Organophosphate poisons in Air Conditioning

[twizzle]

Did anyone hear todays radio 4's "Casting the Earth"?
Subject was that Pilots and Cabin staff had suffered from organophosphate (OP) poisoning from oil fumes in the airconditioning system.
Report included accounts of two pilots and one cabin crew.
Symptons were headache,nausea,fatigue, memory loss,loss of concentration or flu like symptons.
It appears that when ever we fly we are exposed to low levels of OP's from engine oil fumes.
Such is the concern that there is pressure for an official inquiry.

What does the CAA have to say ?

[Lu Zuckerman]

Check the past records of Alaska Air. The cabin crews I believe took the airline to court over this or a similar problem. If I remember correctly it came fron either hydraulic fluid or fuel fumes that got into the airconditioning systems via the bleed air from the APU or from the engines.

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The Cat

[GalleyWench]

Refer to the website jetangels.org for more info on this subject

[This message has been edited by GalleyWench (edited 05 October 2000).]

[Dr. Red]

Air conditioners can be huge problems, for many reasons.

* They circulate air around the closed cabin space, effectively spreading airborne pathogens around the aircraft, from one passenger to another. With many international passengers and lots of nasty diseases, aircraft air conditioners are a major cause of annual flu epidemics and other illnesses.

* They kick up microscopic dust and dirt around the aircraft, making pax (and crew especially) more prone to allergies and viral infections that leave you feeling run down.

* They create an artificially dry environment, dehydrating you at a high rate and irritating the nasal mucosa - yet another way you can get sick or feel generally run down.

* Water-cooled airconditioners can breed large populations of bacteria inside them, spreading killers such as "leigionaires disease"

* They are difficult and usually expensive to service, and, as such, upgrades might be deferred by management

* The noise generated by older air conditioners can degrade the quality of the flight for pax, and can actually pose a hearing risk for regular crew (seriously!)

* As alluded to, old or poorly serviced air conditioners can indeed circulate fumes into the cabin, including cyanides and dioxins from the slow, oxidative breakdown of plastic moldings, traces of exhaust gasses, residue of cleaning products, and more!

The bottom line is, you should be very aware of where your air is coming from, and what is in it - could be poisons or bacteria. http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/frown.gif

We could wait for airline management to look into the problem... but if I was you, I wouldn't hold my breath.

[blusky]

The following sites will provide the information recently released in Australia on air quality in aircraft. download 12 Oct Senate report on BAe146 cabin air quality. http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/rrat_ctte/index.htm http://www.democrats.org.au/media/display.htm?id=959