Diacetyl and other flavorings in Food Production Industries

食品生产行业的职业暴露与呼吸道疾病有关，包括闭塞性细支气管炎(BO)，这是一种罕见的肺部疾病，其特征是固定的呼吸道阻塞。回顾了常见的成分，列出了双乙酰和其他调味品，最近的关注集中在双乙酰作为潜在的原因。双乙酰是天然黄油的一种成分，尽管比例很小。它被用来给食物赋予黄油味道，但也被用来创造许多其他口味，包括但不限于草莓、焦糖、榛子和奶油糖果。2007年，美国食品和商业工人工会提名双乙酰进行NTP的长期吸入测试，因为双乙酰可能通过吸入接触到工人。除了评估双乙酰的吸入危害外，还需要确定全行业工人暴露的特征。NIOSH已经确定了暴露于双乙酰的工人的关键研究需求，包括在食品生产行业测量工作场所吸入双乙酰的情况。据传闻，奶酪生产(威斯康星州)、酸奶(俄亥俄州)和薯片制造都出现了呼吸问题。然而，调味食品生产行业暴露和患病的可能性在很大程度上仍未得到研究。该项目将填补在理解和量化调味品制造商下游的暴露方面的一个重要空白。2009财年开始招聘，迄今已有7家来自不同食品生产行业的公司表示对这项研究感兴趣。对其中四家公司进行了走访，完成了两项暴露评估调查，并计划在2009财年结束前再进行两项调查。在2010财年，招聘将继续进行，目标是确定另外4到6家对这项研究感兴趣的公司。计划在下一财政年度为总共10个参加暴露评估调查的地点再进行6次演练和随后的暴露评估调查。

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.