The Pump Handle
A water cooler for the public health crowd
Profile
Liz Borkowski is a Research Associate at the George Washington University School of Public Health's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. She lives in Washington, DC and loves public transportation and pumpkin empanadas.
Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH is a Professorial Lecturer at the George Washington University School of Public Health's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. She also spent a decade working for the US Department of Labor, and has served on the teams investigating the 2006 Sago mine disaster and 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster for the state of West Virginia.
Search
Recent Posts
- Beryllium manufacturer and union draft worker safety regulation, ask OSHA to move on it
- The significance of 2/13
- Awful House transportation bill forgets that transit benefits drivers, too
- Day-to-day Labor: The Hazards of Low-wage Temping in America
- Remembering Stephen M. Levin, MD, a clinician, scientist, advocate
- Unpaid OSHA penalties in fatality case involving Walmart's construction contractor
- Nine chronic diseases and their varied impacts
- OSHA proposes $21,500 penalty to firm where two 17 year olds lost legs
- Worth Reading: Alcohol in homeless shelters, fossil-fuel subsidies, and "suicide mosquitoes"
- Public health topics shine as finalists for investigative reporting prize
Recent Comments
- D. C. Sessions on Beryllium manufacturer and union draft worker safety regulation, ask OSHA to move on it
- Celeste Monforton on The significance of 2/13
- plutosdad on Awful House transportation bill forgets that transit benefits drivers, too
- MRW on The significance of 2/13
- MRW on The significance of 2/13
- idlemind on Awful House transportation bill forgets that transit benefits drivers, too
- Mike Licht on Awful House transportation bill forgets that transit benefits drivers, too
- Liz on Awful House transportation bill forgets that transit benefits drivers, too
- Mike Licht on Awful House transportation bill forgets that transit benefits drivers, too
- John Newquist on Day-to-day Labor: The Hazards of Low-wage Temping in America
Archives
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
Blogroll
- Aetiology
- Alison Bass
- Body Horrors
- Coal Tattoo
- Cold Truth
- Confined Space
- CPRBlog
- Effect Measure
- End the Neglect
- Enviroblog
- FairWarning
- Global Health Ideas
- Global Health Policy
- Gooznews on Health
- Green Jobs, Safe Jobs
- Grist
- Health Beat
- Health Care Renewal
- NIOSH Science Blog
- On Social Marketing and Social Change
- OSHA Aboveground
- RH Reality Check
- Science Progress Blog
- Stayin' Alive
- Superbug
- Switchboard
- Target Population
- Terra Sigillata
- The Fine Print
- The User's Guide to the Health Reform Galaxy
- Tony Mazzocchi Center Blog
- TortsProf Blog
- Weekly Toll
- Workers' Comp Insider
Other Information
Diacetyl
Diacetyl is a butter-flavoring chemical used in manufacturing many food items, including microwave popcorn. After several microwave-popcorn workers were diagnosed with the severe lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans, researchers traced the problem to airborne diacetyl. Health advocates have been urging the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to regulate diacetyl in order to protect food and flavoring workers, and several companies have removed diacetyl from their products or are in the process of doing so. There has been little research into the effects of diacetyl inhalation on consumers.
In September 2007, The Pump Handle was the first to publicize the report of a case of bronchiolitis obliterans in a microwave-popcorn consumer in the post "Popcorn Lung Coming to Your Kitchen? The FDA Doesn't Want to Know" by David Michaels. (Dr. Michaels headed the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy, or SKAPP, which has been active on the diacetyl issue for years; he is currently head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.)
Here are some of The Pump Handle's most-visited posts on diacetyl; visit the Flavoring Workers' Lung category archive for more.
2/12/10: Faces of diacetyl danger
1/5/10: Perils of butter flavorings, diacetyl substitutes
12/11/09: Diacetyl saga continues, still dangerous, substitutes may be too
7/17/09: OSHA, SBREFA and diacetyl
4/7/09: Popcorn Lung Becomes Butterscotch Lung
3/17/09: OSHA's New Direction on Diacetyl
12/16/08: OSHA Sends Diacetyl Document to OMB
9/10/08: Popcorn Lawsuits and a Weak Regulatory System
3/20/08: Diacetyl in Kitchens: Investigations Underway
2/27/08: Diacetyl Still Around, Still a Problem
1/15/08: Diacetyl in Kitchens: Unions and Lawmakers Push for Action
11/8/07: EPA Microwave Popcorn Emissions Study Finally Published
9/28/07: If Obliterated Lungs are Not a Grave Danger, What Is?
9/26/07: Bipartisan House Passes Popcorn Workers Lung Legislation
9/25/07: Is OSHA Trying to Snooker Congress?
9/12/07: Popcorn Lung Media Roundup
9/7/07: Unions and Industry Agree: Time for an OSHA Diacetyl Standard
9/4/07: Popcorn Lung Coming to Your Kitchen? The FDA Doesn't Want to Know
6/13/07: Congress May Force OSHA to Do Its Job (on Diacetyl at least)
5/29/07: Does Orville Redenbacher Know if Popping Popcorn at Home is Dangerous?
5/8/07: Eight Months Later, Will FDA Finally Consider Diacetyl's Safety?
5/7/07: Preventing Flavor Workers' Lung Disease: A Tale of Two Regulatory Systems
4/30/07: Flavor Workers' Lung Disease: What Do We Know and What Should Be Done?
4/25/07: New York Times Covers OSHA Inaction on Diacetyl and Other Hazards
4/24/07: OSHA Tries to Look Busy
4/10/07: Public Health Hardball: More Lessons From California
1/15/07: Artificial Butter Flavor Lung Disease – More Cases Reported
