Five years ago yesterday after their conference on cabin air quality, BALPA General Secretary Jim McAuslan said in his closing speech “Is there a problem? The answer is quite clear – Yes. Story after story, study after study, testimony after testimony from across the world and from other industries with similar exposures, show that chemicals exposures of the type experienced by workers in the aviation industry cause health problems.” and pledged to get it all sorted out.
These days the BALPA line is “There is no evidence at present for a link to long term health effects but research concerning fume events continues.”
Oh yes, research. The great thing about it is that when you’ve finished it, you can call for more research, so you never actually need to admit there's a problem or do anything about it.
Video: McAuslan’s conference closing speech.