Committee on Education and Labor : U.S. House of Representatives

Press Releases

House Labor Committee Passes Legislation to Protect Food Flavoring Workers from Severe Lung Disease

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

 

WASHINGTON, DC -- The House Education and Labor Committee approved legislation today in a bipartisan voice vote to force the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to act to protect workers at food processing plants from exposure to diacetyl, a chemical used in artificial food flavoring linked to a severe, irreversible lung disease that has sickened and killed a number of workers nationwide.

“Seven years after the first cases of popcorn lung were identified, it is stunning that OSHA has failed to issue a standard protecting American workers from exposure to diacetyl,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the committee.  “The cost of the Bush administration’s failure to act can be measured in the number of workers who have avoidably grown ill or died. It’s time to stop the delays in protecting workers from this serious workplace hazard.”

“What’s troubling is that if OSHA had taken action in a timely manner, we would not need to pass a bill to require OSHA to do something that it should have done a long time ago,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections and chief sponsor of the legislation.  “While OSHA has ignored the warnings of NIOSH and others concerning this devastating disease, workers have become sick and disabled, and several have died, all in an astonishingly short period of time.  That’s why this legislation is so important - it will save lives.  I am thankful that the committee has chosen to pass my legislation and I look forward to bringing it to the floor.”

Diacetyl is commonly used in the artificial flavoring in microwave popcorn, and has been linked to bronchiolitis obliterans, also known as “popcorn lung.”  Popcorn lung is a debilitating disease that has led to dozens of workers falling sick and several deaths nationwide.  Despite the known risks, thousands of workers are still being exposed to the harmful chemical at factories that make or use these flavorings.

The legislation would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue a standard within 90 days to minimize workers’ exposure to diacetyl in popcorn and flavorings manufacturing plants. Employers would be required to develop a written exposure control plan that would use engineering controls and respirators to protect workers, and to conduct medical monitoring to determine whether workers’ health continued to be harmed. The bill would require OSHA to issue a more comprehensive standard within two years, covering all workplaces where workers are exposed to diacetyl.

Even with scientific evidence mounting over the past five years of the deadly properties of diacetyl, OSHA refused to begin work on a standard to regulate workers’ exposure to the chemical. The agency has failed to issue an informational bulletin that alerts workers to the potential hazards.

House Democrats urged the Labor Department to address this serious health hazard in August 2006. For more information and for a copy of the August 2006 letter from House Democrats to the Department of Labor, click here.

The Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on popcorn lung in April 2007. For more information, click here.

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