Seldom is the OSHA rulemaking process of interest to the mainstream media. Not so with the latest chemical scare: "Popcorn maker's lung" and a ketone called diacetyl.

Diacetyl occurs naturally in butter and is a natural by-product of the malolactic fermentation process in beer and wine. In concentrated form, it is what gives microwave popcorn a butter flavor. At elevated levels it imparts a "buttery" taste to Chardonnays. But the suspicion now is that it can be too much of a good thing.

In 1999 diacetyl was suspected when eight popcorn workers in Missouri came down with a disease called "bronchiolitis obliterans". The condition is as nasty as it sounds: It literally obliterates the tiny tubes which feed oxygen from the lungs to the blood. There is no known cure.

According to reports in the Sacramento Bee and Cox News Service, literally dozens of former instant popcorn workers have been disabled by the disease nationwide. Three people have died and more are awaiting double lung transplants, according to NIOSH. The Missouri workers were found to have 3.3 times the national rate of pulmonary disease for American smokers and 10.8 times the rate for non-smokers.

The EPA conducted studies on diacetyl in 2003 but their findings are not yet ready for publication. The FDA has declined to get involved, as their jurisdiction is over ingested, not inhaled, substances.

In the interim, faced with two sick employees and over 25 flavoring companies operating in California, Cal/OSHA acting Chief Len Welsh wants to take action by proposing a regulation.

What that regulation will say or do is unknown, even apparently to Mr. Welsh. He and Fed/OSHA are under pressure from the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, the Teamsters and a group of public health experts to take action now and let the science catch up later. Mr. Welsh was quoted as saying "It's certainly a discussion that needs to happen." And that's how regulations are born.