Toxic oil syndrome

Toxic oil syndrome or simply toxic syndrome (Spanish: síndrome del aceite tóxico or síndrome tóxico) is a musculoskeletal disease most famous for a 1981 outbreak in Spain which killed over 600 people and is thought to have been caused by contaminated colza oil. Its first appearance was as a lung disease, with unusual features; though the symptoms initially resembled a lung infection, antibiotics were ineffective. 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. Toxic oil syndrome or simply toxic syndrome (Spanish: síndrome del aceite tóxico or síndrome tóxico) is a musculoskeletal disease most famous for a 1981 outbreak in Spain which killed over 600 people and is thought to have been caused by contaminated colza oil. Its first appearance was as a lung disease, with unusual features; though the symptoms initially resembled a lung infection, antibiotics were ineffective. 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. The cause was traced to the consumption of colza oil that had been intended for industrial rather than food use. To discourage human consumption, the oil was denatured by the addition of aniline to make it smell and taste bad. It was then imported as cheap industrial oil by the company RAPSA at San Sebastián, handled by RAELCA, and illegally refined by ITH in Seville to remove the aniline, resulting in a palatable product that could then be illegally sold. It was sold as 'olive oil' by street vendors at weekly street markets, and was used on salads and for cooking. The commonly accepted hypothesis states that toxic compounds derived during the refinement process were responsible.