Effects of shift work

[christn]

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Night shifts spark cancer pay-out (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7945145.stm)

[yokebearer]

It's high time some serious research gets done to investigate cancer among flight crew. Shouldn't be too hard to look at data from crews over the past 20 years or so and compare it with the general population. We should know what the price is we pay for the conditions we work under.

I constantly fly with guys who have nasal/respiratory irritations from cabin air. This leads to long term effects - it has been proven that asthma can developed if post nasal drips constantly occur. Many friends who have low sperm counts - most likely from disrupted sleeping/eating patterns and radiation ( yep - strange things come out late at night on the flight deck ) Who knows how many of us will face cancer too eventually.

[yokebearer]

Actually its even less.

Research in the states among aerospace employees showed thet retiring at 55 gives you average 20 years to live. Every year you work past 55 takes 2 years of you life. That means you are dead at 65 if you work to 65.

[Freehills]

"Almost an urban myth"

http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/empinfo/benefits/pension/seminars/Rumor.pdf

Work on Shell retirees showed that retirees at 55 died earlier than those at 65 (presumably because some of the early retirees did so because of poor health)

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/rapidpdf/bmj.38586.448704.E0v1.pdf

But note both the above do not address night shift issues, which from the BBC article, seems to increase breast cancer rates.

[Basil]

Not surprised - night flights always got on my tits!

[N1 Vibes]

Baywatcher,

you forget the 'supreme' quality of the air that you are quaffing down when onboard. All those petroleum/plastic based chemicals in the seats/carpet/furnishings, all the limonene/citrus used to clean a/c components, the oil from the engines and APU......oh and the food!

But, joking aside - pilots and cabin crew are exposed to a lot of things that a person in an office, or a nightshift worker in a warehouse is exposed to - not just the odd working hours.

All these factors will increase your risk of getting some disease with a long name - good genes or not.

Your (continued) Good Health,

N1 Vibes

[Bwatchful]

sort of like flying in a large hyperbaric chamber for hours at a time.

[luvmuhud]

What would Chopper read say????

I'm sure most jobs which don't involve spending 10 hours a day in an airconditioned office (kill me now) will have some theoretical danger of reducing your life span.

I reckon I'm safer now than when my nuts were being fried by PDI wavelengths on a regular basis in my last job. (I was defensive a lot!)

lmh

PS....I reckon the biggest hazzard in this job is the "Chicken with Potato", followed closely by the crew transport to the hotel.