Popcorn Lung

The first thing you think after hearing that is Jethro Tull has a new album coming out, but you'd be wrong (and happily so...they blow)

This is about Wayne Watson, who loved microwave popcorn so much he would eat at least two bags each night. He would stand over the just-opened package, breathing in the steam like the freak that you already suspect he is -- but now doctors told him it may have made him sick.

Watson has the sole reported case of "popcorn lung" reported in a non-factory worker, said he is convinced his heavy consumption of popcorn caused his health problems. Popcorn flavoring contains the chemical diacetyl, which has been linked to lung damage in factory workers testing hundreds of bags of microwave popcorn per day and inhaling its fumes. The chemical is a naturally occurring compound that gives butter its flavor, and though been approved by the FDA as a flavor ingredient, hundreds of workers have sued flavoring makers in recent years for lung damage and the rare, life-threatening disease bronchiolitis obliterans, also known as popcorn lung.

Doctors tested Watson's home for levels of diacetyl fumes and found that while popcorn was microwaved in the kitchen, peak levels of the fumes were similar to those measured in factories. It makes you wonder about how dangerous overindulgence can be. Just to be safe, from now on I will only use my computer while wearing protection.