Low Carbon: Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines
We all know that flying is bad for the environment, but just what kind of effect does it have on our health? We talk to lobbyists, former pilots and the director of new film Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines about the fight for cleaner air on board.
Call it stuffy, stale, drying or horrid - but the air you breathe onboard an airplane could be a lot more than that. It could be toxic.
John Hoyte, a former BAe pilot, claims that air contaminated with toxic fumes ruined both his health and his career - and he's not alone.
Flight attendants, pilots and passengers from Australia to the US, Germany to the UK, are all claiming that contaminated air has led to their short and long-term ill health, ranging from constant tremors and headaches to loss of consciousness.
"The whole cabin would fill with the mist of oil fumes," recalls the former Flybe employee, who estimates that he was exposed to 640 hours' worth of toxic air over a 16-year flying career.
"Everyone knows it happens, and everyone says not to worry."
The nausea, distorted vision, memory loss, slurred speech and chronic fatigue that Hoyte came to associate as part and parcel of his job - and which finally cost him his job - are all symptoms that scientists say are due to 'Aerotoxic Syndrome'.
Experts claim it could be affecting up to 200,000 people in the UK every year, yet most of us have never even heard of it.
A faulty air source
The air we breathe onboard is outside air that's sucked in through the plane's engines, where it is compressed and cooled, and then fed into the cabin. It is filtered for bacteria and viruses, recirculated, and then fed with more outside air, on a continuous cycle.
The problem arises with the source of the air itself: the engine. Before take-off, the engine is prepped for flight with oils full of heavy chemicals like benzene and anti-wear additives like tricresyl phosphate (TCP), an organophosphate known to cause long-term respiratory problems and brain damage.
Should the engine sealing system leak, droplets of oil or hydraulic fluid can be sucked in with the 'bleed air' and sent straight into the cabin, contaminating the onboard air supply. The Government claims that such leaks occur on one out of every 2,000 flights, but campaigners claim that that figure is probably closer to one out of 100.
While planes are fitted with monitors looking after cabin pressure and air temperature, not a single aircraft has a filter or detection system in place to determine when, or if, a toxic leak has taken place.
"The only filter on board is your nose," says former BA pilot Tristan Loraine, who retired in 2006 due to ill health from neuronal disease and chronic fatigue, which he puts down to Aerotoxic Syndrome.
"It's crazy."
Some of the chemicals that can leak into the air supply have acrid or oily smells - with descriptions of contaminated air ranging from 'wet dog' to 'sweaty sock' and 'vomit' - but some have no smell at all, such as carbon monoxide.
And as each person has their own particular sense of smell, and particular sensitivity to chemicals, what you smell - and how you react to it - can differ from seat 26A to 26B.
A faulty history
Contaminated air can affect you whether you're a frequent flyer or a one-off holiday maker, whether you sit in first class or economy. Former Australian PM Michael Howard was recently rushed off a plane that was feared exposed to contaminated air. And campaigners claim that even the Queen has been complaining for years about the fumes on board her royal BAe 146.
But it wasn't always like this. It was only in 1962 that the 'bleed air' system replaced the separate compression units of older planes like the 707. The first report of contaminated air occurred a decade later, when a pilot became 'intoxicated' due to oil fumes bleeding into his air supply. Since then, the reports have been ongoing and regular.
"This is a huge safety problem," said Chris Witkowski of the American Association of Flight Attendants, which has seen an average of 80 complaints a year of contaminated air on just one airline.
"[Aerotoxic syndrome] can affect pilots' ability to drive the aircraft safely and cabin crew's ability to respond to an emergency. It could, in fact, lead to an aircraft crash."
Despite its 30-year history, however, little has been done to address the problem of contaminated air. Campaigners claim that industry interests have taken precedence over flight crew's and passengers' claims of ill health. And the debate is ongoing.
A current UK government investigation, led by the Department for Transport's Aviation Health Working Group, has been criticised by campaigners and the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive [www.gcaqe.org], which represents 500,000 aviation workers. They claim the research the inquiry is based on is flawed - and that their own case studies and medical histories have been ignored.
But even getting industry employees to admit to a problem is difficult.
Only 3.66% of contaminated air events are reported to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the British Airline Pilots Association has found. Lack of awareness, commercial pressure and fears over job security all contribute to the veil of silence.
"I'd get hassled, taken into the office for a little debate on whether or not I had the airline's interest at heart if I reported fumes," says Loraine, who later turned his experiences into a documentary on Aerotoxic Syndrome called Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines.
While Hoyte and Loraine made multiple emergency landings because of contaminated air, Loraine admits that it's unlikely the passengers know as much.
"On one flight, I was breathing emergency oxygen and passengers had paper up their noses the smell was so bad," he recalls, citing six emergency landings in his 19-year career due to contaminated air.
"No one told them why we made an emergency landing, that the air was contaminated. If I got sick from that, I'm sure some of my passengers are wandering around sick too."
The CAA says: "We take any evidence of health risk to pilots and cabin crew very seriously. We will continue to closely monitor any reports of contaminated cabin air on UK registered aircraft and will ensure that existing measures to maintain flight safety are strictly enforced."
A safer future
The future of flying could put all such worries of air contamination to rest, however, with Boeing's new Dreamliner 787, due to be launched next year. It will be the first plane since the 1950s to source its air supply from outside the engines.
But for those who already suffer from Aerotoxic Syndrome, the 787 might seem like too little, too late.
While he says the worst of his symptoms have cleared, Hoyte still suffers from brain fog, and Loraine, on the other hand, can still count sleepless nights, forgetfulness, and tingling fingers and toes as a daily occurrence.
"I lost my health, career and marriage as a result of this," says Hoyte, who started the Aerotoxic Association in 2007 to help spread the word on Aerotoxic Syndrome.
"There's no question that flying around the world will upset your body with time zones changing and resulting jet lag.
"But I believe a large part of that jet lag is chemical poisoning - and I'm determined to allow the travelling public to understand the cause of their serious ill health."
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This article and several others highlight an issue I have been working on for some time now. There seems to be some hope that one of the newer style of planes will have a different air system that may combat the problem but no-one seems to be that interested in placing expensive filters in the older planes.
Add to this the fact that everyone will handle these fumes differently. And anyone who already has breathing problems will be particularly affected. There seems to be a connection between the TCP and organophosphates in the way that the brain is targeted, slowing the response rate - certainly not something we want our pilots to have!
There are ways of improving how individual bodies handle these fumes and anyone wanting more information can email me at info@passport4health.co.uk.
Thanks for that Post Peta - please keep us updated on progress in this area.
Hello friends,
If you search for Aerotoxic Syndrome in the USA, you will notice the strange lack of information. I'm so glad that the UK and Australia are free to be heard.
My husband is a 12 year Flight Attendant with a Major US Air Carrier. On his last trip almost two years ago...he called me from the hotel,and told me that he can barely get out of bed to iron his shirt for the next day. When he got home, he said that he felt like he was "Poisoned".
Later that night, he had such a terrible headache, I took him to the hospital. They gave him oxygen, and ran some tests. Amazingly the Oxygen helped, and took his headache away.
Being the investigative person that I am, I searched online two words- Flight Attendant, and Severe Headache.....This is when I found AEROTOXIC.ORG...and suddenly all the pieces to the puzzle fit together.
He remembers a flight not long before his last flight...where the crew and passengers were all putting their clothing over their face, and told to breathe through their clothes.
He said that the fumes occurred regularly. They just always passed it off as something bothersome, not toxic.
It is clearly obvious that both the UK,USA,AU airlines are making the sufferers jump through hoops to PROVE that this is real.
When the US government supplied temporary trailers for the Hurricane victims, and discovered that the paneling inside gave off toxic fumes...it was all over the news, and the government DID something about it.
In Florida USA, some homes were built with Chinese drywall that gave off fumes...and of course, the government is doing something about it right away.
The hurricane victims, and the owners of homes with Toxic Drywall didn't have to write extensive publications, make a documentary, or fight the government to prove this is unhealthy.
Why is it that the Airline Carriers, and governments treat Toxic fumes on planes differently?
Because first of all, the makers of the Hydraulic Fluid, and oil happen to be one of the largest Corporations in the World- The Oil Industry.
The Airlines also are so afraid to admit, because they KNOW that there will be people in mass coming forward with help and answers.
My husband has seen so many doctors', and had every Neuro Test known to man. His executive functioning is poor. He is a man with an above average Intelligence.
Now he barely makes it through the day.
He wakes up in the morning, complaining about his arms feeling numb.
What is so hard in dealing with this, is that everyone wants him to supply medical records, make doctor appts, ...and he can barely remember to do a few things during the day.
When will the governments realize that those suffering from OP Poisoning are mentally debilitated?
He is sad, because he loved flying, the layovers, and was a excellent employee, never missed a day....
Every new doctor that he sees, we think maybe THIS IS THE ONE who will help. He brings with him the Video, and all the information...yet...either the Doctors' just don't want to get involved, or they tell him it's just in "your head".
He's running low on hope, and I keep encouraging him to hang in there.
Everyone affected by Toxic Fumes...tell everyone you know about it....post on all message boards....sooner or later it will become KNOWN TO ALL!
Thanks for the opportunity to send out our message.
USA wife of sufferer