Coffee Roasting Chemical and Flu Combo Seriously Damages Lungs

A lung disease similar to one affecting former microwave-popcorn factory workers has been seen among coffee roasters who inhale large concentrations of diacetyl, a natural byproduct of the coffee roasting process.mavo/shutterstoak

Even short-term exposures to a natural byproduct of the coffee roasting process can damage the lungs when paired with a second insult, like the flu, a study with mice shows.

Researchers have known for two decades that chronic exposure to high levels of a flavoring chemical called diacetyl, which is found in many foods and beverages, can cause lung damage

Researchers first linked diacetyl, which gives microwave popcorn its buttery flavor, to flavorings-related lung disease in the early 2000s when a group of former microwave-popcorn factory workers came down with the illness. More recently, a similar lung disease has been seen among coffee roasters who inhale large concentrations of diacetyl, a natural byproduct of the coffee roasting process.

While those workers inhaled high levels of diacetyl over long periods of time, the new study, published in the American Journal of Physiology—Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, set out to test whether low-level, short-term exposures to the same chemical could produce a similar effect.

“We found that a single exposure to diacetyl for short periods of time did not result in much lung damage,” says lead author Matthew D. McGraw, assistant professor of pediatric pulmonology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. “But when mice are exposed to another common environmental exposure, like flu, the double hit can cause airway disease similar to what we see with high-dose, long-term exposures to diacetyl.”

In the study, researchers exposed mice to diacetyl for one hour a day over five consecutive days at levels similar to what coffee roasters encounter at work. They then exposed the mice to influenza A, which typically causes seasonal flu in humans.

Within two weeks of exposure, more than half of the mice that received this one-two hit died, while all of the mice in the control groups (exposed to diacetyl alone, flu alone, or neither) survived. Lungs from mice exposed to the “two-hits” showed significant impairment of lung function and airway repair compared to controls.

Researchers then switched the order of exposure, infecting another group of mice with flu first, allowing them to recover for nine days, then exposing them to diacetyl for five days. Whether the mice were exposed to diacetyl before or after flu, their lungs were unable to fully heal, again suggesting that exposure to both chemical and virus leads to abnormal airway repair.

“Our study shows that common environmental exposures that seem harmless on their own can have very serious impacts on lung function and long-term respiratory health when combined,” McGraw says.

While further research is needed to understand the impacts of low levels of diacetyl on humans, this study could have implications for people who are exposed to diacetyl at work, like coffee roasters. Currently, McGraw’s team is conducting a study in mice to see how long after a flu infection it is safe to be exposed to diacetyl, which could help inform when coffee roasters can safely return to work after having the flu.

In the near future, the team also plans to collaborate with coffee roasters to spread awareness of the risks of diacetyl exposure, assess existing exposure mitigation procedures, and survey workers for lung disease symptoms.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and the University of Rochester supported the work.

This article was originally published by University of Rochester. Republished via Futurity.org under Creative Commons License 4.0.