A contaminated batch of children’s EpiPens will be sold in pharmacies to help relieve a critical shortage.

The TGA has announced it is allowing manufacturer Mylan to import and sell a batch of 150mcg EpiPens that were originally withheld from sale because they did not meet its quality requirements.

The EpiPen Jr branded auto-injectors are contaminated with pralidoxime, an antidote for patients poisoned with pest-control chemicals.

However, the risk posed by the contamination was far smaller than the risk of patients not having access to the 150mcg EpiPen at all, the medicines watchdog said on Monday.