If you cannot find anything that addresses your concerns, please contact us to see how we can help.
All NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation reports and other NIOSH publications are available at no cost.
You can either download a copy of the publication from the website or contact us for a copy.
For HHE reports, please send an email to HHERequestHelp@cdc.gov.
Information about all other NIOSH publications is available at https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/pubs/.
We carefully review our reports prior to publication, but we do make errors from time to time.
We regret any typographical or other minor errors that you might find. If you find a substantive factual or data-related error, let us know.
Please send an email to HHERequestHelp@cdc.gov with the report number (ex. HHE 2013-0500-7500),
the authors' names, the error you are reporting, and the page number of the error. We will look into your comments,
fix confirmed errors, and repost the report. Thank you for your interest in the HHE Program.
HHE Search Results
32 HHE reports were found based on your search terms. Reports are listed in order of year published with the most recently published reports listed first.
Year Published and Title
(2001) Technical assistance to Missouri Department of Health, interim report. (Click to open report) Nine former workers from a microwave popcorn packaging plant were reported to have a severe lung disease, bronchiolitis obliterans, but no recognized causes of this rare condition were evident in the plant. At the request of the Missouri Department of Health, staff of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health have investigated exposures and health outcomes at the company. Industrial hygiene assessments divided the plant into four work areas based on anticipated exposure levels ... (Click to show more)Nine former workers from a microwave popcorn packaging plant were reported to have a severe lung disease, bronchiolitis obliterans, but no recognized causes of this rare condition were evident in the plant. At the request of the Missouri Department of Health, staff of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health have investigated exposures and health outcomes at the company. Industrial hygiene assessments divided the plant into four work areas based on anticipated exposure levels to dust and volatile organic chemicals from artificial butter flavorings. Respirable dust concentrations from salt dumping operations were about 10-fold higher in the area in which flavorings were mixed compared to the office and outdoor work areas. Diacetyl, the predominant ketone in the plant, was present in concentrations 17 times higher in the mixing area compared to the microwave packaging area, 100 times higher compared to the warehouse and polyethylene packaging area, and 1000 times higher compared to the office and outdoor areas. In late October 2000, 117 current workers (87%) participated in health questionnaire interviews, spirometry, diffusing capacity, and chest x-rays. Plant employees had 2.6 times the rates of chronic cough and shortness of breath compared to national data, adjusted for smoking and age group; younger employees who had never smoked had rates about five times higher than expected from national rates. Overall, plant employees had 3.3 times the rate of obstructive spirometry abnornalities compared to national adjusted rates; never smokers had 10.8 times the national expected rate. Worker reports of physician-diagnosed asthma and chronic bronchitis were about twice as frequent as expected from national data, with a 3.3-fold excess of chronic bronchitis in never smokers. Microwave popcorn production workers had statistically higher rates of regular trouble with breathing and unusual fatigue, compared with workers in two lower exposure groups. Strong exposure-response relationships existed between quartile of estimated cumulative exposures to diacetyl and respirable dust and frequency and degree of airway obstruction. The survey findings are best explained by work-related bronchiolitis obliterans in relation to exposures arising in the mixing room but widely disseminated through other areas of the plant We recommend extensive primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention efforts for all current and former workers.
(Click to show less) (Click to open report)
(1986) International Bakers Services, Inc., South Bend, Indiana. (Click to open report) In response to a request from International Bakers Services, Inc. (SIC-2099), South Bend, Indiana, a health hazard evaluation was conducted in the mixing room. At this location in the factory, three employees are charged with weighing and loading a large variety of fragrances, flavorings, starch, and 50 to 100 pound bags of flour into one of three mixers. Considerable dust is generated during the loading and mixing tasks. At times, this dust level has been measured at 20 milligrams per cubic met... (Click to show more)In response to a request from International Bakers Services, Inc. (SIC-2099), South Bend, Indiana, a health hazard evaluation was conducted in the mixing room. At this location in the factory, three employees are charged with weighing and loading a large variety of fragrances, flavorings, starch, and 50 to 100 pound bags of flour into one of three mixers. Considerable dust is generated during the loading and mixing tasks. At times, this dust level has been measured at 20 milligrams per cubic meter. When material was added to the mixers, employees wore a supplied air respirator. Workers did not always use the respirator during clean up operations. Catastrophic fixed airway disease developed in two workers who had no known personal risk factors prior to employment at the factory. The disease is suggestive of bronchiolitis obliterans or emphysema. The workers demonstrated symptoms of the disease within 5 to 6 months of beginning employment. Two other workers in the mixing room were not affected. No specific etiology of the illnesses was identified. The authors conclude that a short term exposure to a specific mix may have triggered the reaction and initiated the disease in these individuals. They recommend that when a specific etiology for a disease cannot be found, all airborne dust exposures should be controlled in the mixing room. In cases where engineering or ventilation changes alone may not be sufficient, protective equipment in the form of a respirator should be worn. This report also contains the walk through survey report made at the facility to study control technology employed in the manual transfer of chemical powders.
(Click to show less) (Click to open report)
