Evaluation of Flavorings-Related Lung Disease Risk at Six Microwave Popcorn Plants

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boylstein, Randy J. ; Fedan, Kathleen B. ; Kanwal, Richard ; Kreiss, Kathleen ; Kullman, Greg J. ; Martin, Stephen B. Jr. ; Piacitelli, Chris A. ; Sahakian, Nancy
• Description:
  After investigating fixed airways obstruction in butter flavoring-exposed workers at a microwave popcorn plant, we sought to further characterize lung disease risk from airborne butter-flavoring chemicals. We analyzed data from medical and environmental surveys at six microwave popcorn plants (including the index plant). Respiratory symptom and airways obstruction prevalences were higher in oil and flavorings mixers with longer work histories and in packaging-area workers near nonisolated tanks of oil and flavorings. Workers were affected at five plants, one with mixing-area exposure to diacetyl (a butter-flavoring chemical with known respiratory toxicity potential) as low as 0.02 ppm. Microwave popcorn workers at many plants are at risk for flavoring-related lung disease. Peak exposures may be hazardous even when ventilation maintains low average exposures. Respiratory protection and engineering controls are necessary to protect workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Engineering Lung Diseases Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety

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• Keywords:
  Airborne-particles Airway-obstruction Engineering-controls Exposure-levels Lung-disease Occupational-diseases Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-protection Respiratory-system-disorders Risk-analysis Risk-factors Worker-health Workers

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• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  149-157
• Volume:
  48
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029615
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2006 Feb; 48(2):149-157
• Contact Point Address:
  Richard Kanwal, MD, MPH, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, Mail Stop H-2800, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 26505
• Email:
  rkanwal@cdc.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Butanedione (CAS RN 431-03-8)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b8306f899c3def2c9aa7a7f97e8ba758e0b8d02e82ea6176c38b4214a36e524dfa2152a0bfb86458975e42a062df927f95f1271e1354d097c3b2df55a88f0892
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/190557/cdc_190557_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 512.10 KB ]