Occupational exposures in the food production industry have been associated with respiratory disease, including bronchiolitis obliterans (BO), an uncommon lung disease characterized by fixed airways obstruction. A review of common ingredients listed diacetyl among other flavorings and recent attention currently has been focused on diacetyl as the potential cause. Diacetyl is a component of natural butter, albeit a very small proportion. It is used to impart a butter flavor to food items, but is also used to create a number of other flavors including but not limited to strawberry, caramel, hazelnut and butterscotch. In 2007, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union nominated diacetyl for long-term inhalation testing by the NTP because of potential worker exposure via inhaltion. In addition to assessing the inhalation hazard from diacetyl, there is a need to characterize industry-wide worker exposures. NIOSH has identified critical research needs for workers exposed to diacetyl, including the measurement of workplace inhalation to diacetyl in food production industries. Respiratory issues have been anecdotally reported for cheese production (Wisconsin), yogurt (Ohio), and potato chip manufacturing. However, the potential for both exposure and disease in the flavored food production industry still remains largely unstudied. This project will fill an important gap in the understanding and quantification of exposures downstream from the flavoring manufacturer. In FY2009 recruiting began and to date seven companies from various food production industries have expressed interest in the study. A walkthrough has been conducted at four of the companies, and two exposure assessment surveys have been completed, with two more scheduled prior to the end of FY2009. In FY2010, recruitment will continue with the goal of identifying 4 to 6 more companies interested in the study. Six more walkthroughs and subsequent exposure assessment surveys are planned for the next fiscal year for a total of 10 sites participating in the exposure assessment surveys.
