popcorn lung
Diacetyl inhalation disease
Popcorn lung is the informal name for bronchiolitis obliterans, a serious lung disease that scars and narrows the airways.
The name comes from factory workers who developed the condition after inhaling diacetyl, a butter-flavoring chemical used in microwave popcorn production.
The term resurfaced with concerns about vaping: He worried about popcorn lung after years of e-cigarettes.
- diacetylButtery flavoring compound
- factory workersEmployees in manufacturing facilities
- bronchiolesSmallest respiratory passages
- acetaldehydeSimplest two-carbon aldehyde
- airway obstructionBlocked respiratory passage
chronic cough · breathing problems · corticosteroids · alveoli · vaping · emphysema · oxygen therapy · cilia · e-cigarettes · pneumonia · cystic fibrosis · pleura · trachea · environmental controls · diaphragm · capillaries · immunosuppressants · ventilation systems
- lung diseasespneumonia, pneumoconiosis, bronchitis, silicosis, emphysema
- Bronchiolitisbronchiolitis