A masking agent is a

reagent In chemistry, a reagent ( ) or analytical reagent is a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, or test if one occurs. The terms ''reactant'' and ''reagent'' are often used interchangeably, but reactant specifies a ...

used in

chemical analysis Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separa ...

which reacts with

chemical species Chemical species are a specific form of chemical substance or chemically identical molecular entities that have the same molecular energy level at a specified timescale. These entities are classified through bonding types and relative abundance of ...

that may interfere in the analysis. In sports a masking agent is used to hide or prevent detection of a banned substance or illegal drug like

anabolic steroids Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolic steroids ...

stimulants Stimulants (also known as central nervous system stimulants, or psychostimulants, or colloquially as uppers) are a class of drugs that increase alertness. They are used for various purposes, such as enhancing attention, motivation, cognitio ...

Diuretics A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics in ...

are the simplest form of masking agent and work by enhancing water loss via urine excretion and thus diluting the urine, which results in lower concentrations of the banned substance as more of it is being excreted from the body making it more difficult for laboratories to detect. Masking Agents FAQ, National Strength and Conditioning Assoc.

References

* Analytical chemistry {{analytical-chemistry-stub