Pop goes the diacetyl And you thought the smell of burnt popcorn lingering all day long in the office was bad. But that offensive (and persistent) odor is nothing compared to what those fumes could be doing to your lungs. It's not just burnt popcorn you have to watch out for, either: Even on the seemingly rare occasions when it comes out "just right" that bag of microwave popcorn is omitting a chemical called diacetyl, which is one of the ingredients in the butter flavoring many brands are laced with. This chemical actually made headlines a few years ago when several cases of respiratory problems, since dubbed "popcorn lung," were reported among workers at a plant manufacturing microwave popcorn. But at that time researches only looked at diacetyl appearances in the blood as an indicator that a person had been exposed to the disease. Now, though, results of a new study done in the Netherlands implicate diacetyl as the probable culprit behind popcorn lung. The researchers recruited 175 volunteers who had worked at a diacetyl production plant between 1960 and 2003. The subjects filled out questionnaires regarding their exposure and respiratory health then underwent lung function tests and clinical evaluations. Of the 175 subjects included in the study, the researchers found 104 to be at high risk for popcorn lung, and four more people were actually diagnosed with the disease. While the research team said that exposure to other chemicals can't be ruled out as a possible contributing factor, they believe that their results show a stronger link between diacetyl and the disease. And a few days after the results of this study were released, another case of popcorn lung made national news, and this one hit much closer to home for most Americans: Rather than occurring in a factory worker exposed to extreme levels diacetyl all day long, this case occurred in a consumer. An everyday joe like you an me whose only mistake appears to be an insatiable appetite for microwave popcorn. According to the man's doctor, he ate several bags of butter-flavored popcorn each day for several years. While that in itself certainly wouldn't make him anyone's health role model, we've all been conditioned (by the media, the food industry, and probably our own wishful thinking) to consider popcorn a healthy alternative to other snacks like chips and candy. And if you're a big snacker, it's not hard to imagine resorting to a couple of bags a day to satiate those cravings with what you thought was the lesser of evils. Turns out that "lesser of evils" was all it took for this man to develop a cough and shortness of breath that got progressively worse. When he went to his doctor, they discovered that his ability to exhale was also deteriorating. Apparently, the man had no other risk factors for lung disease, which is when his doctor made the connection between his condition and the popcorn he'd been consuming. And, sure enough, when he kicked the habit his condition stabilized. So far, this is the only case of popcorn lung to appear in someone who hadn't been exposed to diacetyl on the job. Granted, it did involve more microwave popcorn than most of us probably eat on a daily (or monthly) basis. But this case, combined with Dr. Wright's recent Nutrition & Healing articles (see the August and October issues) on the potential hazards of microwave cooking in general, does serve as a good reminder to stick with Nature, even when it comes to snacks. The good news? Hot air works just as well as the microwave when it comes to making popcorn. And if you need some sort of topping, a light drizzle of olive oil and it tastes a whole lot better than "butter flavor" -- and it won't put your lungs at risk. Sources:
"Scientists ID likely culprit in 'popcorn lung,'" HealthDay News (www.healthday.com), 9/1/07
"Doctor warns consumers of popcorn fumes," The Associated Press, 9/5/07 | 
