DJohnson who posted on 2nd October 2004, is either misinformed or attempting to fuel the industry misinformation campaign which has gone on for too long and which the pressure group AOPIS (
www.aopis.org) have highlighted very well in their DVD "Cabin Air Contamination" - An Ongoing Health and Safety Issue, which Is being used by many unions worldwide such as the AFAP here in Australia to educate crews to the safety issues, misinformation and nonsense that many manufacturers and regulators put out in connection with contaminated air.
Lets talk FACTS.
DJohnson tells Pprune users that you can bath in TCP and its not toxic.
NTP CHEMICAL REPOSITORY (RADIAN CORPORATION, AUGUST 29, 1991) states the following in relation to TRICRESYL PHOSPHATE (TCP):
*ACUTE/CHRONIC HAZARDS:
This compound is toxic by inhalation, ingestion or by absorption through the skin. It is an irritant of the skin and eyes. It is also an irritant of the mucous membranes and respiratory tract. When heated to decomposition it emits toxic fumes of phosphorus oxides.
Conclusion TCP IS TOXIC.
Next,
DJohnson also tells us that “odors can be uncomfortable and cause dizziness and headache….but are not necessarily toxic.”
The UK CAA in their 2004 Cabin Air Quality Paper seem to disagree with DJohnson, as they state:
5.1 Definition of Toxic Effects
A toxic effect is defined as any effect on the organism which is deleterious to health. The effect does not have to be life threatening, any effect which is outside of the normal phsysiology for the organism can be described as toxic. Thus, irritation of the skin, eyes or respiratory tract, nausea and vomiting, dizziness or collapse are all types of toxic effect.
And just to remind ourselves that the effects the crews are getting is the oil and not some “industrial hysteria” as one airline once called it, the MSDS for Jet Oil II states:
“Symptoms from acute exposure to these decomposition products in confined spaces may include headache, nausea, eye, nose, and throat irritation.”
DJohnson tells us that the odours can be “uncomfortable…” and this is OK, well if he looked at the Airworthiness Regulations for Ventilation he would find in regulation 25.831 (a):
“Each crew compartment must have enough fresh air (but not less than 10 cubic feet per minute per crewmember) to enable crewmembers to perform their duties without undue discomfort or fatigue.”
And this rule has been there since 1965.
Finally, lets look at the Carbon Monoxide part of air contamination events…
AAIB statement.
“BAE Systems also undertook an in-flight sampling programme of in-service aircraft in an attempt to establish the concentration levels of various contaminants. The sampling was carried out on 68 revenue flights, on a variety of aircraft types, including the BAe 146. This programme monitored other substances, which included carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2), as well as relative humidity and temperature. On some flights the following was also measured; Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Formaldehyde (HCHO), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), acetic acid, volatile organic components (VOC) and Formaldehyde. The results of this programme revealed that all the flights monitored had acceptably low concentration levels of the measured parameters. Indeed the levels of CO measured never reached detectable levels of the sensor used.”
These tests were obviously done on specially selected aircraft as the UK pilot union BALPA apparently undertook CO monitoring in 2004 with data logging capability on some BAe 146 aircraft and recorded Carbon Monoxide peak values in flight of 14 to 22 ppm on 7 flights with 15 minute TWA figures as high as 10 ppm.
For more information visit:
www.aopis.org