Respiratory disease among flavoring-exposed workers in food and flavoring manufacture

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kreiss, Kathleen
• Description:
  Fixed airways obstruction was found in workers producing microwave popcorn in relation to inhaling synthetic butter flavoring volatiles in 2000. Since then, an industry-wide hazard of clinical bronchiolitis obliterans was found in other microwave-popcorn plants, in flavoring manufacture, and in diacetyl (2,3-butanedione) manufacture. Recently, workers in 1 food production and 1 flavoring manufacturing facility have had excesses of spirometric restrictive abnormalities. Evidence of flavoring-related excessive declines in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) suggests that restriction in the latter flavoring plant is work-related. However, the pathologic and physiological correlates of restriction in flavoring-exposed workers remain uninvestigated. Diacetyl vapor causes respiratory epithelial necrosis in rodents, compatible with the pathologic mechanism for constrictive bronchiolitis, but exposures in flavoring manufacturing are more diverse than diacetyl. The diacetyl substitute, 2,3-pentanedione, has comparable toxicity to diacetyl, and other members of the [alpha]-diketone family have not been evaluated for respiratory toxicity. With the increasing spectrum of flavoring-related lung diseases and chemical exposures, pulmonologists caring for flavoring-exposed workers have novel challenges. These include examining excessive FEV1 declines in serial spirometry and improving surveillance spirometry quality so that excessive declines can be detected at an earlier stage. The best means of preventing permanent impairment from irreversible occupational lung disease is to intervene for workers with excessive FEV1 decline within the normal range and before diagnostic criteria for occupational lung disease can be met. Regulation of diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione, which does not yet exist, may not prevent all occupational lung disease in flavoring-exposed workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Food-Processing Industry Food Additives Food Handling Food Industry Hazardous Substances Inhalation Exposure Irritants Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Solvents

  More +
• Keywords:
  2,3-butanedione Airway-obstruction Author Keywords: Flavorings Bronchiolitis Obliterans Exposure-levels Food-additives Food-processing Food-processing-industry Food-processing-workers Hazards Inhalants Lung-disease Lung-disorders Lung-function Lung-irritants Pulmonary-disorders Pulmonary-function Pulmonary-system Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-system-disorders Spirometry Spirometry Surveillance Toxic-effects Toxic-vapors Vapors Workers

  More +
• ISSN:
  1068-0640
• 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:
  165-173
• Volume:
  19
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041210
• Citation:
  Clin Pulm Med 2012 Jul; 19(4):165-173
• Contact Point Address:
  Kathleen Kreiss, MD, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control, Mail Stop H-2800. NIOSH, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 26505
• Email:
  KKreiss@cdc.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  2,3-Pentanedione (CAS RN 600-14-6) ; Butanedione (CAS RN 431-03-8)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Clinical Pulmonary Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5ab3430c96e99256e57ac6f0521aafad1222e73c4f7db63249475e0593d5b4b3f76813af36e6677fff2e6f714bf5ef34531eb431304f10f5190a5d5c16634276
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193820/cdc_193820_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.45 MB ]