Coffee firm protects workers
HVAC system, carbon monoxide detectors installed after tests showed dangerous levels of chemicals
Eric Resch, like many other coffee roasters at the time, didn’t think his workers were in danger.
A few years ago, when he read a Mildid waukee Journal Sentinel investigation detailing how five employees at a coffee processing plant in Texas had suffered major lung damage, he hadn’t heard of workers being injured by the chemical diacetyl or any coffee flavoring compounds. And Stone Creek Coffee in Milwaukee, which Resch opened in 1993, was different. His company seldom added flavoring to its beans and had stopped using flavors altogether the previous year. There was little to worry about, he thought.
Then came another story by the Journal Sentinel exposing how coffee workers in small and mid-sized roasteries and cafes — in operations like his that not use added flavorings — were being exposed to elevated levels of diacetyl and another chemical known to destroy lungs.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH, later did its own testing that confirmed the news organization’s findings and went on to uncover similar problems at coffee
plants across the country.
Resch and his management team began to wonder about the 50 people who came to work every day at Stone Creek’s “Factory Café” and company headquarters across from the Amtrak station on 5th Street.
“Of all the things we’re not going to take risks with, is employee safety,” said Drew Pond, Stone Creek’s managing director. “We might take a risk on business strategy or what kind of coffee to buy, but not on employee health.”
And what about the effect on customers who lingered for hours on their laptops or over lunch with friends?
Stone Creek executives quickly contacted NIOSH, a division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and asked the experts to test the air.
The results, published in the government’s report in October, were not what the Stone Creek team expected.
All 15 air samples taken from the breathing zones of workers throughout the operation showed they were inhaling diacetyl at levels above — in some cases well above — those deemed safe by scientists.
One employee, whose job was to grind and package the coffee, was breathing in the noxious chemical at eight times the suggested maximum concentrations, according to the report.
Another was inhaling 2,3-pentanedione, diceltyl’s moleuclar cousin, at three times the limit scientists advise.
Five workers were exposed to carbon monoxide at concentrations exceeding maximum limits — in one instance at more than four times the safety threshold.
The samples taken in the café area, too, showed higher than desirable levels.
When government doctors examined workers and administered breathing tests, they found two of the eight who participated in the medical screening had abnormal results. NIOSH doctors couldn’t say whether the lung conditions were tied to their occupations. Doctors encouraged the workers to follow up with their private physicians.
The main problem, NIOSH found: The 15,000 square foot, 128-year-old, two-story brick building had terrible ventilation.
There was no outside air exchange in the production area, no local exhaust systems around the grinding and packaging operations. Opening windows during warm weather and relying on fans was not adequate to disperse the fumes.
“That was something they needed to fix,” Randy Boylstein, the lead author of NIOSH’s health hazard evaluation of Stone Creek, told the Journal Sentinel. “Bringing in outdoor air is very important.”
NIOSH recommends workers not be exposed to an average of more than 5 parts per billion of diacetyl over an 8hour work day.
OSHA, the federal agency that oversees workplace safety, has not adopted specific regulations regarding diacetyl or 2,3-pentanedione. However, the agency’s “general duty clause” requires employers to provide workplaces that are “free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm.”
Chemical causes irreversible damage
In high concentrations, diacetyl attacks, inflames and virtually obliterates the bronchioles, the lung’s tiniest airways. As the body tries to heal, scar tissue builds up and further restricts the airways. The disease is called
the damage, irreversible. Diacetyl was tied to hundreds of injuries and a handful of deaths of workers in the microwave popcorn industry in the early 2000s. In those cases, workers were exposed to high levels contained in the synthetic butter flavoring.
In 2011, five workers in a coffee roasting facility in Tyler, Texas, who roasted, ground and added flavorings to coffee were diagnosed with
One, a 35-year-old previously healthy woman, was in need of a lung transplant. At the time, scientists’ attention centered on the additives used to coat the beans for hazelnut and vanilla flavored coffee.
But diacetyl also forms naturally. It is the byproduct of fermentation and is created in yogurt, butter, beer and as coffee beans are heated. It is the very compound that gives butter its rich, delicious flavor.
While the federal Food and Drug Administration FDA has deemed diacetyl safe to eat in small amounts, scientists have repeatedly found it to be toxic when inhaled.
Resch and his management team sought immediate solutions. They talked with the NIOSH experts and hired an engineering consultant.
The most important thing they could do, they learned, was to install a heating, cooling and ventilation system. Local exhaust systems behind the grinders and above the roasting ovens would also help pull the fumes away from employees’ faces.
They offered workers the option of wearing respirators and installed carbon monoxide monitors.
In all, the improvements cost about $50,000, Pond said. The company had already been considering making some of the changes in order to better control the humidity and other climate variables in the roasting area that affect coffee quality.
“It was a big investment,” Pond said, adding that it was money well spent.
“We want to protect our workers,” Pond said. “It’s a very important issue and it’s important for roasters to be aware.” Joe Wais, Stone Creek Coffee production general manager, works in the grinding area near recently installed ventilation at the Stone Creek Coffee location at 422 N. 5th St. The company now has new HVAC as well as local exhaust systems and other improvements.
NIOSH also recommended the company implement a medical monitoring program to help identify employees with worsening symptoms who may be developing work-related lung disease.
At Stone Creek’s request, NIOSH is scheduled to return in coming weeks to re-test the air.
NIOSH’s work focuses on risks faced by workers. The agency has not completed a risk assessment centered on
samples drawn from the general air space in coffee shops that would pertain to customers.
While the samples taken from the cafe area of Stone Creek found levels of diacetyl at 29 parts per billion, the 5 parts per billion threshold applies to employees who are exposed to averages over 8-hour work days, not customers who spend varied amounts of time in the cafe.
The cafe results are only an “indication of potential personal exposures,” for workers authors of the report wrote.
Investigation uncovered problems
A Journal Sentinel investigation in 2015 first uncovered the problem when two Wisconsin roasteries that did not use added flavors agreed to let an industrial hygienist hired by the news organization test the air in their buildings.
Results from both facilities — Madison-based Just Coffee Coop and Valentine Coffee in Milwaukee — showed workers were being exposed to elevated levels of diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione.
Just Coffee followed up with NIOSH, invited the agency out to confirm the findings and ultimately made improvements to its operations as well.
NIOSH has heard from other coffee roasteries of all sizes from around the country and has since done on-site evaluations at 19. The agency has been releasing reports as they are completed, not naming the coffee companies in exchange for their participation. Researchers are in the process of aggregating the data and expect to release the comprehensive findings next spring.
Already the findings show cause for concern, NIOSH officials say. The agency has posted a warning to coffee workers and employers on its website outlining ways to reduce exposure to the toxic chemicals.
Researchers say they are especially worried about exposure to extremely high levels of fumes that build up in coffee storage bins as the gasses are released from the roasted beans. They caution baristas and other coffee workers to keep their faces away from the bins as much as possible. ❚ The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health offers free healthhazard evaluations. Companies can make a request, as can a group of three or more workers.
Phone: (800) CDC-INFO (800-232-4636)
Email: HHERequestHelp@cdc.gov.
Online: cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/
❚ The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also provides free consultation through state programs.
Phone: Wisconsin businesses can call (800) 947-0553 (safety-related requests) or (608) 226-5240 (health-related requests)
Online: Wisconsin businesses can find more information at slh.wisc.edu/occupational/wiscon/making-a-request/. Companies outside Wisconsin can find more information about programs in their state at https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/consult.html.
Want more stories like this? Subscribe to the Journal Sentinel today. To read the Journal Sentinel’s “Gasping for Action” investigation, into the hazards of the chemical diacetyl in coffee production and vaping, go to jsonline.com/gaspingforaction.
Much of the research has been done on exposures during an 8-hour work day and across 15-minute spans, but researchers worry that inhaling even brief bursts of high concentrations may cause injury.
They expect to know more once the final report is ready.
Jessica Sheridan, the director of coffee at Stone Creek, said she is grateful the company has been proactive on the issue.
“I think it’s great,” she said. “It’s definitely made a big difference in our facility.”