The fumes that can invade airplanes in flight are toxic in the short and long term. Flight crew and regular travelers are particularly exposed.
Over 500,000 pilots, flight attendants and flight attendants, and 3.5 billion passengers. This is the number of people who were exposed to engine oil fumes in airplanes in 2015. The phenomenon is common, as ventilation systems are not isolated from compressors in engines, including oil tanks. can sometimes leak. It is aerotoxic syndrome.
While the immediate effects have been identified for many years, the long-term effects are still poorly understood. But it would seem that they are not trivial, according to two studies carried out at the University of Stirling (United Kingdom), and published in Public Health Panorama, one of the journals of scientific publications of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Many symptoms
Among the 200 flight attendants who took part in the study, almost two-thirds reported specific symptoms: fatigue, decreased cognitive performance, or even respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological and intestinal problems.
Motor oil contains organophosphates, such as tricresyl phosphate (TCP), a potent neurotoxicant.
“There is a clearly established cause and effect relationship between the contamination of cabin air by engine oil or other fluids during normal flights – which the design of the aircraft allows – and effects on health, says Dr Susan Michaelis of Stirling University, one of the study’s authors. It is a public health problem, which has direct consequences on flight safety. “
A public health problem
During the most significant contaminations of the cockpit by these fumes, the pilots indeed reported a drop in their capacities, sometimes sufficient to prevent them from operating the aircraft. But even for “common” contaminations, these symptoms can appear in the long term, according to the British study.
In addition to the obvious safety concerns posed by these leaks, there is a question of public health for the staff and the hundreds of millions of passengers. “What we are seeing is that flight attendants are repeatedly exposed to low levels of dangerous contaminants from engine oil,” summarizes Professor Vyvyan Howard, a toxicologist at the University of Ulster, and who participated in the study. To a lesser extent, this risk also applies to regular travelers. Exposure to these complex mixtures should be avoided for passengers, especially to protect frail people and unborn children. “
For that, it would be necessary to review the ventilation systems of all the airplanes in circulation, which do not filter the air coming from the compressors. Individual complaints from pilots, flight personnel or even individuals have already been filed.
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