London: Toxic air inside airplane cabins breathed by passengers, pilots and cabin crew has been linked to cancer, chronic fatigue and neurological problems, according to a new study in a World Health Organisation (WHO) journal.
The Public Health Panorama report into “aerotoxic syndrome” — effects on health due to exposure to bleed air used to pressurise aircraft cabins, that has been contaminated with chemicals such as engine oil — found a clear link between both short- and long-term symptoms and illnesses and toxic fume events, The Daily Telegraph reported.
In 2015 more than 3.5 billion passengers and over 5,00,000 pilots and cabin crew were exposed to low levels of engine oils in the air, the report said.
The study looked at more than 200 airline workers who had been exposed to toxic cabin air and found a variety of health effects, including eye, nose and throat irritations, skin reactions, recurrent respiratory tract infections and fatigue, nausea and cramps.
Other diagnoses included “cardiovascular, neurobehavioural, neurological and respiratory symptoms, chronic fatigue, multiple chemical sensitivity, aerotoxic syndrome, cancer, soft tissue damage and chemical exposure”.
Scientists conducted two separate reviews of flight attendant safety, examining the circumstances and symptoms of working in a pressurised air environments. One test looked at pilots’ health and found that 88 per cent were aware of exposure to contaminated air.
Almost 65 per cent reported specific health problems while 13 per cent had died or experienced chronic ill health.
The other tests looked at specific oil leaks. It found that 80 per cent involved toxic fumes and all of them took place when the aircraft was preparing for, or in flight.
Two-thirds of the incidents involved further reports of fumes both before and after the incident. A further 93 per cent involved symptoms ranging from in-flight impairment such as dizziness and headaches.
