Associated Press, "Lawsuits could mount in popcorn factory lung problems"

         Several lawsuits have followed a federal study that found breathing problems among popcorn plant workers exposed to butter flavoring, and lawyers say more lawsuits may be on the way. Earlier this year, a jury ordered the company that makes the flavoring to pay a worker in Joplin, Mo., $20 million in damages. Eric Peoples, 32, of Carthage, Mo., claimed he had developed bronchial obliterans, more commonly called "popcorn packer's lung."
          In December, a study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health determined that at least six workers at the Jolly Time popcorn plant in Sioux City exhibited similar lung problems. One worker there, Kevin Remmes, filed a lawsuit earlier this month naming four companies that make the flavoring. Since then, a number of law firms have been soliciting clients who think they may be suffering from the relatively new disease, about which researchers concede they still know very little.
          Ken McClain, the attorney in the Missouri lawsuit, has run a number of large ads in The Sioux City Journal. Another law firm, St. Louis-based Brown and Crouppen, ran an ad in the weekly newspaper in Manson, Iowa, where locally owned Manson Industries produces Sheila B's Microwave Popcorn. A national personal-injury firm, Leiff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, has established a Web site seeking potential plaintiffs.
          NIOSH, a division of the federal Centers for Disease Control, became aware of the disease only four years ago. It's believed to be caused by exposure to a chemical in the butter flavoring called diacetyl, but researchers don't yet know why and how the ingredient affects lung function.