also used as textile printing thickener. In oil exploration, starch is used to adjust the viscosity of drilling fluid, which is used to lubricate the drill head and suspend the grinding residue in petroleum extraction. Starch is also used to make some packing peanuts, and some drop ceiling tiles. In the printing industry, food grade starch is used in the manufacture of anti-set-off spray powder used to separate printed sheets of paper to avoid wet ink being set off. For body powder, powdered corn starch is used as a substitute for talcum powder, and similarly in other health and beauty products. Starch is used to produce various bioplastics, synthetic polymers that are biodegradable. An example is polylactic acid based on glucose from starch. Glucose from starch can be further fermented to biofuel corn ethanol using the so-called wet milling process. Today most bioethanol production plants use the dry milling process to ferment corn or other feedstock directly to ethanol. Hydrogen production could use glucose from starch as the raw material, using enzymes. Occupational safety and health In the US the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the legal limit (Permissible exposure limit) for starch exposure in the workplace as 15 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a Recommended exposure limit (REL) of 10 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday. See also Acrylamide, which is present in fried and baked foods Destarch Starch analysis Resistant starch References External links CDC - NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards, information for workers Nutrition Carbohydrates Edible thickening agents Excipients Printing