EPA Studies Chemicals Emitted From Microwave Popcorn Linked to Lung Disease [POPCORN ALERT]

AP ^ | Mar. 10, 2004

[nuconvert]

EPA Studies Chemicals Emitted From Microwave Popcorn Linked to Lung Disease

Mar 11, 2004

By Connie Farrow/ Associated Press Writer

The Environmental Protection Agency is studying the chemicals released into the air when a bag of microwave popcorn is popped or opened. Exposure to vapors from butter flavoring in microwave popcorn has been linked to a rare lung disease contracted by factory workers in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has said it suspects the chemical diacetyl caused the illnesses.

However, health officials insist people who microwave popcorn and eat it at home are not in danger.

In the first direct study of chemicals contained in one of the nation's most popular snack foods, the EPA's Indoor Environment Management Branch at Research Triangle Park, N.C., is examining the type and amount of chemicals emitted from microwave popcorn bags.

Further research would be needed to determine any health effects of those chemicals and whether consumers are at risk, said Jacky Rosati, an EPA scientist involved in the study.

"Once we know what chemicals are and the amounts, somebody else can look at the health effects," Rosati said Wednesday.

About 50 brands, batches and flavors of microwave popcorn - from super-buttery to sugary sweet "kettle corn" - are being tested, she said.

"Obviously, we are looking at diacetyl because it is a known compound that will come off this popcorn. But we're not looking at that alone," Rosati said.

The EPA study began last fall and is expected to be completed this year. It likely will be submitted for peer review before being made public, Thompson said.

Rosati started the study after hearing a presentation on popcorn workers who became sick at the Gilster-Mary Lee Corp. plant in Jasper, Mo.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has linked diacetyl to the respiratory illnesses found in workers who mix the microwave popcorn flavorings. Investigators believe the chemical becomes hazardous when it is heated and there is repeated exposure to large quantities over a long time.

Thirty former workers at the Jasper plant have suing two butter flavoring manufacturers.

The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association based in Washington, D.C., said the flavor ingredients in microwave popcorn pose no threat to consumers.

The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food additives, also considers butter flavoring to be safe for consumer use.

"I haven't seen anything that would give us any reason to suspect this is something we should make a high priority," said George Pauli, acting director of the FDA's office of food additive safety.

United States consumers bought $1.33 billion worth of microwave popcorn in 2000, said Ann Wilkes, spokeswoman for the Snack Food Association.

[Damocles]

Sell popcorn stocks short...people panic at anything...

[ladtx]

Hope they outlaw the buttery flavoring on microwave popcorn. It's got to be one of the most obnoxious odors going.

[kahoutek]

We're DOOOOOOMED!!!!!!!

(Ya beat me by a minute......)

[fortunecookie]

Amen to that! That smell is heinous, and lingers long after the popcorn has been consumed.

[general_re]

Hope they outlaw the buttery flavoring on microwave popcorn.

Personally, that never bothered me as much as the fecal grease they have on tap at the movie theater - that stuff is truly foul.

[Final Authority]

Now the liberal commie lawyers have some reason to sue the Boy Scouts for, distributing defective products. That will be the next headline.

[sockmonkey]

(cough, cough). Is there a trial lawyer in the house?
I would like to buy a vacation home in San Miguel. er, I mean, I think i'm suffering from microwave myselthelioma.

[nuconvert]

LOL

In a word...SELL

[John W]

Saw this earlier on the wires.Does anyone find the "rare ling disease" named in the article anywhere?

[nuconvert]

No. The writer either couldn't spell it, or forgot what it was called.

[nuconvert]

I made some 2 nights ago.
My house still smells.
New microwave popcorn ban in affect.

[GailA]

another alar scam

[Ancesthntr]

I suggest the EPA jackasses spend more time and money studying the real threat to our society's health: the fetid fumes emanating from the pieholes of bloviating bureaucrats. They need not go very far to collect numerous samples - they only have to start the study within their own ranks. That ought to keep them busy for a few years, years in which the rest of the country can live free and prosper without the unwarranted interference of this bunch of do-gooder blissninnies.

[John W]

From a more detailed story at link below---

The workers in the Missouri lawsuit say they suffered various respiratory illnesses from breathing butter flavor vapors. At least eight have been diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare and incurable lung disease. Several are on waiting lists for lung transplants.


http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Science+&+Medicine/481A61AFE387429586256E4F002876E2?OpenDocument&Headline=EPA+studies+microwave+popcorn+chemicals

[fortunecookie]

It lingers and travels about the house like that malevolent smell in Seinfeld's car.

I don't make it too often anymore. Now I make it the old-fashioned way, on the stovetop with a little oil.

The wierd part is when you try to heat up something the next day, all you get is the acrid, greasy popcorn smell. And I always clean off the inside surfaces of the microwave right after it cools from making the popcorn, and once is not usually enough. Ick. (And when the 'aroma' gets in your hair... )

[nuconvert]

Thanks a lot for the link and info.

Wasn't familiar with bronchiolitis obliterans, so I went to my Merck (which is 20 yrs old). Wasn't in there.
Have to check internet later.

[nuconvert]

Lol.
You mean it's an "entity"?

[fortunecookie]

Ping!

[Core_Conservative]

on the stove-top with a little oil

We used to have a special pot to make popcorn in when I was growing up. Then I left home and no pot. I love the smell of Microwave popcorn - especially the extra butter. I have found another pot to make popcorn in - and it does a great job - it's called a wok. Got one of those hand hammered woks with a cover - works great. (Can even add the butter in at the same time)