Becareful with microwave popcorn

My husbands cousin who is 24 went in for a TB test 2 months ago and the results came back strange. The doctor did some blood work and x rays. The x rays showed these stange white shadows in her lungs. They did many more test and not finding an answer, they ended up taking her in and they took a piece from each of her lungs. They finally found out yesterday that she has that lung problem caused by microwave popcorn. We are waiting to hear if this will be lifethreating.
We are sending my husband and daughter in to be tested. They used to eat alot of microwave popcorn.

PLEASE THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU EAT IT.


Five years ago the New England Journal of Medicine published a study linking a popcorn chemical (diacetyl) to a serious lung condition in 8 popcorn factory workers. The lung condition, also known as bronchiolitis obliterans, is an inflammatory reaction to diacetyl that can reduce lung capacity by as much as 80%. Certain people who inhale too much of the chemical form scar tissue as a reaction, making the lungs stiff and causing cough and shortness of breath.

In this week's case, the astute pulmonologist examining the popcorn addict remembered the 2002 NEJM article, and thought to ask him about popcorn exposure as part of her work up for his breathing complaints. As it turns out, his exposure to popcorn chemicals is the likely cause of his lung damage. Sadly, though, once the scarring occurs there is no way to return the lungs to their original state of heath. The only known treatment for popcorn lung is a lung transplant.

There has been incredible interest in this story because microwave popcorn is a part of most of our lives. The United States is the single largest consumer of popcorn worldwide, and we purchase over 1 billion pounds of unpopped corn per year. We naturally wonder: could this happen to me? Am I (or my kids) at risk?

First of all, I think that diacetyl should be avoided by all consumers of popcorn. ConAgra, the parent company for Orville Redenbacher and Act II, has agreed to immediately remove this chemical from its artificial butter flavored popcorn. Nonetheless, we should scrutinize the labels of any popcorn that we intend to purchase to make sure that it doesn't contain diacetyl.

Second, the good news is that not everyone's body forms scar tissue in reaction to this chemical. In the same way that we're not all allergic to the same environmental agents, our bodies are not all going to respond to diacetyl by developing lung scarring. That said, why tempt fate by inhaling fumes that have harmed a small number of people?

Third, it does seem that it requires prolonged and high exposure to diacetyl to be at risk for popcorn lung. So if you're not a buttered popcorn maniac (consuming several bags per day for years on end) your risk is extremely small, even if in the past you've eaten the occasional microwave popcorn containing the chemical.