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Microwave Popcorn: No Consumer Risk Known
March 12, 2004 -- Three U.S. agencies say there's no evidence that microwave popcorn poses any risk to consumers.
What's raising concern is a Missouri court case over injuries to workers in a microwave popcorn factory. From 2000 to 2002, eight of workers came down with a rare but deadly lung disease. Dozens of other workers developed less serious lung symptoms. A CDC investigation fingered exposure to vapors from butter flavoring -- a chemical called diacetyl -- as the likely culprit.
But the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration say there's no reason for consumers to worry.
"We don't see any evidence for consumer risk," NIOSH spokesman Fred Blosser tells WebMD.
Home vs. Factory
Blosser says there's a big difference between popping a bag of popcorn in your kitchen microwave and manufacturing huge quantities of the popular treat.
"What we've looked at in the workplace is workers exposed to huge quantities of the flavorings day in and day out, working around huge vats of these flavorings heated in oil and released into the air," he says. "The difference between these exposures and what people would have in the home -- well, we don't see a risk. There is no information we are aware of that there have been any similar cases in consumers."
The EPA issued a similar statement.
"Health hazard evaluations suggest that adverse effects in the factory workers resulted from inhaling very high concentrations of some chemicals used in flavorings in the form of vapors, dusts, or sprays," the EPS says. "The average consumer would not be exposed to these concentrations."
As part of a program to evaluate indoor air pollution, the EPA is studying microwave popcorn to see what -- if any -- chemicals are released during normal cooking. The program is also evaluating possible pollution from paints and stains, copiers, carpets, scented candles, dry cleaning, kerosene heaters, hard surface cleaners, adhesives, moth crystals, pressed wood products, incense, and other common household items.
Those studies, led by Jacky Rosati, PhD, at the EPA's Indoor Environmental Management Branch in Research Triangle Park, N.C., should be completed later this year.
Who Should Worry
NIOSH is, however, worried about workers who might be exposed to flavorings as part of their jobs. The agency has issued an alert warning workers with possible exposures to seek medical help. It lists six clusters of workers who have come down with life-threatening lung diseases. Four of these clusters were workers in microwave popcorn plants. The other two were in flavoring manufacturing plants.
The alert also lays out guidelines for plant safety and proper protective measures. It's available on the CDC web site.
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SOURCES: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Desk Statement: EPA Microwave Popcorn Exposure Study." NIOSH Alert: "Preventing Lung Disease in Workers Who Use or Make Flavorings," December 2003, CDC web site. Fred Blosser, public affairs officer, NIOSH. Schachter, E.N. The New England Journal of Medicine, Aug. 1, 2002; vol 347: pp 360-361. Kreiss, K. The New England Journal of Medicine, Aug. 1, 2002; vol 347: pp 330-338. CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, April 26, 2002; vol 51: pp 345-347.
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