title: Mortality after exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dibenzofurans: 30 years after the "Yucheng accident".
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In 1979, approximately 2,000 people in central Taiwan were accidentally exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls and dibenzofurans due to ingestion of contaminated cooking oil. This event was called Yucheng, "oil-syndrome" in Chinese. We followed the exposed persons and compared their cause-specific mortality with that of neighborhood referents 30 years after the accident.
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained age- and gender-matched referents from the 1979 neighborhoods of the exposed people. Cause-specific mortality was compared between exposed subjects (N=1803) and their neighborhood referents (N=5170) using standardized mortality ratios (SMR). Total person-years for the Yucheng subjects and neighborhood referents were 48,751 and 141,774, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SMR for all causes (SMR=1.2, 95% CI: 1.1-1.3), diseases of the circulatory system (SMR=1.3, 95% CI: 1.0-1.6), and diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (SMR=6.4, 95% CI: 2.8-12.7) were elevated in Yucheng subjects. Among Yucheng males, the SMRs for diseases of the digestive system (SMR=1.9, 95% CI: 1.2-2.8), malignant neoplasm of stomach (SMR=3.5, 95% CI: 1.5-7.0), and malignant neoplasm of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue (SMR=3.0, 95% CI: 1.1-6.6) were increased. The SMR for total neoplasms was increased (SMR=1.3, 95% CI: 0.9-1.7).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that exposure to PCBs/PCDFs at levels that produced symptoms in many affects mortality patterns 3 decades after exposure.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, National Taiwan University College of Public Health, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming-Chieh
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Pei-Chien
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Pau-Chung
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chia-Jung
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Yue-Liang
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Leon Guo
authors.forename: Walter J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Rogan
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000506:poisoning*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011041:Poisoning / Q000401:mortality*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000506:poisoning*; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001572:Benzofurans; C023614:dibenzofuran; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls