Yes we are. We are also replanting at double that rate in most cases. Even in the Amazon. If you have ever seen an aerial picture of clear cutting in the Amazonian jungle you notice it looks like a giant tree with cuts going out like branches on a tree. This is to limit water run off to help in the regrowth of the forest where the cutting was done. They wont show you the same patch 5 years later.
That is what I suspect. I have read study after study by the government pertaining to the breakouts of popcorn lung in
the late 1990's thru the early 2000's. Some reports indicated diacetyl in three forms were used. liquid,paste and,powdered form.
No where do they indicate what form was used,when it was used nor how much was used compared to other forms. In tests
simulating mixing conditions they checked all three types by putting them in test tubes that were quickly heated to 50C (122F)
and checked for diacetyl in ppm in the air in the tubes. The results showed higher amount of diacetyl in the liquid followed by
the paste with the powdered form being the lowest. They then mentioned in powdered form mixing with the powdered form
would create a secondary risk from the dust. The dust part rang my bell. Having worked as a mixer for premixed cieling and wall textures and paint I am very familiar with the hazards associated with fine dry particulate matter (dust).
Still that wasn't enough to convince me until I stumbled upon this.
"In the 1990’s, factory workers in a microwave popcorn plant contracted bronchiolitis, also known as ‘popcorn lung’. It was generally believed that this was the result of inhaling a powdered form of diacetyl, in very high concentrations, which is used in the butter flavoring for the popcorn."
The Truth About Diacetyl
Followed by these.
"The disease appears in different forms, depending on the type of dust you inhale. One of the most common forms is black lung disease, also known as miner's lung. It’s caused by breathing in coal dust. Another is brown lung, which comes from working around dust from cotton or other fibers. Other types of dusts that can cause pneumoconiosis include silica and asbestos. Diacetyl, the compound used to give movie popcorn its buttery flavor, also can lead to the disease. This is known as popcorn lung. "
From these two sources.
Pneumoconiosis | Johns Hopkins Medicine Health Library
and
Pneumoconiosis - Online Medical Encyclopedia - University of Rochester Medical Center
If these two distinguished institutions believe it's a dust related issue so do I until proved wrong.
Regards
Mike
