Rong Yuan: Poisoned With Cadmium – Judge Expunges Colleague's Conviction

Rong Yuan, a chemical engineer from Berkeley, California, has released hidden camera footage showing her colleague David Xu at her water bottle in 2019. According to broadcaster ABC7, it is the first time she has spoken publicly since a judge expunged Xu's poisoning conviction despite the prosecution's objection.

As the San Francisco Standard and the New York Post report, prosecutors accuse Xu of repeatedly mixing the toxic heavy metal cadmium into his colleague's food and drinking water between 2017 and 2019. Xu reportedly worked as a metallurgist at the firm Berkeley Engineering and Research (BEAR). According to CBS News, the poisoning went on for almost 18 months.

What does Rong Yuan's video show?

According to the San Francisco Standard, Yuan had been suffering from severe symptoms since 2017, including vomiting, gagging and hair loss, and sought medical help several times. The now 50-year-old reportedly visited emergency rooms and specialists and was also treated in China; an endoscopy came back clear.

When she informed her colleagues by email on November 27, 2018, that she had been signed off sick, Xu reportedly replied that she should work from home and not rush back to the office. According to the reports, he wrote: "I think there is mold in the office."

In early 2019, Yuan installed a hidden camera at her desk, which she had bought on Amazon, according to CBS News. The footage shows Xu approaching her workstation and putting a substance into her water bottle. According to the reports, laboratory tests found a cadmium level 3.5 million times above the permissible limit for drinking water.

Yuan described her reaction to the footage to the San Francisco Standard: "I went ice cold. I almost died; I have been close to death many times. I couldn't let him get away with it."

How was David Xu convicted?

David Xu was arrested in March 2019 and charged with attempted murder and two counts of poisoning. According to the San Francisco Standard, he faced up to life in prison.

After a years-long legal battle, the prosecution and the defense reached a plea agreement in 2023. According to CBS News, Xu pleaded no contest to one count of poisoning; the attempted murder charge and a second poisoning charge were dropped. In March 2024, he received two years of probation, with credit for one day served.

After his probation ended in March of this year, Xu petitioned the court in Alameda County to expunge his felony conviction. According to ABC7, a judge granted the petition even though the prosecution had objected.

How has the poisoning affected Rong Yuan?

Yuan says she still suffers from health problems to this day and is only able to work part-time. Her parents were also affected, she says, after they accidentally drank contaminated water.

According to the reports, she had sought almost $500,000 in damages for her family; however, the court ordered Xu to pay $7,058. Yuan later published a scientific paper on the health consequences for her family and dedicated it to her father, who had died of heart failure.

How has Rong Yuan reacted to the conviction being expunged?

Speaking to ABC7, Yuan said she was "shocked" by the decision. According to the reports, she asks how Xu can be given a second chance while she continues to live with the consequences of the poisoning.