US EPA

2195636 

Book/Book Chapter 

The Yu-cheng rice oil poisoning incident 

Hsu, CC; Yu, MLM; Chen YCJ; Guo YLL; Rogan, WJ 

1994 

Springer 

New York, NY 

Dioxins and health 

661-684 

English 

10.1007/978-1-4899-1462-0_20 

BCI:BCI199598434947 

has other version or edition 199155 The Yucheng rice oil poisoning incident
is a chapter of 2206103 Dioxins and health

As human beings, we hope to learn from past experiences and not repeat our mistakes. Unfortunately, 11 years after the Japanese Yusho incident (see Chapter 19), a similar tragedy happened in Taiwan in 1979. A Japanese-produced PCB mixture (Kanechlor 400, 500) was used as the heat-transfer medium in the process of deodorization and decolorization of rice oil by a rice oil company in central Taiwan. PCBs and their heat-degraded by-products, polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), ter- and quaterphenyls (PCTs and PCQs), leaked into the rice oil and intoxicated 2000 people who had consumed the oil. The initial clinical symptoms consisted of acne, pigmentation of the nails and skin, and hypersecretion of the meibomian glands. Because the disease was caused by ingestion of rice oil, the syndrome was referred to as Yu-cheng (pronounced Yo-Jun), which translates to oil disease, and the exposed subjects were referred to as the Yu-cheng cohort. 

Schecter, A 

9781489914644; 9781489914620