imported>Jotamar at 16:57, 6 April 2025

2025-04-06T16:57:23Z

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{{short description|Foodborne illness}}
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{{Infobox medical condition (new)
| name = Toxic oil syndrome
| image = Villa de Vallecas abre un espacio en memoria de las víctimas del Síndrome del Aceite Tóxico 01.jpg
| caption = Plaque to the victims of the Toxic Oil Syndrome
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'''Toxic oil syndrome''' ('''TOS''') or simply '''toxic syndrome''' ([[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''síndrome del aceite tóxico'' or ''síndrome tóxico'') is a [[musculoskeletal]] [[disease]]. A 1981 outbreak in [[Spain]] which affected more than 20,000 people, with over 330 dying within a few months and a few thousand remaining disabled, is thought to have been caused by contaminated [[colza oil|colza (rapeseed) oil]]. It was unique because of its size, the novelty of the clinical condition, and the complexity of its [[aetiology]]. Its first appearance was as a [[lung]] disease, with unusual features, though the [[symptom]]s initially resembled a lung [[infection]]. The disease appeared to be restricted to certain geographical localities, and several members of a family could be affected, even while their neighbours had no symptoms. Following the acute phase, a range of other chronic symptoms was apparent.<ref name=Terracini>{{cite journal |last1=Terracini |first1=B. |title=The limits of epidemiology and the Spanish Toxic Oil Syndrome |journal=International Journal of Epidemiology |date=27 May 2004 |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=443–444 |doi=10.1093/ije/dyg010|pmid=15166211 }}</ref>

== Investigation ==
In 1987, TOS was found by epidemology to have been linked to the ingestion of a "food-grade" rapeseed oil containing [[aniline]] derivatives. Two separate studies on levels of [[fatty acid]] [[anilide]]s (which would arise from reaction between aniline and fats) confirmed that case-related oils have an elevated level of this substance. In 1991, Posada de la Paz ''et al.'' found that French rapeseed oil was imported to Spain after denaturation with 2% aniline, allegedly for industrial use.<ref name=Gepi2002/> (Spanish regulations of the time allowed imports of rapeseed oil only for industrial use, and only if it has been [[Denaturation (food)|denatured]] with aniline to prevent use as food.)<ref name=Terracini/> They concluded that the toxic oil was produced from this industrial oil, illegally refined to remove aniline, and mixed with other edible oils. In 1992, the WHO published a review on the knowledge on the incident up to that point.<ref name=Gepi2002>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Gelpí E, de la Paz MP, Terracini B, Abaitua I, de la Cámara AG, Kilbourne EM, Lahoz C, Nemery B, Philen RM, Soldevilla L, Tarkowski S |date=May 2002 |title=The Spanish toxic oil syndrome 20 years after its onset: a multidisciplinary review of scientific knowledge. |journal=Environmental Health Perspectives |publisher=US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health |volume=110 |issue=5 |pages=457–464 |doi=10.1289/ehp.110-1240833 |pmc=1240833 |pmid=12003748}}</ref>

During the 1990s, improved chemical methods found a new class of chemicals in multiple samples of toxic oil: [[3-(N-phenylamino)-1,2-propanediol]] (abbreviated as PAP) and its [[ester]]s, which would also be produced as aniline reacts with [[triglyceride]]s. The factory responsible for illegally refining the oil was identified as Industria Trianera de Hidrogenación (ITH) of Seville.<ref name=Gepi2002/>

The WHO has since then tried to recreate the poisoning in laboratory animals with less-than-satisfactory results.<ref name=Gepi2002/> Specifically, three possible causative agents of TOS are PAP (3-(N-phenylamino)-1,2-propanediol), the 1,2-dioleoyl ester of PAP (abbreviated OOPAP), and the 3-oleoyl ester of PAP (abbreviated OPAP). These three compounds are formed by means of similar chemical processes, and oil that contains one of the three substances is likely to contain the other two.<ref name=WHO/> Oil samples that are suspected to have been ingested by people who later developed TOS often contain all three of these contaminants (among other substances), but are most likely to contain OOPAP.<ref name=WHO/> However, when these three substances were given to laboratory animals, OOPAP was not acutely toxic, PAP was toxic only after injection, but not after oral administration, and OPAP was toxic only after injection of high doses.<ref name=WHO/> Therefore, none of these three substances is thought to cause TOS.<ref name=WHO/> Similar results were obtained after administration of fatty acid anilides.<ref name=WHO/>

== Alternative theory ==
The conclusion of the Joint WHO/CISAT Scientific Committee for the Toxic Oil Syndrome from 2002, that oil was the cause for TOS, is based only on [[epidemiology|epidemiological]] evidence, since up to now, experimental studies performed in a variety of [[Animal testing|laboratory animal]]s have failed to reproduce the symptoms of human TOS.<ref name=WHO/> None of the ''in vivo'' or ''in vitro'' studies performed with toxic-oil-specific components, such as fatty acid anilides, and [[ester]]s of PAP, have provided evidence that these markers are causally involved in the pathogenesis of TOS.<ref name=WHO>{{cite book |title=Toxic oil syndrome: ten years of progress |url=https://www.euro.who.int/document/e84423.pdf |date=2004 |publisher=WHO, Regional Office for Europe |location=Copenhagen |isbn=9789289010634|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209135817/https://www.euro.who.int/document/e84423.pdf |archive-date=2010-02-09 }}</ref>

Data discrepancies combined with both a high level of secrecy surrounding the huge investigation and the fact that the first cases of the syndrome were located in Madrid (near the [[Torrejón Air Base|U.S. military base]] in [[Torrejón de Ardoz]]) spread the idea of a [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy]].{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} Several of those affected by TOS claim they never consumed any of the tainted oil products. Furthermore, the tainted oil was primarily sold in low-cost street markets; yet, a considerable percentage of the patients were wealthy. Another theory suggests the toxic reaction was triggered by [[organophosphate poisoning]] (e. g., from [[pesticide]] residues in tomatoes) and covered up by the Spanish government and the [[WHO]].<ref name ="Guardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/aug/25/research.highereducation |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Bob |last=Woffinden |title=Cover-up |date=August 25, 2001 |access-date=December 2, 2016}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome]]
* [[Ginger Jake]]
* [[Health crisis]]
* ''[[The Jungle]]''
* [[List of food contamination incidents]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.euro.who.int/document/e84423.pdf WHO Report: Toxic Oil Syndrome - Ten years of progress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100503041949/http://www.euro.who.int/document/e84423.pdf |date=2010-05-03 }}
{{Medical resources
| DiseasesDB = 32044
| ICD10 = {{ICD10|M|35|8}}
| ICD9 = {{ICD9|710.5}}
| ICDO =
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{{Consumer Food Safety}}

[[Category:Connective tissue diseases]]
[[Category:Food safety scandals]]
[[Category:Adulteration]]
[[Category:1981 health disasters]]
[[Category:1981 in Spain]]
[[Category:Health disasters in Spain]]
[[Category:Medical controversies]]
[[Category:Mass poisoning]]
[[Category:Syndromes]]

Toxic oil syndrome - Revision history

imported>Jotamar at 16:57, 6 April 2025