The examination of fats and fatty acids for toxic substances

The chick edema disease factor was found to be present in a number of distillates and residues that were obtained during the production of commercial fatty acids. The raw materials from which the toxic samples were produced included inedible animal tallows, acidulated vegetable oil foots, and oils recovered from tin plate manufacture. The chick edema factor was found to be present in several oleic acids and in a triolein. Twenty stearic acid samples which were examined were nontoxic. The nonurea adduct‐forming fatty acids that were isolated from commercial oleic acids and various distillates and residues from the manufacture of commercial fatty acids were found to be toxic to weanling rats even after hydrogenation. Analysis of the nonurea‐adducting monomers that were isolated from a fatty acid by‐product distillate indicated the presence of cyclic structures.