Labor Issues

Over the past several years, hundreds of workers in popcorn and food flavoring factories have become ill and several have died from a serious, irreversible lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans – also known as “popcorn lung.” Many of these affected workers are so sick that they need lung transplants.

Over the past seven years, dozens of studies have linked the artificial butter flavoring chemical diacetyl to the deadly lung disease. Diacetyl is used in microwave popcorn and many other foods.

In August 2006, Democrats asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue an emergency standard to protect workers’ health by limiting their exposure to diacetyl. OSHA refused.

Because OSHA has failed to take urgent action to prevent workers from dying from a lung disease that the agency has known about for years, the House approved the Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act (H.R. 2693) on September 26.  The bill forces OSHA to issue regulations to protect workers from exposure to the chemical while on the job.