Struggling for air - Flavoring chemical tied to severe lung disease remains unre

[Guest guest]

There is more information on the website on the right hand

side; for example a chart called " How Diacetyl Affects Lungs " which can be

enlarged and is very clear. This is evidently not a new problem.

blessings

Shan

 

Struggling for air

Flavoring chemical tied to severe lung disease remains unregulated

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=521615

By RAQUEL RUTLEDGE

rrutledge

 

A lean and fit 35-year-old Milwaukee man had been working at a local

flavoring plant for just six months when he collapsed while playing basketball

with

his buddies.

 

He felt like he was hyperventilating. He couldn't figure it out. He always

played basketball.

 

Then he noticed his sweat: It was bright orange.

 

Around the same time in 2004, he began to cough and wheeze and noticed a

regular shortness of breath.

 

When he told his employer that he thought his symptoms might be linked to his

12-hour days bagging the powders that make some cheeses orange and give

popcorn and other foods their butter flavor, his boss told him that there wasn't

anything he could do about it.

 

Today - 2 1/2 years later - the man, who didn't want his name or his

company's name published for fear he would be fired, has grocery bags full of

prescription medications and a garbage bag packed with documents detailing his

many

doctor visits and dealings with his employer.

 

" I would give back every dime I ever made . . . to get my lungs back, " he

said.

 

Doctors and scientists say the suspected culprit is a flavoring chemical

called diacetyl, which is found naturally in low concentrations in many foods

such

as butter, but is artificially produced in plants across the country. Cheese

factories, bakeries and candy and snack makers often use it, as well as many

of the nation's food manufacturing giants.

 

In 2001, diacetyl was linked to a severe lung disease called bronchiolitis

obliterans in workers at a microwave popcorn plant in Missouri. It has been tied

to three deaths and serious illness in at least 200 people.

 

The Food and Drug Administration began a study this fall on whether it poses

a danger to consumers.

 

Yet diacetyl remains unregulated by the government and under the radar of

doctors.

 

In Wisconsin, which ranks among the nation's top food manufacturing states

with more than 60,000 food-processing workers, the state doesn't track illnesses

caused by diacetyl. Doctors overlook them, diagnosing them as asthma and

other conditions. And workers - mostly non-unionized - are largely uninformed of

the chemical's dangers.

 

Diacetyl attacks, inflames and virtually obliterates the bronchioles, the

lung's tiniest airways. As the body tries to heal, scar tissue builds up and

restricts the airways. The damage is irreversible, though it sometimes can be

moderately controlled with medications. Rats exposed to diacetyl at levels

similar

to those in factories suffered major lung injuries, according to 2001 reports

by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Half died

within six hours.

 

At least eight workers who have worked with diacetyl are now on the waiting

list for lung transplants. Three - ages 30, 53 and 57 - have died.

 

Diacetyl also assaults the eyes, causing burning, swelling, irritation and

pain. Calvin Harper worked with diacetyl at the Chr. Hansen Inc. flavoring

plants in West Allis and New Berlin for 17 years. A few months ago, a doctor

told

him that he would go blind if he continued in his job.

 

" I said, 'Enough is enough,' and I got out of it, " said Harper, 43, of

Milwaukee. " I told them I'm not losing my eyesight for nobody. It's not worth

it. "

 

The company transferred Harper to another position.

 

'We're very concerned'

 

Scientists and public health experts say an occupational epidemic in the

food-processing industry could be on the horizon.

 

" We're very concerned that the cases that we know about are just the tip of

the iceberg, " said David Weissman, director of respiratory disease studies with

the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a scientific and

research arm within the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

In a July letter to the U.S. Department of Labor, 42 public health experts

from schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard

University and Yale University urged the Bush administration to issue an

emergency

temporary standard that would limit workplace exposure to diacetyl.

 

" There is compelling epidemiologic and toxicological evidence linking

exposure to diacetyl to severe respiratory impairment and disease, " the letter

states. " It is now time for OSHA to use the scientific evidence to protect

American

workers from debilitating lung disease. "

 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which regulates and

enforces workplace safety, does not regulate exposure to diacetyl. Despite the

letter and an alert by NIOSH in December 2003 warning employers at nearly 4,000

plants nationwide, including 280 in Wisconsin, to minimize occupational

exposures

to flavorings and flavoring ingredients, OSHA officials say they still are

" evaluating specific workplace protections for exposure to diacetyl " and are

considering the petition to issue an emergency temporary standard. They declined

to comment further.

 

" This is just an example of the regulatory system falling on its face, " said

David Michaels, professor of environmental and occupational health at George

Washington University and director of the Project on Scientific Knowledge and

Public Policy.

 

Flavoring industry workers in some other states, including California, have a

state agency overseeing workplace safety and unions that advocate for them.

In Wisconsin, the workers rely solely on OSHA and are not unionized.

 

Consumer safety under review

 

In September, the FDA opened a probe into diacetyl's safety for consumers of

microwave popcorn, pastries and other processed foods containing the fake

butter flavor.

 

Michaels, of George Washington University, petitioned the FDA last month to

withdraw diacetyl from its " generally recognized as safe " list, citing evidence

that there is no known safe level of exposure. He criticized the FDA approval

process, saying it jeopardizes public health.

 

Diacetyl has been " generally recognized as safe " since the 1960s. The

designation allows certain food additives to bypass the FDA's pre-market

approval

process.

 

" Whether food additives, pesticides or industrial chemicals, the public's

health and safety should not rely solely on industry affirmations, " Michaels

said.

 

Flavoring agents enter the food supply when manufacturers provide historical

and safety data that must be supported by qualified scientists, said Mitchell

Cheeseman, the FDA's associate director of food additive safety. Cheeseman

said diacetyl was reviewed for safety again in the early 1980s. He defended the

FDA's approval process of food additives and called it adequate.

 

" The data we look at is often industry-developed, " he said. " That doesn't

mean it's not subjected to rigorous review. "

 

The FDA expects to respond to Michaels' petition within 90 to 180 days,

Cheeseman said.

 

The American Public Health Association is drafting a resolution for its

November meeting in support of withdrawing diacetyl from the food supply.

 

The Environmental Protection Agency also is studying the vapors released when

consumers open a bag of microwave popcorn. The agency's report is to be

published later this fall or early next year.

 

Surveillance is lacking

 

Meanwhile, flavoring-related bronchiolitis obliterans continues to escape

notice in Wisconsin, where top health officials say doctors aren't up to speed

on

the disease.

 

" Wisconsin simply does not have a robust occupational disease surveillance

system in place, " said Henry Anderson, the state's chief medical officer for

environmental and occupational health.

 

" Most physicians don't take a good occupational history. . . . They don't

want to get involved in workers' comp. The next thing they know, someone is

challenging their expertise. "

 

Terry Graves, an allergist with the Milwaukee Allergy and Asthma Centers,

said he questioned the Milwaukee man who collapsed on the basketball court

extensively about his work in the plant.

 

Graves diagnosed him with occupational-related asthma and suggested that he

stay away from work for roughly two months. Graves continued to see him roughly

every two to four months and noticed that the man was getting progressively

worse. His lung capacity declined from 84% to 68% in just one year.

 

But a possible link with bronchiolitis obliterans didn't arise. According to

Graves' files, the man talked about another chemical and didn't mention

diacetyl until February 2006, nearly a year after his first visit with Graves.

 

" I'm aware of bronchiolitis obliterans. . . . I hadn't really been

entertaining that, " Graves said. " Sounds like I should do some more looking. "

 

Few doctors in the country have made that diagnosis for patients who work in

the flavor industry, said Robert Harrison, president of the Council of State

and Territorial Epidemiologists. The disease is often overlooked, he said.

 

" Many of the bronchiolitis obliterans cases were initially diagnosed as

chronic bronchitis . . . and asthma, " he said. " It takes an alert doctor. "

 

Sluggish federal requirements do nothing to spark interest in the disease, he

said. It is not among the diseases the CDC requires states to track. There is

no " case definition " to assure uniformity of disease recognition, and

hospital discharge data and death certificates don't identify it.

 

" We've got to get the word out, " Harrison said.

 

Attention in the courtroom

 

Juries have awarded and companies have settled for more than $100 million in

lawsuits filed nationwide by workers injured by diacetyl. More than 100 cases

are pending, said the attorney handling most of the cases, Kenneth McClain,

who is based in Independence, Mo.

 

At least two Wisconsin companies - Sensient Technologies, with headquarters

in Milwaukee and a plant in Juneau, and Aldrich Chemical Co., with a plant on

Milwaukee's northwest side - have been named as defendants in diacetyl-related

lawsuits. Both declined to comment on the pending litigation.

 

Industry documents dating to 1985 outline the dangers of diacetyl. The

ingredient data sheet states that inhalation is " harmful " and that it can cause

" sore throat, coughing. . . . High concentrations may cause irritation of

respiratory tract; capable of producing systemic toxicity. "

 

John Hallagan, an attorney for the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers

Association, said it wasn't until much later - around 2001 - that the effects of

working with diacetyl became apparent.

 

" I think it's fair to say that no one really understood the potential of

diacetyl until NIOSH completed its work in the first microwave popcorn plant, "

Hallagan said.

 

Despite OSHA's lack of regulation, Hallagan said, the industry responded

swiftly with workshops and other respiratory health guidance for companies once

the dangers became apparent.

 

" We have not waited for regulatory action. We've gone ahead and provided

assistance to the companies, " he said.

 

Hallagan said most flavor companies today have respiratory health plans in

place that take into account proper engineering and ventilation of the workspace

and include annual medical exams for workers, information and training

sessions for workers, and personal protective equipment.

 

Rick Tourtillott, safety and environmental manager for Chr. Hansen, said that

the company provides pulmonary function tests to workers and that employees

are educated on the hazards of the chemicals.

 

But Harper, the Chr. Hansen employee, said he was never warned that the

butter flavor might blind him.

 

" They said that it would dissolve in your body, that it wasn't harmful, " he

said.

 

Continuing his work

 

As much as he hates to do it, the man who collapsed while playing basketball

will report to work until he can figure out another way to support himself and

his three children, he said.

 

He will continue pouring, mixing and bagging flavors that, when ventilated

through a fan in the roof, turn the snow outside the plant yellow and orange in

the winter, he said.

 

With no bachelor's degree and little professional experience, he fears he

won't be able to match the roughly $18 an hour he earns at the flavor plant.

Plus, he said he needs the medical benefits now more than ever.

 

" There are a lot of reasons I can't just walk away from this job, " he said.

 

Related

 

Gerardo Solis, 41, gets winded when climbing the stairs at his home in South

Elgin, Ill., and his 3-year-old daughter doesnt understand why he cant play

chase with her. Solis was diagnosed in July with bronchiolitis obliterans, a

severe lung disease that his doctors say he developed from working with

diacetyl,

a chemical used in butter flavoring. With his lung capacity at only 24%, a

bad cold or any minor respiratory infection could kill him.

Photo/Jack Orton

 

Calvin Harper, 43, of Milwaukee was told by his doctor that he would go blind

if he didnt stop working with diacetyl. Harper has worked for 17 years at the

West Allis and New Berlin plants of Chr. Hansen, a flavoring company.