03.17.09
The notice that will be published today withdraws a last-minute Bush action that would have significantly slowed the implementation of rules limiting workers’ exposure to diacetyl, a chemical used in artificial food flavoring for microwave popcorn and other foods. Scientists have linked diacetyl exposure to bronchiolitis obliterans, a severe lung disease often known as “popcorn lung.”
“This is good news for the thousands of workers who handle this dangerous food flavoring, all of whom have up until now done so at the risk of their own health. The unfortunate reality is that because of the Bush Administration’s foot dragging on this issue, this disease has already sickened and killed a number of workers nationwide. That’s why today’s decision is so important. It sends a strong message that under the Obama administration, protecting the millions of workers in our country will once again be an urgent priority. I look forward to working with the administration and my colleagues to make sure that diacetyl receives the attention that it deserves.”
The House of Representatives approved legislation in 2007 to force the Bush administration to issue protections for workers who handle diacetyl. For more information on the legislation and a hearing held by the subcommittee, click here.
Woolsey Statement on Overturning Last-Minute Bush Delays on Protecting Workers from Severe Lung Disease
WASHINGTON, D.C – U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement on the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s announcement that they will withdraw a Bush era procedural roadblock to that slowed protections for workers who handle the dangerous food flavoring diacetyl.The notice that will be published today withdraws a last-minute Bush action that would have significantly slowed the implementation of rules limiting workers’ exposure to diacetyl, a chemical used in artificial food flavoring for microwave popcorn and other foods. Scientists have linked diacetyl exposure to bronchiolitis obliterans, a severe lung disease often known as “popcorn lung.”
“This is good news for the thousands of workers who handle this dangerous food flavoring, all of whom have up until now done so at the risk of their own health. The unfortunate reality is that because of the Bush Administration’s foot dragging on this issue, this disease has already sickened and killed a number of workers nationwide. That’s why today’s decision is so important. It sends a strong message that under the Obama administration, protecting the millions of workers in our country will once again be an urgent priority. I look forward to working with the administration and my colleagues to make sure that diacetyl receives the attention that it deserves.”
The House of Representatives approved legislation in 2007 to force the Bush administration to issue protections for workers who handle diacetyl. For more information on the legislation and a hearing held by the subcommittee, click here.
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