Demand OSHA Protect Coffee Roasters from Deadly Lung Disease!
- by: Susan V
- recipient: OSHA
A new Center for Disease Control study found an alarming number of workers in a Texas coffee roasting facility with severe lung disease. So why isn't OSHA protecting these workers?
According to Quartz' report on the new study, 11 of 69 workers examined were found to have bronchiolitis obliterans, a normally rare disease that was also diagnosed in 5 former workers in the same facility. The disease is also known as "popcorn lung," because one chemical suspected of causing it, diacetyl, has a buttery taste and has been used to artificially flavor popcorn. Both diacetyl and 2,3-pentaneione are released in high concentrations when coffee is ground.
Investigating this issue for Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel, Raquel Rutledge reported last February that "its been known for years that diacetyl destroys lungs." Nevertheless, so far “the U.S. Occupational Health & Safety Administration, or OSHA, has failed to issue regulations specifying what a safe level of exposure might be."
Last September, says Quartz, the CDC issued a warning advising workers to "be on alert for respiratory problems." But issuing an alert is hardly providing workers the protections they need. Instead OSHA should be following National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommendations to provide workers some real protections.
Sign this petition to demand that OSHA protect coffee workers from exposures that cause lung disease.
We, the undersigned, say there is no excuse for OSHA to continue to drag its feet on providing protection to coffee workers.
This lung disease should be a rare occurrence, but the evidence shows that among those working with coffee and certain flavored foods it isn’t. It’s deadly, irreversible and is affecting far too many workers to be a coincidence.
Rutledge’s investigation reveals that in 2006 “ public health officials from 42 institutions, including Harvard, Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, signed a letter urging the U.S. Department of Labor to adopt a standard limiting workplace exposure to diacetyl. An occupational epidemic was on the horizon, they feared.“
“Three years earlier ......in 2003, NIOSH had advised 4,000 plants nationwide to limit workers' exposure to flavorings such as diacetyl.“
However, Rutledge adds, NIOSH “does research on occupational safety issues,” but it has no authority to regulate.
Nevertheless, NIOSH has made recommendation that should reduce the risk of coffee workers developing bronchiolitis obliterans. Suggestions include “Medical surveillance, respirators, local exhaust at work stations, enclosing some of the processes and improving ventilation” and air testing.
The very least OSHA should do is adopt these precautionary measures to help cut down on risks of developing serious lung disease. We insist OSHA stop stalling on protecting coffee workers from diacetyl and 2,3-pentaneione exposures.
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