Industrial Hygiene
Article Review
ARTICLE REVIEW
Identification of the Primary Issue
The article is based upon the incident which took place on May 2000, in a popcorn manufacturing facility. The workers of the facility displayed respiratory issues and treatment showed development of bronchitis obliterans. The local health department set up an investigating because bronchitis obliterans is an uncommon respiratory problem and needed serious supervision. The case went into the hands of OSHA, they proved the disease to be a result of occupational exposure to Diacetyl. The cases interested many lawsuits after which several workers and law agents followed the safety precautions regarding this disease (Schroth, 2012).
After a decade, the problem is still unsolved because Diacetyl because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2011 verifies it to be generally recognized as safe (GRAS). The product is considered safe to consume in several food products, but recently it is known that its exposure is not for health. The reasons behind its existence lie with the concept that, in 2000 it was verified to be a source of air contamination, OSHA launched the control program to reduce and eliminate the problem but did not ban its use completely. Further, no exposure limits are set up by lawmakers and agencies. There are several control and precautionary measures; no alternative has been verified till now (Schroth, 2012).
Progress with Establishing Exposure Limits
The agencies of OSHA, NIOSH and American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists have recently expedited the research work related to this problem. They have discovered its health effects upon contact with eye, nose, throat, and skin irritations; similar such side effects defecting the lungs are also under study. Few threshold limits are recommended for the use of Diacetyl and presented a Recommended Exposure Limit (REL) draft to protect workers. A continuous research study is going on, which has proposed several steps to completely eliminate this problem (Schroth, 2012).
Steps by the Food Industry Necessary to Limit Employee Exposure
In 2007, NIOSH recommended control upon several exposure hazards. Lori Schroth (2012) and a journal “Occupational Hazards” (n.d.) compiled and presented few of those steps:
Substitution:
A substitute to Dicetyl is an effective way to eliminate the problem completely. Several compounds have been tested, but none has been checked to such an extent that it may replace dicetyl. The employer has to be careful while evaluating any substitute. Health controls such as staying clean, washing hands before eating or smoking, avoid personal clothing to avoid dermal exposures and take regular baths.
Engineering Control:
There are few engineering safety measures which can slow down its effect. Using closed system lowers concentrations, proper local exhaust ventilation is a must, areas with high concentrated dicetyl should be kept isolated and properly sealed in order to lower the chances of its leakage.
Administrative Controls:
Proper controls and healthy work ethics can reduce dicetyl exposure. Those controls include the use of airtight containers, good house-keeping procedures and limited employee access to concentrate dicetyl places.
Education:
Awareness programs regarding product details, side-effects of exposure and safety measures, warnings and symptoms should be explained to each employee.
Personal Protective Equipment:
PPE can provide products like chemical resistant gloves, aprons, Teflon and such products in order to keep themselves safe according to the awareness its side effects.
Exposure Monitoring:
Respiratory Protection:
When different techniques mentioned above do not work, then workers can use respirators in order to protect themselves from Respiratory hazards while working with engineering controls , maintenance procedures and work practices.
Role of Industrial Hygienist in Controlling Exposure
The Industrial Hygienist plans according to the set of situational priorities to monitor dicetyl under the supervision of qualified individuals. A proper survey comprising personal and area samples are collected; sampling for dicetyl or any flavoring chemical. They undergo exposure monitoring in risk oriented areas in order to adjust required controls. An industrial hygienist basic task is to conduct and supervise surveys after which analytical methodologies are applied to evaluate dicetyl exposure (Schroth, 2012).
Implementation Plan:
In some cases, Hygienist conduct manual monitoring process themselves too, by collecting sample, connecting the sorbet tube with sample pump which is then sealed and monitored in labs. Results are compared with REL measures (Schroth, 2012).
Worker Health Monitoring:
Hygienists conduct monitoring programs in order to check dicetyl exposure under the medical surveillance program. The program checks pre-job and conduct spirometry tests in order to verify the workers’ ability to occupational exposure to perform different work tasks. The Spirometry test is necessary if the worker shows signs of respiratory illness related to diacetyl exposure. The test result will then assess the precautionary areas (Schroth, 2012).
The number of typical quantitative risk assessment applications is linked with dicetyl exposure based upon further numerous uncertainties. There are many worker and employer preventive measures which can provide maximum safety. The complete elimination process to the side effect of dicetyl is still under process (Schroth, 2012).
References
Schroth, L. (2012, June). Dicetyl Exposures and Control. Retrieved March 11, 2016, from https://ext.sharepoint.ctc.com/ctcComContent/StageMedia/General News/CTC_062012_gn.pdf
Occupational Exposure to Diacetyl and 2,3-Pentanedione. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2016, from http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docket/archive/pdfs/NIOSH-245/0245-081211 draftdocument.pdf
