RAPID HPLC SCREENING METHOD FOR CONTAMINANTS FOUND IN IMPLICATED L-TRYPTOPHAN ASSOCIATED WITH EOSINOPHILIA-MYALGIA-SYNDROME AND ADULTERATEDRAPESEED OIL ASSOCIATED WITH TOXIC OIL SYNDROME

In 1981 a massive food-borne epidemic, termed the toxic oil syndrome ( TOS), occurred in Spain. Eight years later a closely related disease, the eosinophilia myalgia syndrome (EMS), was reported in the USA with many additional cases being reported worldwide. Although EMS was linke d to the ingestion of contaminated L-tryptophan and TOS to aniline den atured rapeseed oil, the etiological agent(s) responsible for both dis eases remains unknown. However, contaminants in both the oh and the di etary supplement are believed to have triggered these diseases, and th ere has been much speculation that a common contaminant may have cause d both epidemics. In this report, methods for the facile preparation a nd HPLC analysis of EMS-implicated L-tryptophan and adulterated rapese ed oil samples associated with TOS are described which allow a direct comparison between the contaminants of both foodstuffs. A combination of solvent and solid phase extraction methods are demonstrated along w ith the application of C-18 reversed-phase highperformance liquid chro matography (RP-HPLC) coupled with on-line UV and MS detection. These m ethods have allowed us to determine for the first time, based upon thi s work, that there are no detectable common contaminants that posses a UV response, between EMS implicated L-tryptophan and TOS implicated r apeseed oil samples. (C) 1998 John Whey & Sons, Ltd.