Aerotoxic Syndrome

_Tombstone_

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/11427509/Warning-over-toxic-fumes-in-plane-cabins.html

Toxic fumes in cabin air pose a health risk to frequent fliers and aircrew, a coroner has said in a landmark report.

Stanhope Payne, the senior coroner for Dorset, said people regularly exposed to fumes circulating in planes faced “consequential damage to their health”.
Mr Payne, who is inquiring into the death of Richard Westgate, a British Airways pilot, called on BA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to take “urgent action to prevent future deaths”. Most airline passengers, who fly only occasionally, will not be affected by the problem, but some frequent travellers who are genetically susceptible to the toxins could fall ill.

Mr Payne’s call for urgent action is likely to be welcomed by campaigners who have raised similar concerns for a number of years.

His report, obtained by the Telegraph, is the first official UK recognition of so-called “aerotoxic syndrome”, a phenomenon long denied by airlines but which is blamed by some for the deaths of at least two pilots and numerous other incidents where pilots have passed out in flight. Co-pilots can normally take over, but campaigners claim the syndrome is a suspected cause of some mid-air disasters.

In the report, sent to the chief executive of BA and the chief operating officer of the Civil Aviation Authority, the coroner raises five “matters of concern”, including that “organophosphate compounds are present in aircraft cabin air”; that “the occupants of aircraft cabins are exposed to organophosphate compounds with consequential damage to their health” and that “impairment to the health of those controlling aircraft may lead to the death of occupants”. He also says there is no real-time monitoring to detect failures in cabin air quality and that no account is taken by airlines of “genetic variation in the human species that would render individuals … intolerant of the exposure”.

Official records from the Civil Aviation Authority show that oxygen masks are being used by pilots and crew at the rate of at least five times a week to combat suspected “fume events”.

The official safety watchdog, the Air Accident Investigation Branch, has called for aircraft to be fitted with equipment to detect any contamination of cabin air.

The Coroners Case for this Pilots death is coming later this year.

This b0llox is easily fixed, I was watching a vid with some expert, he said Airlines just couldn't be arsed spending the money to fix it.

martinsvi

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

The Coroners Case for this Pilots death is coming later this year.

This b0llox is easily fixed, I was watching a vid with some expert, he said Airlines just couldn't be arsed spending the money to fix it.

If I buy a car and it's releasing deadly fumes into saloon, I expect the manufacturer to recall the car and fix the problem. I don't see why airlines should pick up the bill in this case?

_Tombstone_

martinsvi wrote: »

If I buy a car and it's releasing deadly fumes into saloon, I expect the manufacturer to recall the car and fix the problem. I don't see why airlines should pick up the bill in this case?

Meant to say manufacturer.

eatmyshorts

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

This b0llox is easily fixed, I was watching a vid with some expert, he said Airlines just couldn't be arsed spending the money to fix it.

Very eloquent summation there. Doubt you were ever in the school debating club.

Tenger

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

......
This b0llox is easily fixed, I was watching a vid with some expert, he said Airlines just couldn't be arsed spending the money to fix it.

Well in the B787 Boeing had to redesign a completely new bleedless A/C system to stop this possibility.
You can see the new A/C intake just below the starboard wing root.

All previous aircraft designs feed the A/C system with engine air, hence the presence of higher levels of toxins in aircraft cabins. So its not a simple fix, its would involve building in new A/C supply system to current aircraft and proably changing engine design too.

Its not a good situation for people who work in that environment. Bad air, low oxygen levels, pressurisation damage to the organs, add that on top of shift work hours.

EDIT: Yes I did mean less oxygen in the bloodstream as a result of the lower cabin pressure. Obvious the 02 stays at 21%. Should have been a little more precise. And "being acclimatised" to it doesn't mean it isn't bad for you in the long term.

FWVT

Tenger wrote: »

Well in the B787 Boeing had to redesign a completely new bleedless A/C system to stop this possibility.
You can see the new A/C intake just below the starboard wing root.

All previous aircraft designs feed the A/C system with engine air, hence the presence of higher levels of toxins in aircraft cabins. So its not a simple fix, its would involve building in new A/C supply system to current aircraft and proably changing engine design too.

Its not a good situation for people who work in that environment. Bad air, low oxygen levels, pressurisation damage to the organs, add that on top of shift work hours.

Low oxygen? There's the same 21% oxygen up there as there is down here.

Alaba320

FWVT wrote: »

Low oxygen? There's the same 21% oxygen up there as there is down here.

While the air content remains unchanged at 21% oxygen, the lower pressure at altitude means that not as much oxygen is taken into the lungs to reach the bloodstream. So you do receive less oxygen when flying.

Try run a 5 miles at sea level, then try it on a 8000ft mountain - air content exact same but lower pressure will make a big difference.

FWVT

Alaba320 wrote: »

While the air content remains unchanged at 21% oxygen, the lower pressure at altitude means that not as much oxygen is taken into the lungs to reach the bloodstream. So you do receive less oxygen when flying.

Try run a 5 miles at sea level, then try it on a 8000ft mountain - air content exact same but lower pressure will make a big difference.

Yes, but just like high-altitude runners, cabin crew can acclimatise to the lower pressure (which is more like 7000 ft in modern airliners) when they're working in it day in day out. And not all of their shift is at that level anyway.

Alaba320

FWVT wrote: »

Yes, but just like high-altitude runners, cabin crew can acclimatise to the lower pressure (which is more like 7000 ft in modern airliners) when they're working in it day in day out. And not all of their shift is at that level anyway.

Whether they acclimatise or not is irrelevant, the fact is, that because of the lower pressure, less oxygen is received in the lungs. I was just pointing this out to you because you questioned Tenger's post regarding the 'low oxygen'.