Ongoing AFA Activity and Hot Topics

2006 Sick from poor aircraft air quality? Print this information packet! Practical advice on what to do if your symptoms may be caused by breathing contaminated aircraft air. Also, use the checklist for steps to take to protect yourself, report events to the pilot and your airline, ask AFA what product(s) are used on that aircraft type and get a copy of the Material Safety Data Sheet for your doctor to read, and give your doctor the necessary background information found in the AFA information packet.  Products that you can be exposed to include Mobil Jet Oil II, Mobil Jet Oil 254, Mobil Jet Oil 291, Skydrol, Exxon/BP 25/2197/2380/2389, Royco 808, and Chevron Hyjet. Get the specifics for your flight from AFA. Also, keep in mind that it is in the interest of the manufacturers to downplay any hazards on these data sheets (see Aug 2004, below). Make sure your doctor understands the potential for acute and chronic symptoms, even with low-level exposures. AFA recommends this language for a more appropriate hazard warning on the labels of these engine oils and hydraulic fluids.

May 2006 Mumps outbreak update Read the May 18 update from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) here. CDC has issued warnings of possible exposure to the mumps virus during air travel. Mumps can be spread by airborne exposure from people coughing and sneezing. Presumably, it can also be spread by hand to mouth contact with infected surfaces. As of April 11, the CDC had reports of two potentially infectious travelers who had flown on a variety of flights operated by Mesaba Airlines, Northwest Airlines, American Eagle, and American Airlines between March 26 and April 2. It is likely that the number of infected air travelers will increase, at least in the short term, given that the disease is now spreading. The CDC is recommending that fellow travelers reduce their chances of infection with the mumps vaccine. The CDC is also recommending that people monitor themselves for symptoms within 21 days of air travel.

Aug 2005 OSHA succumbs to pressure to settle case with ExxonMobil (see Aug 2004). Crewmembers and their doctors need to understand that the current "warnings" that ExxonMobil has published ignore the health risks associated with inhalation of engine oils and ignore the toxicity of meta and para isomers of the neurotoxic tricresylphosphates. Bottom line: if you are a hen, drink large volumes of engine oil, and are only worried about short-term effects to your peripheral nervous system, then the current warnings on the ExxonMobil labels and data sheets are okay.

Aug 2004 OSHA cites engine oil manufacturer Crewmembers and passengers can suffer neurological damage after exposure to aerosolized oil mists in the cabin and cockpit of commercial aircraft. In Feb 2004, AFA filed a complaint with OSHA, stating that ExxonMobil had, without basis, watered down the warnings about nervous system damage on the labels and Material Safety Data Sheets of its jet engine oils. ExxonMobil was relying on research that was incomplete and irrelevant to the exposure conditions and symptoms experienced by crewmembers and passengers.

2003 Aviation Organophosphate Information Site (AOPIS) releases documentary video on aircraft air supply contamination and the serious health effects it can cause among flight attendants, pilots, and passengers

Aug 2003 (last update) Aircraft air quality and you: what you need to know about the air you breathe at work Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO

July 2003 AFA review of FAA response to 2002 National Research Council committee recommendations on aircraft air quality In January 2002, the NRC Committee on Air Quality in Passenger Cabins of Commercial Aircraft released a report that detailed its year-long assessment of air quality on commercial aircraft, including ten recommendations. So far, the FAA has failed to take any meaningful action.  

June 2003 Aircraft air quality: What's wrong with it and what needs to be done AFA submission to the Aviation Subcommittee of The Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, US House of Representatives. Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO. Also see passenger submission to Aviation Subcommittee hearing

June 2003 Timeline of events related to the introduction of ozone exposure standards on commercial aircraft, 1976-1983  Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO

Feb 2003 Position paper of the International Task Group on Aircraft Air Quality Labor group under the International Transport Workers' Federation concerned about aircraft air quality; members represent cabin crew in the US, Australia, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and South America.

Jan 16, 2003 FAA issues a recommendation (not a regulation) that aircraft passengers not be left without ventilation for more than 30 minutes. We are unaware of action by the airlines to implement this recommendation as policy.

Dec 2002. Answers to frequently asked questions about air supply contamination incidents: chemicals and symptoms Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO

Nov 2002 Update on oil switch at Alaska Airlines and its relevance to crew and passenger health

Aug 29, 2002 UK regulator issues recommendations to airlines in light of increased number of reports of pilot incapacitation Oil leaking from the engines or APU into the air supply systems cited as "the most probable source" of the reports, and state that reducing occurrences of oil contamination will also reduce the risk of flight crew incapacitation.

Jan 2002 One page synopsis of NRC report on aircraft air quality Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO

Oct 2000 Air Safety and Cabin Air Quality In the BAe-146 Aircraft Official report outlining two-year bipartisan Australian Senate inquiry into complaints of ill health and compromised aviation safety on the BAe146 aircraft

More Information

FAA regulations and recommendations

Search 14 CFR Parts 25 and 121 for the following current and historical regulations:

14 CFR 25.831 – Design standard for ventilation, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide

14 CFR 25.832 – Design standard for ozone

14 CFR 25.841 – Design standard for cabin altitude and depressurization limits

14 CFR 121.578 – Operating standard for ozone (not enforced)

14 CFR 121.219 – Requirement that cabin be "suitably ventilated," plus an operating limit for carbon monoxide (not enforced)

Airworthiness Directive 2000-15-17 (required): Only applicable to certain aircraft, intended to prevent leaks in particular hydraulic fluid lines that can result in smoke and odors in the passenger cabin or cockpit (Effective Sept 12, 2000)

Advisory Circular 121-35: Recommend that passengers not be left without ventilation for more than 30 minutes (Jan 16, 2003)

Advisory Circular 121-36: Information on possible allergic reactions (peanuts, etc) in-flight (Dec 31, 2002)

Advisory Circular 120-38: Guidance for airlines to comply with ozone regulations (Oct 10, 1980)

Some sources of incident reports

Examples of air quality related incident reports released in Aug 2003, citing symptoms reported by flight crew, serious contamination that was not identified by maintenance first time around, and lax response to fumes due to regular occurrence, all published by the Australian Transportation Safety Board re. symptoms reported by pilots following oil contamination of the aircraft air supply.

Nov 23, 2001 Swedish aviation authority (SHK) investigation into air quality incident onboard a commercial flight Nov 1999 during which the pilots and flight attendants reported symptoms.

Miscellaneous

Jan 2001 AFA submission to the NRC Committee on Air Quality in Passenger Cabins of Commercial Aircraft

Apr 1988 "Contamination of environmental control systems in Hercules Aircraft" Australian Department of Defense, DSTO, Materials Research Laboratory, Melbourne, Victoria. Report MRL-R-1116

Apr 1983 "Inhalation toxicology: III. Evaluation of thermal degradation products from aircraft and automobile engine oils, aircraft hydraulic fluid, and mineral oil" Civil Aeromedical Institute, US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA-AM-83-12) Document available from US National Technical Information Service.