Air Crew and Passengers still at risk from contaminated air

The story is still running regarding cabin air quality - this was published in Medical News Today.

Passport4Health cannot improve your cabin air quality but it can improve your body's ability to cope with the toxins from the engine fumes.

Second call for a 'Public Inquiry' into the ongoing exposure of passengers and crews to contaminated air on UK transport aircraft backed by all major opposition parties. The Government refused the call for the Public Inquiry despite acknowledging that oil fumes are reported in 1% of flights (1 in every 100 flights). A year later and the Government has still not taken any action to prevent passengers and crews from being exposed to toxic chemicals in passenger aircraft or to ensure passengers are informed when such exposures have occurred.

They fail to utilize data from international experts and appear designed to protect the airline industry rather than the health and safety of the travelling public and working crews. The German Broadcaster WDR has undertaken swab tests on 30 European passenger aircraft of which 28 positively identified the presence of the neurotoxic and immunotoxic organophosphate chemical, Tricresyl Phosphate (TCP). TCP is present in most commercial jet engine oils.

With a growing number of crews dying and becoming ill with brain tumours and other serious neurological illnesses, why does the Government refuse to agree to an independent epidemiological survey of crews?

"The airline industry funded Civil Aviation Authority has negligently failed to protect the travelling public. There is overwhelming evidence to show that exposure to contaminated cabin air is causing unacceptable risks to health and flight safety and the precautionary principle should be applied. Solutions to resolve this problem such as installing filtration technologies or developing non toxic oils exist and they know it."

All commercial jet aircraft supply breathing air for passengers and crews taken directly from the engines and supplied unfiltered to the passenger cabin. This air, known as 'bleed air' is known to become contaminated with hazardous chemicals present in synthetic jet engine oils and hydraulic fluids. These chemicals include the organophosphates 'tricresyl phosphate' and 'tributyl phosphate'.

For more information and solutions go to www.passport4health.co.uk. Stay fit4flying!

Cabin crew get compensation for breast cancer

Denmark compensates women who developed breast cancer after working nights... but Britain denies there's a risk - reported today in the Mail

Almost 40 air cabin crew, nurses and soldiers received payouts from the Danish government after the World Health Organisation ruled that working at night may have caused the disease.

Night shifts were rated just one rung below asbestos and smoking in the league table of potential cancer triggers. More than 3.5million Britons work nights, which research suggests disrupts production of a hormone that keeps breast tumours in check.

Women over 50 are screened for breast cancer in the UK. The Health and Safety Executive said a link between the cancer and shift work was 'not compelling'

The risk of prostate cancer may also be increased, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the WHO. They commented that disruption to the normal cycle of being awake during the day and asleep at night may suppress the production of the hormone melatonin which has some beneficial effects in preventing some steps leading to cancer.'

Previous studies have shown that breast cancer tumours grow roughly twice as fast as normal when exposed to blood which is low in melatonin.

The Danish government is the first in the world to classify breast cancer among shift workers as an industrial injury.

Those who will receive compensation include Ulla Mahnkop, who developed cancer in both breasts after spending 30 years working as a flight attendant. She said she would have left her job if she had known the dangers. 'I wouldn't have been flying for that many years,' she said. (Note: the risks become cumulative - the longer you fly the higher the risk becomes)

In Britain, a two-year study into the effects of shift work on health has been commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive. However, a spokesman said: 'At the moment, the evidence of a risk is not so compelling that the HSE feels preventive action should be taken in workplaces.'

Professor Andrew Watterson, an occupational health specialist at Stirling University, said: 'I think we can say there is a big public health problem here. The evidence has been good over a long period of time about cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal problems and nights. But lawyers warned it would be difficult to win a claim in Britain.

When Jet Noise can be Fatal

Nic Fleming of the Daily Telegraph has recently reported that people with high blood pressure are at a higher risk of death if they live near an airport. If planes take off or land nearby whilst you are asleep it raises your blood pressure and for people who already have an elevated pressure this could be dangerous. A study has shown that not only is the pressure raised immediately but if the noise continues then it can become long term.

The Hyena project funded by the European Commission found that living near an airport increased your risk of hypertension (a risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and dementia) by 50%. And for every 10dB increase an average increase in the chances of having hypertension rises by 14%. For those living near an airport (or for crew sleeping in a nearby hotel) this is a cause for concern as night noise levels can increase by up to 30dB as a plane takes off or lands.