IS YOUR CUP OF COFFEE DESTROYING YOUR LUNGS?  

What do Kona coffee beans from Hawaii and microwave popcorn have in common?

They may both be classified as food, but it’s strange to compare one of the world’s most revered coffee beans with the late-night snack of those who haven’t been grocery shopping in a few weeks. However, while coffee beans and microwave popcorn don’t often grace the same menu, they do share one dangerous similarity: Both are hazardous to indoor air quality.

Last year, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published research about two alpha-diketones: diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione. These volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are common in butter-flavoring and have led many employees who work in factories manufacturing microwave popcorn to be diagnosed with a form of lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans. Sometimes called “popcorn lung,” this disease results from the body’s airways becoming inflamed and scarred and can cause permanent loss of pulmonary function. The NIOSH’s research cited another source of these VOCs: coffee beans.

In the science blog Coffee Workers at Risk for Lung Disease, the NIOSH explained diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione are both produced naturally when coffee beans are roasted. The NIOSH research identified cases where multiple workers from a single coffee processing facility were diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans. Researchers stated their findings may have been off, as bronchiolitis obliterans is a rare disease, and it is likely other workers have been misdiagnosed with pneumonia, bronchitis, or emphysema.

Even if you do not roast your own coffee beans, the NIOSH warns diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione can also enter the air when roasted coffee beans are ground. This creates major health concerns for individuals who work at roasting factories, employees at coffee shops around the world, and people who grind their own coffee beans each
morning at home.

Americans alone drink 280.5 million cups of coffee every day, but mitigating the risks associated with coffee is possible. Employers in facilities where coffee beans are roasted or ground should look into the possibility of engineering or administrative controls, substitute hazardous materials with safer options, educate their team about the dangers, and provide protective equipment. Your caffeine fix doesn’t have to come at the price of your lungs.