Please be advised that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has released the 2015 Prohibited List, which will come into effect on 1 January 2015.

The change of most interest to many athletes is to pseudoephedrine, a substance commonly used to treat nasal and sinus congestion. WADA has removed pseudoephedrine from the 2014 Monitoring Program and it will remain on the Prohibited List. For athletes this means pseudoephedrine concentrations found in urine above 150 microgram per millilitre are prohibited in–competition in all sports.

Medications that contain pseudoephedrine like Sudafed, Codral, etc. must be ceased 24 hours prior to competition.

Other changes for 2015 seek to provide greater clarity to the List, with the majority of amendments being of a technical nature, including re-categorising and improving the terminology of existing substances and methods.

Further information is available on WADA’s website along with a summary of major modifications and details on the 2015 Monitoring Program.

It is important that you are aware of the new List, as it is your responsibility to check the status of any medication prior to use.

You can use the Check Your Substances tool on the ASADA website to find out the status of Australian medications. Check your Substances will be updated to reflect the 2015 changes on 19 December 2014.

More information about the List and anti-doping in general can also be found on ASADA’s website.