Four high school students in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, were treated at a hospital emergency room on Wednesday after consuming adrenaline provided for a science class experiment, local media reported Thursday.

An ambulance passes in front of the regional emergency medical center of a university hospital in Seoul in this file photo from 2024. (Newsis)
An ambulance passes in front of the regional emergency medical center of a university hospital in Seoul in this file photo from 2024. (Newsis)

According to the Kyeonggi Ilbo, a local newspaper, emergency services were dispatched at around 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday to the school after receiving a report that students had ingested adrenaline. Three students were transported to a nearby university hospital. A fourth student later came forward saying they had also consumed the substance and was separately taken to the same hospital.

School officials said the substance had been provided for a science class involving experiments to observe the physiological responses of water fleas.

“Some third-year students secretly took a small amount of adrenaline and mixed it with a drink during a break in the restroom,” a school official was quoted as saying in the report.

The teacher had collected the adrenaline distributed for the class, but the students are believed to have taken some without permission.

Students reportedly told school officials they had consumed the substance, believing it might act as a stimulant ahead of the approaching midterm exams.


milaya@heraldcorp.com