Uncovering the Connection Between Cabin Fumes and Emerging Disease
Air travel is often regarded as a modern miracle; it enables us to travel across large distances in a short amount of time. However, the aviation industry is facing a new problem that could seriously affect the health of passengers and crew. A group of seventeen medical, occupational health specialists, toxicologists, epidemiologists, and aviation experts have spent six years researching and preparing for a new emerging disease caused by exposure to cabin fumes.
The International Task Force on Smoke Events is calling on the aviation industry to take action to protect passengers and crew from the dangerous cabin fumes that have sparked a new emerging disease. Various incidents, including engine oils and hydraulic fluids leaking into the aircraft’s air supply, can cause chronic adverse effects on passengers and crew. Smoke events that mark incidents when there is a noticeable level of pollutants in the cabin can also cause negative effects. The report suggests that the adverse effects can cause confused thinking, dizziness, fatigue, impairment of short-term memory and cognitive thinking, neurological, respiratory, heart problems, and even various types of cancer.
The Medical Protocol for In-Flight Contamination Exposures
Led by Dr. Susan Michaelis, former pilot, and leading global aviation health researcher, specialists have launched the first-of-its-kind medical protocol to treat contamination of the cabin’s breathing air supply and collect data on pollution events. The new medical protocol presents a consensus approach to the recognition, investigation, and management of persons suffering from the toxic effects of inhalation of thermally degraded motor oil and other fluids that contaminate the aircraft’s air conditioning systems. It includes actions and investigations for in-flight follow-up, immediately after the flight, and late after the flight.
The medical protocol and an accompanying narrative review were published in the open access peer-reviewed journal, Environmental health. The narrative review illustrates the diffuse and consistent pattern of adverse effects as documented by aircrew and some passengers after breathing these fumes on board and incorporates findings from smoke event reports and documented adverse health effects that were collected over decades in various countries and regions.
The First Comprehensive and Systematic Approach
Dr. Michaelis said that the entire data and evidence collected so far strongly suggests a causal connection between contaminants in oils and hydraulic fluids and people’s discomfort. This is the first comprehensive and systematic approach to document and collect more epidemiological data on what is a discrete and emergent occupational health syndrome.
Professor Andrew Watterson from the University of Stirling said that this is a groundbreaking and globally important study using a narrative review of a significant and complex problem for those exposed to cabin air supply fumes. It results in a variety of serious, often adverse effects. It generated an essential tool in the process, based on recent research, in the form of a protocol to better identify, assess, and document those effects in the future.
Expanding on the Topic
The aviation industry has been under enormous pressure to improve its environmental performance by reducing emissions and noise pollution over the past decades. Until recently, the problem of cabin fumes has been widely ignored by the aviation industry and regulators. It is a common misconception that the air quality in an aircraft is safe. Part of the problem is that the way the cabin is ventilated is different from how it is done in other enclosed spaces.
Air is sucked from the environment outside and compressed at high pressures before entering the cabin. It is then mixed with cabin air before being blasted through overhead vents. However, this procedure can sometimes cause contamination of the ventilation system because the air comes from a source that is not monitored for quality.
In conclusion, the aviation industry is facing a new challenge; a new emerging disease caused by exposure to cabin fumes. The International Task Force on Smoke Events has published a groundbreaking and systematic approach to document and collect more epidemiological data on this emerging health syndrome. Regulatory authorities and workers must review the new medical protocol and recommendations and implement them in a timely manner following the advice of specialists and experts in the field. By taking prompt measures, we can significantly reduce the risk of dangerous cabin fumes, protect passengers and crew, and make air travel safer and more efficient.
—————————————————-
| Article | Link |
|---|---|
| UK Artful Impressions | Premiere Etsy Store |
| Sponsored Content | View |
| 90’s Rock Band Review | View |
| Ted Lasso’s MacBook Guide | View |
| Nature’s Secret to More Energy | View |
| Ancient Recipe for Weight Loss | View |
| MacBook Air i3 vs i5 | View |
| You Need a VPN in 2023 – Liberty Shield | View |
A group of world-leading health experts and scientists are calling on the aviation industry to take action to protect passengers and crew from dangerous cabin fumes that they say have sparked a new emerging disease.
Led by Dr. Susan Michaelis, former pilot and leading global aviation health researcher, specialists have launched the first-of-its-kind medical protocol to help treat people affected by contamination of the cabin’s breathing air supply. of the aircraft and collect data on pollution events.
The International Task Force on Smoke Events, made up of 17 medical, occupational health specialists, toxicologists, epidemiologists and aviation experts, has spent six years researching and preparing the evidence and guidance. The result is a unique protocol for medical personnel and airline personnel without medical training that outlines the actions and investigations they should take when a person has been exposed to fumes or smoke events.
Crew and passengers are exposed to chronically low levels of engine oils and hydraulic fluids that leak into the aircraft’s air supply during every flight. They may also experience adverse effects from more irregular “smoke” events, which mark incidents when there is a noticeable level of pollutants in the cabin.
Dr Michaelis, Honorary Principal Investigator from the University of Stirling, said: “This has been going on for the last 70 years and reports of aircrew becoming ill continue to rise.
“Currently, when crew or passengers get sick, whether they’re still on the plane, have symptoms in the days or weeks that follow, or report illness in the years that follow, there’s nothing in the medical books, there’s no evidence material. guidance for the aviation industry or medical professionals and are very often turned away or given minimal testing.
“This new medical protocol has been written by internationally recognized experts and presents a consensus approach to the recognition, investigation and management of persons suffering from the toxic effects of inhalation of thermally degraded motor oil and other fluids that contaminate the aircraft air conditioning systems, and includes actions and investigations for in-flight follow-up, immediately after the flight and late after the flight.
“All the data and evidence collected strongly suggest a causal connection between contaminants in oils and hydraulic fluids and people’s discomfort. This is the first comprehensive and systematic approach to document and collect more epidemiological data on what is a problem discrete and emergent occupational”. health syndrome”.
The medical protocol and an accompanying narrative review were published in the open access peer-reviewed journal, Enviromental health.
The narrative review illustrates the diffuse and consistent pattern of adverse effects, as documented by aircrew and some passengers, after breathing these fumes on board and incorporates findings from smoke event reports and documented adverse health effects. which were collected over decades in various countries and regions.
Professor Andrew Watterson from the University of Stirling said: “This is a groundbreaking and globally important study using a narrative review of a significant and complex problem for those exposed to cabin air supply fumes from aircraft that result in a variety of often serious adverse effects.
“It has generated a very useful tool in the process, based on recent research, in the form of a protocol to better identify, assess, and document those effects in the future.”
Exposure to air pollution events and aircraft smoke is associated with documented impairment and incapacitation of the crew, which jeopardizes the safety of the flight. These exposures are known to cause confused thinking, dizziness, fatigue, and impairment of short-term memory and cognitive thinking. It can also cause neurological, respiratory, and heart problems, while other studies have established links to various types of cancer.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230530174304.htm
—————————————————-