Bronchiolitis obliterans is a medical term relating to a life threatening form of lung disease where the small airways are compressed by scar tissue. It has many causes including inhaling a chemical called Diacetyl, used in artificial butter flavoring for popcorn. Damage to the lungs from this chemical has come to be known as popcorn lung. Most cases of popcorn lung that have been filed throughout the United States have been brought by individuals who worked in factories where microwave popcorn is produced or in factories where chemicals are made to produce the artificial butter flavoring.
Workers at factories throughout the United States may have been exposed to this severe and potentially life-threatening lung disease as a result of manufacturers’ failure to adequately test the chemicals, warn about the potential risk of exposure or take steps to ensure that workers are protected.
Bronchiolitis obliterans among popcorn workers could present as:
- Shortness of breath
- Dry Cough
- Wheezing
- Asthma
- Bronchitis
- Emphysema
- Pheumonis
In 2012 a jury in U.S. District Court in Denver awarded $2.3 million in actual damages and $5 million in punitive damages to Wayne Watson of Centennial, Colorado who habitually consumed microwave popcorn for a decade.
Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers.
