Two people hospitalized at a Taipei County hospital are allegedly showing symptoms of thallium poisoning, medical sources revealed Tuesday.
Thallium is a metallic element that is toxic to humans. Its toxic effects are cumulative. Overexposure to thallium may cause nerve damage, emotional changes, cramps and convulsions and eventually coma and death due to respiratory paralysis.
Huang Jin-chang (黃錦章), a doctor of neurology at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou, said that the patients, a married couple, were suffering nerve damage and hair loss when they were admitted to the hospital.
He said that the patients, who are both in their 40s, told him that they had felt sick for about two months with vomiting, digestion problems, paralysis and hair loss.
According to the doctor's diagnosis, the symptoms show that the patients are probably suffering from thallium poisoning, although he added that his diagnosis still needs to be verified by the health authorities.
If the diagnosis is verified, Huang said, the patients would be the first such cases ever found in Taiwan.
After the reports, police and staff from the Taipei Water Department and the city's Health Department went to the couple's apartment in Neihu Tuesday to conduct an inspection and to take samples to find whether the drinking water is the source of the problem.
Since Taiwan has no fixed standard for the amount of thallium allowed in water, the water department used US standards for their tests. Test results showed that the amount of thallium fell within the safety limits set by the US.
After examining the results, the water department yesterday once again visited the apartment to take samples.
* Huang Jin-chang, a doctor of neurology, believes the couple is suffering from the nation's first case of thallium poisoning.
* Taiwan has no fixed standard for the amount of thallium allowed in water.
* Police are investigating the case to determine whether the suspected poisoning is deliberate.
Police promised to launch an investigation to try to ascertain whether this is a case of deliberate poisoning, but said that since the problems started two months ago, they could not be sure of finding all the relevant evidence.
Police added, however, that a Titanium tea pot, thought to be the most likely source of the poisoning, has been handed over to the Chang Gung hospital for further tests.
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