Spanish toxic oil syndrome

Ladona, M.G. et al., Pharmacogenetic profile of xenobiotic enzyme metabolism in survivors of the Spanish toxic oil syndrome, Environ. Health Perspect., 109, 369-375, 2001. 

Velicia, R., Sanz, C., Martinez-Barredo, F., Sanchez-Tapias, JJM., Bru-guera, M., Rodes, X Hepatic disease in the Spanish Toxic Oil Syndrome. A thirty months follow-up study. J. Hepatol. 1986 3 59-65... 

Gelpi E, Posada de la Paz M, Terracini B, Abaitua I, Gomez de la Camara A, Kilbourne EM, Lahoz C, Nemery B, Philen RM, Soldevilla L, Tarkowski S (2002) The Spanish toxic oil syndrome 20 years after its onset a multidisciplinary review of scientific knowledge. Environ Health Perspect, 110 457-464. 

Hard GC (2002) A search for an animal model of the Spanish toxic oil syndrome. Food Chem Toxicol, 40 1551-1567. 

Kammuller ME, Bloksma N, Seinen W (1988) Chemical-induced autoimmune reactions and Spanish toxic oil syndrome focus on hydantoins and related compounds. Clin Toxicol, 26 157-174. 

Kaufman LD, Izquierdo Martinez M, Serrano JM, Gomez-Reino JJ (1995) 12-year followup study of epidemic Spanish toxic oil syndrome. J Rheumatol, 22 282-288. 

The toxic symptoms include headache, weakness, dizziness, ataxia, and cyanosis. Aniline converts Fe + in hemoglobin to Fe +, which impairs the oxygen transport in the blood. Also, it can cause the destruction of red blood cells causing acute or delayed hemolytic anemia. Acute poisoning arises due possibly to methemoglobin formation, which may result in cyanosis. Overexposure may lead to death from respiratory paralysis. Inhalation of 250 ppm aniline in air for 4 hours was lethal to rats. The concentration of aniline in samples of rapeseed food oil that caused Spanish toxic oil syndrome... 

Hill, R. H., Jr., G. D. Todd, E. M. Kilboume, et al. 1987. Gas chromatography/mass spectro-metric determination of aniline in food oils associated with the Spanish toxic oil syndrome. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 39(3) 511-15. 

It transpired that the toxic oil was rapeseed oil that had been adulterated by the addition of 2 per cent of a chemical called aniline, as required by law in Spain for imported rapeseed oil so that it cannot be used for cooking. This oil had been refined and was sold for human consumption, as had been done before without adverse effects. It would appear that a batch of oil may have been refined differently or somehow became contaminated. The toxic oil was found to come from only one source within a particular refinery. The Spanish government agreed to replace the suspect oil with pure olive oil, after which the number of new cases subsided. Collection of contaminated oils known to be associated with the syndrome for analysis was a difficult task due to the government exchange programme. The results showed that the oil associated with the syndrome had a similar composition to rapeseed oil and contained contaminants as a result of the added aniline and the subsequent refining process. 

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