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 heads the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy, or SKAPP, which has been active on the diacetyl issue for years.)
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
The Pump Handle 
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March 7, 2010 at 3:04 am
Chris Jones
I am based in the UK and I have copied below an excerpt from a report by the Health & Safety Executive dated 2008. As you will see, there seems to be absolutely no data on how widespread the use of diacetyl within food manufacturing in the UK. I could not find any follow up reports since 2008, so one has to assume we are no further forward……
Occupational exposure to airborne diacetyl, a food flavouring agent in popcorn, linked to severe lung disease in the USA, was raised as a potential new and emerging issue by a WATCH member in March 2004. In following up this concern HSE confirmed in June 2004 that there was, “no evidence of diacetyl being used the manufacture of popcorn in the UK”. However, as further information became available, the Chairman reported to members in May 2005 that, “while there is still no evidence that diacetyl is used in the UK specifically in the manufacture of popcorn, it is now clear that diacetyl is commonly used in food manufacture more generally. HSE is now considering what is the appropriate course of action in seeking to establish the prevailing situation in the UK and its appropriateness”.
HSE continued, with some difficulty, to secure evidence of the use of diacetyl in the food industry. Recently, a case of bronchiolitis obliterans has been reported in an employee mixing flavourings in the UK. Also, some publications suggest that lung obstruction has
been detected in employees in USA exposed to airborne diacetyl at concentrations lower than those considered to be the cause of the severe lung disease originally reported in USE employees. This has led HSE’s food manufacturing and catering sector, supported by occupational hygiene expertise and HSL, to look in more detail at the risk posed by diacetyl in the food industry.
The questions being considering at present are:
1. How widely is diacetyl used?
2. What are the likely exposures of employees?
3. Are there substances other than diacetyl in food flavourings that might have a similar toxicity?
4. Are employee exposures likely to be injurious to health?
HSE’s initial activities are:
1. Sending letters to food flavouring suppliers asking if they supply diacetyl.
2. Checking the literature for relevant toxicity and exposure information.
HSE hopes to provide a further update to the WATCH Autumn meeting.
February 17, 2012 at 7:20 am
Nemaslug
Because there is no established permissible exposure limit (PEL), Recommended Exposure Limit (REL), or other recommended exposure limit for diacetyl or FFCD, determining appropriate respiratory protection will depend on the specific conditions under which these chemicals are used. Employers must consider the operations, environmental conditions, and other factors when selecting appropriate respirators.
When an employer has completed a hazard evaluation and has determined that respiratory protection is required, a suitable respirator must be selected. Based on the NIOSH investigations of microwave popcorn plants, a NIOSH-certified air-purifying respirator equipped with organic vapor cartridges in combination with particulate filters would provide the minimum level of protection.
September 20, 2012 at 6:31 pm
Robert Van
I just finished reading a news article that said diacetyl was also recently linked to Alzheimer’s.
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