Labor groups urging the Cal/OSH Standards Board to enact an emergency regulation to prevent worker exposures to the so-called "popcorn lung" disease were disappointed that the board declined to take that step at its Jan. 18 meeting in Costa Mesa.

But they'll get the chance to make their case again in early February when an advisory committee authorized by the board meets to consider the best way to control this emerging worker-health threat.

The California Labor Federation and United Food and Commercial Workers' had petitioned the board to issue an emergency temporary standard on exposure to diacetyl, the flavorings chemical identified as a prime culprit in a spate of serious lung illnesses among workers in California's flavorings industry. So far, eight workers have been diagnosed with or are suspected of contracting Bronchiolitis obliterans, a disease that appears to take a swift and debilitating toll on healthy lungs. The labor groups also want a permanent standard adopted, including a permissible exposure limit, and workers and employers to be warned about the dangers of diacetyl exposure.

Cal/OSHA's Special Emphasis Program with the 30 or so flavoring manufacturers here is not stopping the disease, said a labor safety and health official and a lawyer representing stricken employees.

While lauding Cal/OSHA's groundbreaking work on diacetyl, Jackie Nowell, health and safety director for United Food and Commercial Workers union, said the problem warrants emergency action. "If this doesn't rise to the need for an emergency standard, I don't know what does," she told the board.

Attorney Raphael Metzger said one of his clients lost 75 percent of his lung capacity within six months, even after the Division of Occupational Safety and Health started working with the employer. "This is happening today, and it's not just something in history," Metzger said. He suggested diacetyl is a health threat on the order of beryllium. If the only action the Standards Board takes is authorizing an advisory committee, he added, "I'm going to have a lot more clients."

But board occupational health representative Jonathan Frisch, Ph.D, said "doing the speedy thing isn't necessarily the right thing." He and the other board members backed the decision to send the petition to advisory committee, which DOSH Acting Chief Len Welsh said would meet the first or second week of February. Frisch commented that it takes courage to "step back, even when people are hurt," if it's the right thing to do. "Let's take a hard look at the exposures that are going on."

Board Chair John MacLeod agreed. "We're in a groundbreaking situation," and it's important to develop good information, he said.

UFCW's Nowell compared Cal/OSHA's efforts favorably to those of Fed-OSHA, which she asserted is doing "nothing" on the enforcement side to protect workers from diacetyl exposure. "That's shocking to us," Nowell commented.