Kim Gale  |  September 21, 2019

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Popcorn Lung Overview

Popcorn lung is the nickname for bronchitis obliterans, a lung disease caused by the inhalation of a chemical flavoring called diacetyl.

Diacetyl was used in the manufacturing of microwave popcorn to help provide the butter flavoring preferred by many customers. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, microwave popcorn factory employees began developing popcorn lung, which the American Lung Association said was irreversible and linked to several deaths. Linked to the inhalation of diacetyl, popcorn lung prompted most microwave popcorn manufacturers to abandon the flavoring.

Today, diacetyl is used to flavor a variety of vaping products, which means an entirely new generation of unsuspecting young people is vulnerable to popcorn lung.

Vaping is the use of e-cigarettes and other devices, along with cartridges of liquid. The liquid is superheated to turn it into a vapor that the user inhales. A popular brand of e-cigarette is JUUL. JUUL pods include numerous flavorings that experts say make them popular among teens today.

The Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center indicates symptoms of popcorn lung can include shortness of breath, a dry cough, fatigue, and wheezing that is not attributed to asthma or other already diagnosed illness, such as a cold. These symptoms may begin two weeks after – or up to eight weeks after – exposure to diacetyl.

Permanent Damage May Necessitate Lung Transplant

Patients diagnosed with popcorn lung may see some improvement by taking antibiotics, cough suppressants, supplemental oxygen or immunosuppressive drugs such as steroids, but there’s no cure for the disease. In the worst cases, a lung transplant may be needed.

Popcorn lung is dangerous is because it causes permanent damage to the smallest parts of the lung.

When breathing, air flows into our lungs through our windpipe, also known as the trachea. From there, the windpipe divides into two tubes called bronchi, which deliver air to the right lung and to the left lung. The tubes split many times over inside the lungs, where the smallest tubes are known as the bronchioles. Each bronchiole contains air sacs called alveoli, which is where our blood picks up oxygen.

Diacetyl irritates and inflames the alveoli, which become scarred and narrowed. When the alveoli are smaller, breathing is severely hampered.

Vaping and Popcorn Lung

The Environmental Health Perspectives published a report in 2016 that found diacetyl in 39 out of 51 vaping liquids.

Vaping flavors that use diacetyl include:

  • Dairy flavorings, such as butter, cheese, cheesecake, ice cream
  • Brown flavorings, such as butterscotch, caramel, chocolate, maple, peanut butter, marshmallow
  • Fruit flavorings, such as strawberry, raspberry, grape, pear, apple
  • Alcohol flavorings, such as brandy, rum, whiskey, tequila, pina colada
  • Miscellaneous flavorings, including nutmeg, honey, graham cracker

 

The Environmental Health Perspectives report said, “The heating, vaporization, and subsequent inhalation of these flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes makes an exposure pathway for these flavorings that has significant similarities to those of the workers at the microwave popcorn facilities.”

While most of the attention has been focused on the addictive qualities of nicotine contained in vaping products, chemicals such as diacetyl have been largely ignored by the media.

Young adults who became addicted to vaping as teens and the parents of currently vaping teens may be eligible to participate in a class action lawsuit aimed at holding the manufacturers responsible for the addiction and the development of ill effects of vaping, including popcorn lung.

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