How accurate is this?

[damo1089]

I am quoting something I just read on a non aviation related forum, and wondering how accurate it is. I have never heared of atmosphere radiation. I think someone has been telling this guy lies...
"if you know anything about atmosphere radiation and how harmful it is for you, youll want to sit in the middle of the plane where the radiation is at a lower level...the guy asking for the window seat cause he thinks its a better one is getting FRIED by rays....youll get double the air sickness/jetlag if you sit against the window. Jetlag is really just radiation poisioning...if they made the levels low enough to be safe the plane would never get off the ground with the amount of lead shelding they would need. So be smart. Hostesses cannot donate their bodily organs if they have been working for 2 years or more... Most of them are infertile. Doesnt take a genius to figure out why."

[gulfairs]

Unless he was talking about another planet, its all hogwash.
There are elevated Gamma rays at High altitude and as a result there is a very slight reduction on male spermatosa, hence Male pilots father slightly more females than males.
I am in my mid 70's and have flown since 1960 on commercial operations, of which from 1965 to 1991 was all high(?) altitude jets.
I am only slightly strange, but not as strange as our politicians!
Apart from that I am as normal as one can get with only minor geriatric rot,and no other side effects.

[Rainboe]

What garbage people spout out on the internet! Almost as good as the 'how your politicians are a bunch of thieves, bankrupts etc' , and 'how to stop a heart attack by coughing' and 'Mars will be as bright as the full moon this summer- tell ALL your friends'. Complete and utter hogwash. Stewardesses infertile? I've seen them popping out brats like bloody machine guns. So much nonsense I see that NOTHING is right. Sometimes I think the internet should be banned. Certainly for immature males and females shopping online for handbags! Leave eBay though.

[Otto Throttle]

Find out what your friend smokes, eats and drinks, and avoid all that stuff instead. It clearly makes you retarded. :ugh:

[damo1089]

Phew, i was hoping you gus would reply exactly as you did :)
For me it sprouted bullsiht when he said jetlag is caused is from copping radiation :ugh:

[bfisk]

This guy should be punched in the face, pronto, for spreading statements like that, which has no root in reality.

[411A]

This guy should be punched in the face, pronto, for spreading statements like that, which has no root in reality.
I would suggest that locking him in a rubber room might be more appropriate...:}

[Brian Abraham]

This may give you some info British Airways - Cosmic Radiation (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/healthcosmic/public/en_gb#4)

Part of Concordes instrumentation was a radiation counter meter connected to the master warning system, and the laid down procedure was to descend below 47,000 feet if the reading was above a certain level (50mREM/hour - normal reading was between .5 and 1). The Concorde pilot who documented the above information records that he never saw excessive readings. Reviewing the daily radiation forecasts was part of their pre flight.

[BOAC]

The FAA have done quite a lot of research on this (http://www.faa.gov/library/reports/medical/oamtechreports/2000s/media/0316.pdf), and you will note from that that if you flew about 460 hours a year between Greece and New York (as the highest radiation route reported in that document) you would receive approximately twice the level of background radiation you get free from mother nature each year. I think you can relax - but right to ask.:)