted as like anabolic steroids, but without the well-known side effects of shrunken testicles and organ damage.

Are we killing ourselves to look beautiful? Underground criminal networks are fuelling Australia's quest for a beautiful body.

SARMs began making waves in Australia in 2016, when six Australian athletes tested positive for taking SARMs in sports from triathlon to motorcycling.

This is part of a broader trend. In 2010, a single athlete in the whole world tested positive for SARMs. In 2016, 39 athletes tested positive.

Among the products being sold as a SARM is Cardarine or GW501516 (Cardarine is technically not a SARM). The pharmaceutical company developing Cardarine abandoned the trial and terminated research after it caused cancer in lab mice.

Cardarine can be bought for about $199 online or in Australian supplement stores. It's being promoted as a 'fat burner' for weight loss.

In February this year, the Therapeutic Goods Adminstration (TGA) decided to schedule Cardarine as Schedule 10 - the highest level of regulation, meaning it cannot be sold for any purpose.

This decision comes into force from June 1.

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There are more than a dozen kinds of SARMs being sold - whether they have long-term side effects, we don't know. They have not completed full clinical trials.

Black market users of other SARMs products report a yellow tint descending over their vision, trouble seeing in the dark, and blind spots.

Jarrad, 24, a Western Sydney personal trainer said he began a SARMs cycle to train for a strongman competition, where he lifts cars and pulls trucks.

He hadn't had any side effects yet, but acknowledged taking SARMs was a "leap of faith".

"There has been no long-term conclusive studies to say exactly what it's going to do," he said.

I am a little nervous.

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He said he was not aware substance had been linked to cancer in lab mice and he would tell friends who were taking the substance.

The TGA's decision about Cardarine, which warns of the cancer risk, is posted on its website.

It hasn't otherwise been publicised and among the bodybuilders and supplements distributors Hack spoke to for this story, none were aware of the TGA's decision from months earlier.

How much is being sold?

There are at least 10 SARMs online stores with Australian domain names.

The owner of one of the largest of these sites says sales have gone from 10 to 100 vials a day in under two years.

A 30ml vial of SARMs (enough for a 30-day cycle) costs $149-$199. That works out to more than $15,000 worth of SARMs per day, or over $5 million revenue per year.

As well as this, the supplier also distributes SARMs to more than 20 supplement stores in every state and territory except Tasmania. SARMs are on open display in many supplement stores.

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The supplier's online store promotes SARMs as handy for everything from bone density to sex drive. It says they are "anticipated to yield the healing benefits of testosterone".

But the site also features a prominent disclaimer: "SARMs are legal for the purposes of conducting research ... These products are not intended to treat, heal or cure any disease or medical condition."

SARMs vials also bear the disclaimer "for research purposes only".

This is an attempt to create a legal loophole and escape regulation - a strategy that both the national regulator and legal experts say simply does not work.

Who regulates SARMs?

SARMs are regulated by the TGA - the national regulator of therapeutic goods.

In 2012, the TGA classified SARMs as Schedule 4, meaning that, once SARMs medications were approved, they could only be bought or sold with a prescription.

Six years later, there are still no approved SARMs products on the market, but black market SARMs are being openly sold.

Under the Therapeutic Goods Act, the TGA has the power to issue infringement notices against suppliers, apply for a court injunction to stop sales, or seek civil and criminal penalties.

The civil penalty for supplying SARMs is a fine of up to $1 million.

The criminal penalty for supplying SARMs is up to five years jail.

SARMs are also illegal to possess. The penalty differs between the states and territories. In New South Wales, the maximum jail term is six months.

The TGA says it is working with Border Force to stop the import of SARMs. It also says it's cracking down on shops and websites selling SARMs.

It confirmed that printing 'research purposes only' on a vial of SARMs does not mean it avoids regulation as a therapeutic good.

In a statement, a TGA spokeswoman said:

"A good that is likely to be taken to be for therapeutic use is a 'therapeutic good' for the purposes of the Act, irrespective of the manner in which the good is presented.

"In circumstances where a medicine is widely known to be used in connection with modifying a physiological process in persons (as appears to be the case with some SARMs and other peptide products), that medicine is likely to satisfy the definition of a therapeutic good despite any disclaimer to the effect that it is for research purposes only and/or not for human use."

Listen to the full story on Hack at 5:30pm Tuesday.