BACKGROUND: The occurrence of occupational illness and injury has been seriously underestimated in Taiwan, which subsequently contributes to difficulties in performing effective control of occupational hazards and implementing intervention programs for protecting workers. METHODS: Based on the successful experience of the nationwide blood lead level surveillance program, the Department of Health, the Executive Yuan, Taiwan, Republic of China, has established a work-related diseases surveillance system. This government-administered system requests practicing physicians to report the suspected cases suffering from six categories of work-related disorders. RESULTS: An occupational illness and injury surveillance program in Taiwan has been in operation since June of 1995. CONCLUSION: Background information of work-related diseases obtained from this surveillance system will be useful for providing better management of available resources for occupational medicine, for preventing hazards, and for enforcing occupational diseases prevention programs. Our experience in establishing this surveillance system will be used in other countries and settings.

Disease Notification↗

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Early development of Yu-Cheng children born seven to twelve years after the Taiwan PCB outbreak.

In Taiwanese children born seven to twelve years after their mothers' or fathers' intoxication of heat-degraded polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (Yu-Cheng mothers or fathers), we measured the development and behavioral problems in 1991-2. The development was assessed with the Chinese Child Developmental Inventory (CCDI), and the behavioral problems with Rutter's Child Behavior Scale A. Children of Yu-Cheng mothers had delayed development on several subscales of CCDI and on the combined general development score. Girls were more affected than boys in their development. Children of Yu-Cheng fathers did not score differently from unexposed controls on this measurement. In Rutter's scale, the scores in Yu-Cheng mothers' children and Yu-Cheng fathers' children were not different from those of their unexposed controls. We conclude that children born seven to twelve years after mothers' exposure to degraded PCBs had delayed development, but they did not show more behavior problems when compared with unexposed controls.

Child Behavior↗

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Cognitive development in Yucheng children.

We have been following up the biological and mental development of children exposed prenatally to polychlorinated biphenyls and their contaminants (Yucheng children). When we started this 12-year follow-up study in August 1985, 118 Yucheng children we assigned a non-exposed child matched by sex, age, locality of residence, mother's age, socio-economic status of the family. This article reports the cognitive aspect of the development of Yucheng children as compared to their matched controls. A consistent tendency which indicates that Yucheng children score lower in each kind of measurement tool at each age level has been observed. This seems to imply that congenitally exposure to PCBs and their contaminants has long-term adverse effects on the cognitive development of human being.

Child, Preschool↗

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Disordered behavior in the early-born Taiwan Yucheng children.

Behavioral problems were evaluated in Taiwanese children who were born between July 1978 and June 1985 to women who had consumed rice oil that was contaminated by heat-degraded polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). One hundred and eighteen such children, referred to as 'the early-born Yucheng children', and matched controls were followed with the Chinese version of Rutter's Child Behavior Scale A annually from 1985 to 1991. At any fixed age, the early-born Yucheng children had mean Rutter behavior scores 1.75 to 2.40 points higher (14-38% worse) than that of their controls. The effects were similar in the health, habit, and behavioral subscores and persistent as the children aged.

Child↗

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The immunologic evaluation of the Yucheng children.

The immunologic effects of in utero exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were evaluated in the Yucheng children in this study. The study subjects consisted of 105 Yucheng children and 101 control children. The Yucheng children were born, between July 1978 and June 1987, to women who had exposed to high dose of PCBs/PCDFs through consumption of contaminated rice bran oil in 1978-1979. These children had been reported to have higher frequencies of bronchitis than their controls in the first six months of life, and higher frequencies of respiratory tract and ear infection in a 6-year follow-up. The low resistance of the Yucheng children to infection suggested that their immune function was suppressed by the PCBs/PCDFs they had exposed to in utero. In the summer and fall of 1995, a thorough physical examination and blood draw were performed on the study children. The Yucheng children were reported by their parents to have higher frequencies of influenza attacks than the control children during the six months prior to the examination. The frequencies of other symptoms were similar between the two groups. The serum levels of various immunoglobulins were similar between the two groups. Fifty-one serum samples, 29 of Yucheng and 22 of control children, were available for cell-mediated immunologic analysis. The percentages of various T cell markers, CD3, CD4, and CD8, and B cell and NK cell markers were not different between the Yucheng and the control children. No dose-response relationship was found between 27 Yucheng children's serum PCB/PCDF levels and any of their immunologic markers. WE concluded that 16 years after the Yucheng incident, Yucheng children exposed to high dose of PCBs/PCDFs in utero did not show, with the serum immunologic marker analyses, suppressed immunity when compared to their controls. To explain the consistent higher frequencies of upper respiratory tract infection in the Yucheng children, immune functional tests such as delayed hypersensitive skin reaction, in vitro lymphocyte proliferation, and antibody synthesis following immunization may be necessary.

Adolescent↗

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Different congeners of PCBs/PCDFs may have contributed to different health outcomes in the Yucheng cohort.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adult↗

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Middle-ear disease in children exposed prenatally to polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated dibenzofurans.

During 1978 and 1979, an episode of poisoning from ingestion of rice oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated dibenzofurans occurred in central Taiwan. We followed-up children who had been born between June 1978 and March 1985, as well as matched unexposed children. The mothers of exposed children had consumed contaminated oils before the children were born. In 1993, otolaryngologists examined the middle ear of each child with a pneumatic otoscope, and they measured the middle-ear pressure by tympanometry with a Rion RS20 impedance audiometer. The exposed children had a significantly higher prevalence of middle-ear diseases than their matched controls. The exposed children who had ear diseases had higher serum levels of 2,3,4,7,8-pentachloro- and 1,2,3,4,7,8-hexachloro-dibenzofurans than the children who did not have similar diseases. Therefore, in this study, children exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated dibenzofurans had a higher incidence of middle-ear diseases than their controls.

Benzofurans↗