Factors associated with pathogenicity of oils related to the toxic oil syndrome epidemic in Spain.
The toxic oil syndrome (TOS), which affected over 20,000 persons in Spain in 1981, has been linked to the consumption of aniline-denatured rapeseed oil, but the precise etiologic agent is still unknown. We attempted to validate the use of high concentrations of oleyl anilide as a marker for oils that contain (or contained) the causal agent. We compared the chemical compositions of oils obtained from ill (N = 59) and unaffected (N = 70) families in 1981. Case oils had higher concentrations of fatty acids and sterols in which rapeseed oil is particularly rich. In addition, case oils had more frequent and extensive contamination with oleyl anilide and other fatty acid anilides. We observed a dose-response effect; risk increased sharply with increasing concentrations of oleyl anilide, and no control oil had more than about 825 micrograms per liter of that compound. We conclude that high concentrations of oleyl anilide specifically mark oils that contain (or used to contain) the TOS etiologic agent.
Posada de la Paz
M
M
Dirección General de Ordenación de la Investigación y Formación, Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Madrid, Spain.
Philen
R M
RM
Abaitua Borda
I
I
Diez Ruiz-Navarro
M
M
Abraira Santos
V
V
Pozo Rodríguez
F
F
Pla Mestre
R
R
Pollán Santamaría
M
M
Sicilia Socias
J M
JM
Azpeitia Gamazo
P
P
D000814:Aniline Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D001937:Brassica; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D009829:Oleic Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000506:poisoning*; D000074262:Rapeseed Oil; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
D000814:Aniline Compounds; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D009829:Oleic Acids; D010938:Plant Oils; D000074262:Rapeseed Oil