The Association of Oil Ingestion With Toxic Oil Syndrome in Two Convents

Rojas, Francisco Javier Pérez; García, María Hernández; Borda, Ignacio Abaitua; Gordo, J.M. Alonso; Паз, Мануел Посада де ла; Kilbourne, Edwin M.; Oliver, J. M. Tabuenca

doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114608

Cited by 33 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…52 In 1983, the World Health Organization named the illness toxic oil syndrome. 56 The basic underlying pathological lesion is a nonnecrotizing vasculitis with associated thrombotic events. A 1987 review of these records by the World Health Organization Regional Offi ce for Europe Scientifi c Committee for the Investigation of the Toxic Oil Syndrome indicated that about 20,000 people were affected with over 10,000 hospitalizations.…”

Section: Clinical Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Food Contamination

Barceloux

Faact²,

Facmt³

2008

Medical Toxicology of Natural Substances

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Section: Clinical Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Food Contamination

Barceloux

Faact²,

Facmt³

2008

Medical Toxicology of Natural Substances

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“…One was a convent of nuns who took all their food, including oil, to a retreat. Thus, the date of their oil consumption and the time elapsed between consumption and illness were known (17). We also know the date of first oil consumption for cases who moved into the epidemic area from geographic zones outside the epidemic area.…”

Section: Descriptive Epidemiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxic Oil Syndrome: The Perspective after 20 Years

Паз

Philen

Borda

2001

Epidemiologic Reviews

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Toxic oil syndrome burst upon the scene in Spain in May of 1981, draining the resources of a newly evolving political and social medicine system. The vehicle of the causative toxic agent was identified as an illicit oil that had been diverted from industrial use and refined in order to remove the aniline denaturant, and that was sold in unlabeled 5-liter containers by itinerant salesmen. Over 20,000 people were ultimately affected, and over 1,200 deaths from all causes have been recorded in the affected cohort. The epidemiologic investigation of toxic oil syndrome involved all facets of investigative and analytical work; from visits to factories and interviewing workers, to sophisticated chemical and statistical analytical techniques. This investigation serves as a further illustration that data and information of all types, and from a wide range of fields, need to be systematically collected and evaluated in order to best resolve an epidemiologic mystery. Astute clinical observation of the patients, however, led to the hypothesis that toxic oil syndrome was a result of a toxic exposure. In this and other epidemics of unknown etiology, clinical observation and the intense scrutiny of patients' histories, signs, and symptoms by treating clinicians have often led to hypotheses that could be tested epidemiologically. When there are medical unknowns, the role of the astute clinician continues to be crucial. The toxic oil syndrome epidemic is an example of how even a developed country can be affected by a massive epidemic of environmental origin if failures occur in the systems that control and regulate the food supply or other consumer products. However, such failures could occur anywhere that large commercial networks operate on the regulatory edge, and if these business lack an in depth knowledge of the consequences of alterations in manufacturing conditions. Such was the case with eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome as well, when apparently minor alterations in manufacturing conditions of L-tryptophan led to an increase in impurities in the product that were later associated with the illness. These risks are even greater in countries with few or inconsistent control systems, making the food and drug supply potential portals of entry for serious health hazards, as is further exemplified by the tragic episode of pediatric renal failure in Haiti associated with a legitimate consumer product, paracetamol elixir, that had been manufactured using a fraudulently supplied toxic ingredient, diethylene glycol (81). The potential toxicants in the adulterated rapeseed oil were present in extremely small amounts. If fatty acid anilides or related compounds are indeed the etiologic agents in toxic oil syndrome, then these compounds must be extremely toxic at the parts per million concentrations at which they were found. Further, the roles of causative agents in the development of disorders such as scleroderma, eosinophilic fasciitis, eosinophilic perimyositis, and other similar diseases are unknown, but scientists can speculate that ...

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“…Numerous case reports and case-referent studies (54,55) added suppo rt to the suggested asso ciation and led to a definite cla ri fication o f the di saster so ur ce, if not to the respo nsi ble chemical agent (56)(57)(58).…”

Section: Source Ident Ificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Industrial disasters and epidemiology. A review of recent experiences.

Bertazzi¹

1989

Scand J Work Environ Health

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The Association of Oil Ingestion With Toxic Oil Syndrome in Two Convents

Cited by 33 publications

References 0 publications

Food Contamination

Food Contamination

Toxic Oil Syndrome: The Perspective after 20 Years

Industrial disasters and epidemiology. A review of recent experiences.

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