Flavorings are substances that alter or enhance the taste of food. Workers in the food-manufacturing industry, where flavorings are added to many products, may be exposed to any number of flavoring compounds. Although thousands of flavoring substances are in use, little is known about most of these in terms of worker health effects, and few have occupational exposure guidelines. Exposure assessment surveys were conducted at nine food production facilities and one flavor manufacturer where a total of 105 area and 74 personal samples were collected for 13 flavoring compounds including five ketones, five aldehydes, and three acids. The majority of the samples were below the limit of detection (LOD) for most compounds. Diacetyl had eight area and four personal samples above the LOD, whereas 2,3-pentanedione had three area samples above the LOD. The detectable values ranged from 25-3124 ppb and 15-172 ppb for diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione respectively. These values exceed the proposed National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit for these compounds. The aldehydes had the most detectable samples, with each of them having 450% of the samples above the LOD. Acetaldehyde had all but two samples above the LOD, however, these samples were below the OSHA PEL. It appears that in the food-manufacturing facilities surveyed here, exposure to the ketones occurs infrequently, however levels above the proposed NIOSH REL were found. Conversely, aldehyde exposure appears to be ubiquitous. <a href="http://www.nature.com/uidfinder/10.1038/jes.2014.80"target="_blank">There is a Corrigendum (17 December 2014) associated with this article.</a>
Dr. Brian D. Curwin, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Mailstop R-14, Cincinnati, OH, 45226
CODEN
JEAEE9
CAS No.
431-03-8; 600-14-6; 75-07-0
Publication Date
20150501
Document Type
Journal Article
Email Address
bcurwin@cdc.gov
Fiscal Year
2015
Identifying No.
M082014
Issue of Publication
3
ISSN
1559-0631
NIOSH Division
DSHEFS; EID
Priority Area
Manufacturing
Source Name
Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology
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