Hi all
Just a couple of quick comments regarding this sad news and some of the issues people have raised.
I myself have been off flying duties after a fume event over 2 years ago but I think that was really the straw that broke the camels back as I have been feeling unwell for many years and indeed was lucky to survive kidney cancer some years ago.
Firstly, as has been said, we are all different genetically and our bodies can react differently to chemicals/toxins. I have seen evidence of chemical leaks, not in aviation, where a group of people have been exposed to the same chemical spill yet react differently, as diverse as from no effect to being confined to a wheelchair. It all depends on how our bodies process these toxins through our livers/kidneys and if they are efficiently disposed of from our bodies.
That is one of the problems facing this issue as for every single person affected by organophosphates, etc, then there are several hundred people from the same flight who are not, or at least not as badly.
I also believe that these problems are cumulative and these toxins build up in some of us over many years of low exposure until our bodies cannot cope anymore. That's what I believe has happened to me.
Secondly, the hot, high pressure air that can cause the oil or any other contaminant to disperse into the air conditioning.
Jet engines have 2 air conditioning supplies from the engine. One from the front bypass section, the low pressure (LP) air which is a lower temp compared to the one from deeper into the engine from the high pressure section (HP) which is at a much higher temp.
During most of a flight the engine is at high revs, T/O/climb/cruise, and the air supplies come from the LP air supply.
During descent or taxying the engine is mostly at idle and cannot maintain sufficient air supply from the LP alone so the HP air is then utilised and if there any contaminants in the ducting then they could be burnt off. Who's to say that this doesn't happen nearly all the time but that the amount involved doesn't cause a smell/fumes such that it doesn't get noticed?
That doesn't hide the fact that if an oil seal fails in either of these areas then oil fumes, which contain a small percent of organophosphate, will be released.
Well that's my small input but there is much more info from more qualified people on the net, specifically the Aerotoxic Association, Toxic Free Airlines and the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive [GCAQE], co-chaired by Tristan Loraine, an ex BA Captain who also suffers ill health.
It's a shame that more people at the coalface in aviation don't know about it and question why they sometimes feel so unhealthy/unfit!
Take care