This is sickening.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal has a two part series about how the "popcorn lung" tragedy has hit the state of Wisconsin, "'Killer Butter' Puts Illinois Worker's Life in Precarious State," and "Struggling for air: Flavoring chemical tied to severe lung disease remains unregulated".
The articles tell stories all too familiar to Confined Space readers where we've been writing about popcorn lung for years: how diacetyl, the fake butter flavoring chemical literally destroys the lungs of food workers exposed even for a relatively short time, how despite overwhelming evidence of the chemical's danger, as well as sick and dying workers, OSHA refuses to even contemplate regulatory action, how a group of unions and a group of scientists have petitioned OSHA to issue an emergency standard to protect workers, how the EPA is studying whether or not consumers are exposed (but hasn't released the results), how juries have awarded and companies have settled for more than $100 million in lawsuits filed nationwide by workers injured by diacetyl, and how the FDA considers the deadly substance "safe," based on industry data. Read more by By Jordan
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal has a two part series about how the "popcorn lung" tragedy has hit the state of Wisconsin, "'Killer Butter' Puts Illinois Worker's Life in Precarious State," and "Struggling for air: Flavoring chemical tied to severe lung disease remains unregulated".The articles tell stories all too familiar to Confined Space readers where we've been writing about popcorn lung for years: how diacetyl, the fake butter flavoring chemical literally destroys the lungs of food workers exposed even for a relatively short time, how despite overwhelming evidence of the chemical's danger, as well as sick and dying workers, OSHA refuses to even contemplate regulatory action, how a group of unions and a group of scientists have petitioned OSHA to issue an emergency standard to protect workers, how the EPA is studying whether or not consumers are exposed (but hasn't released the results), how juries have awarded and companies have settled for more than $100 million in lawsuits filed nationwide by workers injured by diacetyl, and how the FDA considers the deadly substance "safe," based on industry data. Read more by By Jordan
