Airline Cabins To Be Tested For Fumes

Pilots' union BALPA has welcomed a government decision to test the cabins of commercial jets for toxic fumes. The move comes after a government-backed report called for an investigation into whether pilots are being disorientated by poor quality air.

The Department for Transport (DfT) hopes to begin tests this year after warnings from airline pilots and academics that cabin fumes are an under-reported problem.

The committee on toxicity said there was a 'large body of anecdotal and descriptive evidence' linking ill-health among crew with poor air quality, but further work was needed to show if there was a definite link. 'Overall the committee concluded that the available evidence, although limited, together with information from pilots, supported further investigation of neuro-psychological impairment in commercial pilots,' said the report.

It recommended that the DfT test thousands of flights on a range of aircraft for the presence of harmful fumes such as carbon monoxide, although it said it was 'not possible to conclude' that there was a causal link to ill-health.

Pilots' union BALPA maintains that air crew have been made ill by air being sucked in through jet engines, becoming contaminated with oil fumes, and then pumped on board through air ventilation systems. 'We believe that all stakeholders in our industry need to work together to better understand the problem on contaminated air, and we will press for this bipartisan approach to continue,' said BALPA chair Mervyn Granshaw.

The committee on toxicity's report follows a recent study that found that 27 commercial jet pilots had suffered memory loss and cognitive failure corresponding with symptoms of exposure to toxic organophosphates.

The study by Sarah Mackenzie-Ross, a neuro-psychologist from University College London, revealed that pilots from airlines including British Airways and Flybe had suffered memory lapses, fatigue and dizziness.

Source: Risks

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