gulf_slf
25th Apr 2008, 06:12
http://www.7days.ae/en/2008/04/25/there%e2%80%99s-something-in-the-air.html
There’s something in the air
Last Updated : Friday 25 Apr, 2008 -
Catching the flu on an airplane could be the least of your worries if an investigation by the BBC’s Panorama programme holds any weight. From pilots almost passing out at the controls to passengers who claim that they have been made ill by toxic fumes, polluted air on board planes is fast becoming a health topic of much concern.
The Panorama investigation, which aired on television recently, revealed how air passengers could be exposed to toxic fumes in the cabin while flying, as the air inhaled on airliners is drawn in past the engines and can become polluted by any leaks of engine oil. Panorama investigators took swabs and air samples during two UK flights and toxicologist Professor Christiaan Van Netten, working alongside the BBC, found traces of a neurotoxin - tri-cresylphosphate - in all the samples sent to his lab.
“This proves that oil from the engine gets into the air and this is what you have been breathing during this flight when you took your sample,” Van Netten said. The levels of the toxic chemicals found in Panorama’s investigation were very low - well within international safety standards.
But they are still of concern to Van Netten.
Within the aviation industry, fumes have long been recognised as a hazard. The worry is that long-term exposure to such chemicals in the air could be particularly dangerous to the health of passengers, pilots and crew. Numerous pilots and crew claim that they have become ill from long-term exposure to contaminated air on board aircrafts.
John Hoyte, from the UK, claims that he suffered for years from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) because of contaminated air in the airplanes that he flew. As a practising pilot, Hoyte put his exhaustion down to the anti-social hours he was working. At first he assumed this was normal for a pilot, but gradually he began to notice other symptoms.
He says bright lights would “jump around” and he found it hard to focus, his speech was sometimes slurred, and he had difficulty with memory and thought processing. He began to suffer from mild depression as well.
Hoyte says he had heard about the oil fumes problem on the type of planes he was flying, but for some reason hadn’t connected it with his ill health until he was invited to take part in some tests at University College London. When his blood/fat tests showed some troubling results and a measured cognitive deficit, Hoyte says that he immediately knew what was causing his illness and that he would never return to flying pressurised airplanes.
Instead, he set up the support and information group, Aerotoxic Association (www.aerotoxic.org).
And Hoyte says he is very concerned because of the numbers of people affected. “I am being inundated by aircrew and passengers who have developed similar ‘mysterious’ CFS-type ill health symptoms during a ‘fume event’ flight (where fumes leak into the cabin) and who then suffer for many months or even years afterwards,” he says.
“Most doctors not surprisingly diagnose a random viral infection or depression and treat accordingly, but none of the passengers or more worryingly, doctors seem to know anything about ‘aerotoxic syndrome’, which was first recognised in 1999.
“It is most depressing to hear from so many people with identical issues when the dangers and effects of breathing oil fumes is so well understood and almost certainly explains much so called ‘mysterious’ ill health.” But all is not lost, as Hoyte says the ways to fix this problem are not out reach. “Air filters, alternative oils, fume detectors and new air technology are all available, but the passengers must demand it, for their own health,” he says.
So are airlines aware of the problem of toxic engine fumes in the cabin and what do they propose to do about it?
We approached the UAE’s two major carriers for comment. A spokesperson for Emirates told 7DAYS: “This is an issue currently being investigated by the scientific community. Emirates operates one of the youngest fleets in the skies. We have an excellent maintenance programme, and all our aircraft are fully certified to the highest industry standards.”
While, Thomas Clarke, a spokesman for Etihad Airways, said: “The British TV investigation found that the chemical levels were very low, and well within the international safety standards, in two types of aircraft that are not in Etihad’s modern state-of-the-art fleet.” Dubai-based aviation enthusiast, Michael Stokes, who boasts of numerous pilots in his family, has spent the past few years researching aero toxic fumes and how they might be contaminating cabin air.
According to Stokes, most jet aircrafts in operation today are vulnerable to leaks into the cabin. “Basically the BBC only did research on two types of aircraft, the 146 and the Boeing 757. Research has not been done on all jet aircrafts, just these two. Only when the aviation industry undertakes a full and comprehensive study will we understand this phenomenon further,” he says.
There’s something in the air
Last Updated : Friday 25 Apr, 2008 -
Catching the flu on an airplane could be the least of your worries if an investigation by the BBC’s Panorama programme holds any weight. From pilots almost passing out at the controls to passengers who claim that they have been made ill by toxic fumes, polluted air on board planes is fast becoming a health topic of much concern.
The Panorama investigation, which aired on television recently, revealed how air passengers could be exposed to toxic fumes in the cabin while flying, as the air inhaled on airliners is drawn in past the engines and can become polluted by any leaks of engine oil. Panorama investigators took swabs and air samples during two UK flights and toxicologist Professor Christiaan Van Netten, working alongside the BBC, found traces of a neurotoxin - tri-cresylphosphate - in all the samples sent to his lab.
“This proves that oil from the engine gets into the air and this is what you have been breathing during this flight when you took your sample,” Van Netten said. The levels of the toxic chemicals found in Panorama’s investigation were very low - well within international safety standards.
But they are still of concern to Van Netten.
Within the aviation industry, fumes have long been recognised as a hazard. The worry is that long-term exposure to such chemicals in the air could be particularly dangerous to the health of passengers, pilots and crew. Numerous pilots and crew claim that they have become ill from long-term exposure to contaminated air on board aircrafts.
John Hoyte, from the UK, claims that he suffered for years from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) because of contaminated air in the airplanes that he flew. As a practising pilot, Hoyte put his exhaustion down to the anti-social hours he was working. At first he assumed this was normal for a pilot, but gradually he began to notice other symptoms.
He says bright lights would “jump around” and he found it hard to focus, his speech was sometimes slurred, and he had difficulty with memory and thought processing. He began to suffer from mild depression as well.
Hoyte says he had heard about the oil fumes problem on the type of planes he was flying, but for some reason hadn’t connected it with his ill health until he was invited to take part in some tests at University College London. When his blood/fat tests showed some troubling results and a measured cognitive deficit, Hoyte says that he immediately knew what was causing his illness and that he would never return to flying pressurised airplanes.
Instead, he set up the support and information group, Aerotoxic Association (www.aerotoxic.org).
And Hoyte says he is very concerned because of the numbers of people affected. “I am being inundated by aircrew and passengers who have developed similar ‘mysterious’ CFS-type ill health symptoms during a ‘fume event’ flight (where fumes leak into the cabin) and who then suffer for many months or even years afterwards,” he says.
“Most doctors not surprisingly diagnose a random viral infection or depression and treat accordingly, but none of the passengers or more worryingly, doctors seem to know anything about ‘aerotoxic syndrome’, which was first recognised in 1999.
“It is most depressing to hear from so many people with identical issues when the dangers and effects of breathing oil fumes is so well understood and almost certainly explains much so called ‘mysterious’ ill health.” But all is not lost, as Hoyte says the ways to fix this problem are not out reach. “Air filters, alternative oils, fume detectors and new air technology are all available, but the passengers must demand it, for their own health,” he says.
So are airlines aware of the problem of toxic engine fumes in the cabin and what do they propose to do about it?
We approached the UAE’s two major carriers for comment. A spokesperson for Emirates told 7DAYS: “This is an issue currently being investigated by the scientific community. Emirates operates one of the youngest fleets in the skies. We have an excellent maintenance programme, and all our aircraft are fully certified to the highest industry standards.”
While, Thomas Clarke, a spokesman for Etihad Airways, said: “The British TV investigation found that the chemical levels were very low, and well within the international safety standards, in two types of aircraft that are not in Etihad’s modern state-of-the-art fleet.” Dubai-based aviation enthusiast, Michael Stokes, who boasts of numerous pilots in his family, has spent the past few years researching aero toxic fumes and how they might be contaminating cabin air.
According to Stokes, most jet aircrafts in operation today are vulnerable to leaks into the cabin. “Basically the BBC only did research on two types of aircraft, the 146 and the Boeing 757. Research has not been done on all jet aircrafts, just these two. Only when the aviation industry undertakes a full and comprehensive study will we understand this phenomenon further,” he says.