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Monday, February 04, 2008

Another Emerging Hazard for OSHA Regulators

In today's Washington Post, David Brown writes a gruesome yet compelling article on a new illness that may be caused by inhaling microscopic bits of pig brain.

Twelve workers in a Minnesota slaughterhouse were suffering from similar symptoms — burning sensations, weakness, and numbness of the extremities — but the cause was a mystery to doctors. Luckily, a translator (most of the patients are Hispanic) noticed that two patients with different doctors who both worked at the slaughterhouse had developed the same mysterious symptoms.

The article explains how such a strange link between working in the slaughterhouse and developing the symptoms could occur:

One of the steps in that part of the operation involves removing the pigs' brains with compressed air forced into the skull through the hole where the spinal cord enters. The brains are then packed and sent to markets in Korea and China as food.

Investigators say there is no reason to suspect that either the brains or the pork cuts were contaminated. Their working hypothesis is that the harvesting technique -- known as "blowing brains" on the floor -- produces aerosols of brain matter. Once inhaled, the material prompts the immune system to produce antibodies that attack the pig brain compounds, but apparently also attack the body's own nerve tissue because it is so similar.

The article doesn't mention OSHA, but the Occupational Safety and Health Act requires OSHA to regulate workplace emissions that have adverse health effects. Brown reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the potential link, but pressure may begin to build for OSHA to look into matters as well.