Airline Air Quality - Check out the Buzz

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http://www.msnbc.com/news/287950.asp

Mystery sickness baffles air industry

Flight attendants complain of headaches, nausea, more

REUTERS

SEATTLE, July 8 — Flight attendants who crisscross the globe have complained

for years of occasional headaches, nausea or dizziness that cannot be

explained by jet lag or a bad day. That, plus disturbing although rare cases

of permanently disabling tremors among flight attendants, have galvanized

one labor union to fight what it charges is widespread poisoning of its

members — and of air passengers — on commercial jets.

‘We have not found any evidence that there is anything on board the

aircraft that is causing these problems.’

— JACK EVANS Alaska Airlines

TWENTY-SIX FLIGHT attendants have filed a civil lawsuit in King County court

in Seattle alleging Alaska Air Group Inc. endangered their health by poor

maintenance on MD-80 aircraft and ignored their complaints. The suit also

names McDonnell Corp., which built the plane and was bought by

Boeing Co. in 1997, and AlliedSignal Inc., which makes a backup engine the

suit says spewed toxic fumes into MD-80 cabins.

Two of the 26 flight attendants are women in their mid-30s who say

they are permanently disabled with Parkinson’s disease-type body tremors and

are unlikely ever to fly again. A trial date has been set for August 2000,

when 700 witnesses —many from abroad — are expected to be called.

Similar lawsuits are in various stages of litigation in Australia and

Canada.

“Flight attendants on a lot of carriers are having problems but they

don’t know what they are. They haven’t figured out the link like we have,”

said Joni Benson, who heads an air quality committee at the Alaska Airlines

branch of the flight attendants union, the Association of Flight Attendants.

“If you don’t know what to look for, more often than not these incidents are

chalked up to some sort of a virus.”

SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ELSEWHERE

Benson recently met union representatives from Europe and elsewhere

and said similar symptoms had been reported at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines,

China Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Air BC in Canada. “We are just now

beginning to delve into how serious this is worldwide,” she said.

Benson told Reuters the AFA branch at Alaska Airlines has 1,400

documented cases of symptoms attributed to noxious fumes dating back 10

years. The U.S. aviation industry acknowledges there is a problem and has

been investigating but is baffled.

“People here have rolled up their sleeves and (worked) on this

problem for 10 years,” said Jack , a spokesman for Alaska Airlines. But

Alaska’s thorough checks show no link between the illnesses and its

airplanes, said.

Is cabin air hazardous to your health?

“We certainly believe there is something wrong affecting these

individuals. We just feel that after 10 years and after all the things we

have looked at it is not the planes that are causing them to be sick,” he

said. “We have not found any evidence that there is anything on board the

aircraft that is causing these problems.”

The AFA and Alaska Airlines have explored many possible causes

including fumes from hydraulic fluids, air ventilation systems, possible

organophosphate poisoning, ozone and even ash from volcanic eruptions. The

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is also conducting studies but so far

it has no evidence of problems outside of Alaska.

“It is very hard to pin down because it seems to be specifically

related to the MD-80 aircraft and one airline. We would like to know if

there are other airlines out there that are experiencing the same thing,” an

FAA spokesperson said.

OILS, OTHER FLUIDS MAY FOUL CABIN AIR

Most aircraft have a trough inside the belly of the plane to catch

spills from engine oil, hydraulic fluid and other lubricants. It carries the

fluid to the back of the plane and funnels it outside through tiny “weep

holes.”

In some planes the weep holes are very close to the air intake door

for the Auxiliary Power Unit used to run electrical systems when a plane is

on the ground. “The fluids go out the plane and immediately get sucked right

back in and get piped into the ventilation system,” Benson said.

Passengers are affected less than flight attendants, who spend more

time in the air and breathe more heavily pushing meal carts up and down the

aisles than the seated passengers. But one labor source close to the AFA

said thousands of passengers have been made ill by toxic airplane air and

have quietly settled with the airlines.

Alaska Airlines denies that claim. It says reported medical problems

among travelers that were brought to its attention have all involved people

with previous health complications.

The International Airline Passengers Association, a group of 100,000

frequent flyers, has logged relatively few such complaints. “We have looked

into the issue numerous times because periodically we get complaints, but we

haven’t seen any in quite a long time,” IAPA spokesman Hal Salfen said.

“Overall airplane air quality, if properly maintained, is not that

big a problem,” he added.

Boeing agrees maintenance is the key to preventing pollution on airliners.

With proper use, the APU will not pump toxic fumes into the cabin, said

Space, a Boeing engineer who works on cabin air quality.

“This is really an issue with Alaska Airlines,” he said. “You’d need

to look at the maintenance practices. Boeing is not involved.”

said Alaska has taken many steps to resolve the problem,

changing all the fluids used to clean cabins, installing high-efficiency

filters and establishing new routines and standards for cleaning the

ventilation system and for exposure to hydraulic fluids.

He said Alaska sees next year’s court case as a chance to refute

union claims that it has tried to cover up the problem.

“We think we will be able to show that we’ve taken extreme steps to

be looking for what could potentially be causing these symptoms to occur,

and also that we’ve been open and willing to address them,” he said.

© 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or

redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior

written consent of Reuters.

Is cabin air hazardous to your health?

Close quarters, recycled air can be unhealthy

Sitting next to a sick passenger may be the greatest aircraft health risk of

all.

By Jane Ellen s

MSNBC

When we fly, is the air we breathe in commercial airliners dangerous? No,

but it can sometimes be unhealthy, some experts say. But the questions that

no one knows the answer to are: How unhealthy? For whom? How often? And with

what effects? And when flight attendants and passengers complain about

dizziness, nausea, lightheadedness and constant upper respiratory ailments,

could it be caused by something other than cabin air?

Airline

Would you pay higher air fares to fund cabin air quality studies?

* 1171 responses

Yes

49%

No

51%

THE U.S. ECONOMY’S taken off. The number of passengers on commercial

airlines shot up 23 percent in the last five years to 548 million in 1997.

Business travelers and vacationers are crammed into jet aircraft like

sardines. And so many people complain about coming down with colds or flu a

day or two after their flights that rumors of bad cabin air abound.

But are these rumors true? Do captains really cut back on pumping in

fresh air to save airlines money? Do first-class fliers breathe cleaner air

than people folded and tucked into economy class? Is recirculated cabin air

more likely to be unhealthy than fresh air?

Documented cases of disease spreading on airlines are few. The

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracked six cases from 1992 to

1995 in which planes unwittingly carried passengers infected with

tuberculosis. In only one of those — in which six out of 257 passengers came

down with tuberculosis — did researchers conclude that

passenger-to-passenger contact caused the spread of the disease, and in none

did they blame cabin air quality.

In 1979, an aircraft with an engine malfunction sat on the ground for

three hours without its ventilation system working. It operated on 100

percent outside air, and had no recirculation system. One person on the

plane had the flu. Three days after the incident, 38 of the 54 people on

board came down with the flu. Other reports are anecdotal, from flight

attendants who can’t shake off colds for weeks, to passengers who feel dizzy

and nauseous. Most put the blame on the air they breathe.

After nearly a decade of Congressional hearings and the threat of

legislation, airline companies and aircraft manufacturers turned to the

American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers

(ASHRAE) for help. ASHRAE, an international engineering research and

educational organization of 50,000 engineers, is the same group that

established standards for indoor air quality.

SPC (standard project committee) 161 was born in June 1996 with 19

members whose job it is to set air quality standards for commercial

aircraft.

“There’s a big difference of opinion among the committee members,”

says Dr. , a toxicologist in the medical sciences division of NASA

’s Space and Life Sciences Directorate at the Space Center in

Houston.

AIR QUALITY DEBATE

At one end of the spectrum is committee member Witkowski,

director of air safety and health at the Association of Flight Attendants in

Washington, D.C. “There definitely is a problem with air quality,” he says.

But according to Space, senior engineer for environmental

control systems at the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group outside Seattle,

“Studies show that current air quality standards for offices and spacecraft

are being met on aircraft.”

The crux of the problem, say critics, is that aircraft air quality

standards are incomplete. And the FAA has no system of spot checks to make

sure that airlines are complying with existing regulations.

There are air quality standards for offices on the ground. The U.S.

Occupational Health and Safety Administration puts limits on 15 chemicals

and the concentration of particles in the air. And there are air quality

standards for offices in space. NASA regulates SMACs — Spacecraft Maximum

Allowable Concentrations — for 13 chemicals and particulates on board the

space shuttles.

But for commercial aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration

regulates only three chemicals: carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and ozone.

Isn’t there a simple solution? Can’t we just apply OSHA or NASA standards

to airplanes? It’s not that easy, says committee chair and environmental

engineer Larry Holcomb, president of Holcomb Environmental Services in

Olivet, Mich.: “Aircraft are different.”

Jets fly in a hostile environment — extremely cold, oxygen-poor, dry

air at very low pressures.

First off, explains Holcomb, it’s nearly impossible to supply 15-20 cubic

feet of outside air per person per minute, as in offices. The more fresh air

pumped in, the more difficult it is to humidify the cabin. Although the

ASHRAE standard for humidity in offices is 40 to 60 percent, the air on

planes is normally as dry as a Southwest desert in summer, less than 25

percent humidity. Dry air can lead to respiratory problems, especially for

asthmatics and those with allergies. But humidity can’t be increased, says

Holcomb, because “you get condensation in the outer wall, which can lead to

structural failures.”

Cabins are also pressurized to protect passengers from the deadly

effects of oxygen-poor high altitudes. But those pressures may reach the

equivalent of 8,000 feet of altitude when planes fly at 40,000 feet.

Research has shown that in aircraft pressurized to 8,000 feet, oxygen levels

in the bloodstream drop: The decreased air pressure doesn’t force as much

oxygen into the bloodstream through the exchange sites in the lungs. The

general effects on human performance and health are unknown. Reactions to

hypoxia — oxygen depletion — vary with the individual, but the elderly and

those who have health problems may be affected more often than others, says

Holcomb. And pumping more fresh air into the cabin won’t make a difference.

Fresh air comes into the cabin through the engines. This extremely

hot air is cooled and filtered for particles and ozone. But critics charge

that the system cannot possibly filter out all the viruses that could cause

passenger illness. “Viral particles are so small that is plainly ridiculous

to suggest that you could filter them out,” Dr. Dagwood, medical

adviser to Conde Nast Traveler, reported in the magazine’s current issue.

While the Federal Aviation Administration admits there is reason for

concern, it pointed out to the magazine that the sophisticated filters are

the same type used in hospitals. Critics don’t find that reassuring,

pointing out that that so-called nosocomial infections — hospital-acquired

viral and bacterial ailments caught by a patient who entered the institution

for an entirely different reason — are a major cause of sickness and even

death.

Once cooled and filtered, the air is distributed throughout the cabin

through strips that run along the upper sides of the cabin wall above the

windows. In larger planes, the strips run above the middle rows of seat.

Most planes provide small knobs known as “gaspers” so that passengers can

control airflow over their seats. An exhaust system sucks the air into ducts

that line the cabin wall at foot level.

Most newer-generation planes, such as Boeing 767s, recirculate half

the air. About 10 cubic feet of fresh air per passenger is pumped in each

minute and mixed with an equal amount of filtered recirculated air, for a

total of 20 cubic feet per minute of air per person. Cabin air is completely

exchanged every two to three minutes. The pilot can control the temperature

of the air going through the cabin.

Part 2: First class won’t buy you better air

http://www.msnbc.com/news/158662.asp

First class won’t buy you better air

Fuel-saving techniques affect air quality throughout aircraft

By Jane Ellen s

MSNBC

While there’s no major difference between the air in first-class and in

economy, preparation of meals may slightly alter cabin air quality levels in

nearby areas of a commercial aircraft. But just sitting in close quarters

may pose health risks, experts say.

PREPARATION OF of meals may slightly alter air quality levels in different

parts of the cabin. So does concentration of passengers, who emit chemicals

from the simple fact that they’re alive. They exhale, cough, exhale gas,

sweat and even emit gases through their skin. Bacteria on the skin of people

who don’t bathe often emit their own gases. While high quantities of these

chemicals are known to be hazardous to our health, the question of whether

the closed environment of an aircraft places us at even greater risk is the

subject of debate.

On older aircraft — such as 727s and 737 classics, which make up less than

half the planes flying today — pilots can turn off one of the air

conditioning packs to save fuel. This can increase levels of carbon dioxide

and make the cabin feel stuffy. High carbon dioxide levels can also induce

drowsiness and dizziness, or even cause fainting. But levels of carbon

dioxide have to increase to 5,000 parts per million to cause “mild

physiological strain” and to above 30,000 parts per million to cause serious

harm. And several studies show that carbon dioxide rarely, if ever, reaches

levels high enough to cause problems; it fluctuates between 600 and 1,500

parts per million. On newer aircraft, if one air-conditioning pack is turned

off, the other automatically goes to a higher setting, Space says.

In some planes, the cockpit receives 100 percent bleed air to keep

instruments cold. But recirculating air isn’t necessarily dirtier than fresh

air. In fact, fresh air may not be as clean as people assume. No one really

knows. Much of the research into aircraft air quality was done in the 1980s,

and focused on the effects of smoking on cabin air, not on the pollutants

that might be drawn with the fresh from the engine.

But Spengler, professor of environmental health at Harvard University,

told Conde Nast Traveler that the recycled air may indeed cause problems.

Spengler, whose his research shows that U.S. airlines have long recycled

air, told the magazine that that it can result in higher concentration of

carbon dioxide than are desirable.

BATHROOM ODORS

What about siting near a bathroom? The lavatories on Boeing airplanes are

designed to prevent air or odors from entering the cabin; air is drawn from

below the toilet rim, then ducted to below the floor for expulsion via the

aft outflow valve. At the same time, air is provided into the lavatory from

a ceiling nozzle connected to the main cabin air supply system.

Nevertheless, full planes, with frequent opening and closing of

doors, often allow a temporary escape of odors into the cabin, Space says.

In addition, a partial, albeit temporary, closure of the aft outflow valve

during descent may result in some odor migration from below the floor to the

cabin. While there have been no cases of serious ills associated with such

odors, reports of nausea are common.

Today, a number of studies are in the works to try to settle the larger

question of cabin air quality.

ASHRAE is paying Energen Consulting Inc. in Germantown, Md., $150,000 to do

a one-year study into bleed air to identify and measure air contaminants in

the aircraft air supply system.

The Association of Flight Attendants is funding research into the health of

flight attendants. And the National Institute of Occupational Safety and

Health (NIOSH) is doing a study on the reproductive health of flight

attendants, a component of which addresses cabin air quality.

ASHRAE is also investigating other characteristics of the aircraft’s

environment that might contribute to symptoms reported by flight attendants

and passengers. These include three-dimensional motion that could make

people nauseous, jet lag that contributes to exhaustion, continuous noise

that causes stress and headaches, and low humidity.

ASHRAE hopes to come up with cabin air quality standards by January 2000,

says Holcomb. And then the FAA would have to set up a system — and the

money — to implement the standards.

After all that, the cabin air could be as pristine as a computer

manufacturer’s clean room, and people could still get sick, says Holcomb,

just because they’re in such close quarters.

“If I’m sitting next to someone with the flu, I’ve got a real high

percentage of getting it.” His solution: to convince people who insist on

flying sick to wear face masks.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/158048.asp

Are planes equipped for health ills?

Maybe, but it’s best to take prevention into your own hands

By Jane Ellen s

MSNBC

While commercial airplanes are now required to carry emergency medical kits,

flight crews may have little, if any, knowledge about how to use the

equipment. But the chances of having a physician on board should there be an

emergency are pretty good. In a 1991 survey, a doctor was available 85

percent of the time. Just in case, though, here are some tips for staying

healthy.

When passengers have a medical emergency during a flight, airlines rely on

the chances that a physician, nurse or emergency medical technician will be

on board to help.

AFTER A COUPLE of highly publicized in-flight heart attacks in which the

passengers died, some airlines are adding defibrillators to the kits.

Medical kits contain bandages, splints, antiseptic swabs,

stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs. They also contain nitroglycerin

tablets for cardiac-related chest pain, epinephrine and diphenydramine HCl

for allergic reactions, and dextrose for hypoglycemia or insulin shock.

But there’s a good chance flight crew members will not know how to

use the medicines and equipment.

“We have very basic first-aid training,” says Kay Hanke,

international vice president of the Association of Flight Attendants. “We’re

not training paramedics.”

Flight attendants receive 40 hours of emergency training, largely to

deal with fires, cabin depressurization and operation of emergency

evacuation equipment. Some airlines provide CPR training, some don’t.

When passengers have a medical emergency during a flight, airlines

rely on the chances that a physician, nurse or emergency medical technician

will be on board to help until the plane can land and get the victim to a

hospital.

It’s not known how many people have in-flight medical emergencies.

The airlines aren’t required to report that information to the Federal

Aviation Administration, although some keep their own records.

The FAA has collected two years of data that was published in 1991.

Of the 2,322 reported in-flight medical emergencies, 33 people died. The

chances of having a physician on board were pretty good: 85 percent of the

time a doctor responded to the call for help.

But what’s not known is how many of those deaths could have been

prevented with better equipment; whether the medical kit’s contents were

sufficient to handle the emergencies; or whether better training of flight

attendants would have made a difference.

The FAA began a study two years ago that is looking into medical

emergencies to identify the type of emergency, the medical equipment needed

and used, the responding treatment and the outcome. The study should be

published this year.

In the meantime, Congress has introduced two bills, one of which asks

the FAA to re-evaluate the contents of medical kits and to make a decision

about requiring airlines to add defibrillators. The other bill asks the FAA

to re-evaluate medical emergency training for flight attendants.

But there are steps you can take to improve your own in-flight health.

To avoid dehydration problems associated with cabin humidity:

Drink water and juices.

Drink coffee, tea and alcohol in moderation. They are diuretics and will

increase dehydration.

Remove contact lenses.

Use a skin moisturizer.

If you have allergies or asthma, ask your doctor before the flight for

medications to help.

DON’T TAKE THIS SITTING DOWN

While sitting in one place for a long time, the central blood vessels in

your legs compress, increasing the risk of blood clots in the legs; this can

be fatal if a clot breaks off, travels through the bloodstream and blocks a

lung artery. In a British study of 61 people who died suddenly after

long-distance flights, almost one in five had suffered a blood clot in the

lung arteries, a condition known as pulmonary embolism.

Inactivity can result in muscle tension, backaches or a feeling of

exhaustion. And a cramped position inhibits the body from circulating fluid,

and your feet can swell.

Light exercises are your best bet. Move your feet up and down and in

circles, do heel lifts, knee lifts, shoulder rolls, arm curls, overhead

stretches and neck rolls.

CABIN PRESSURE

Cabin pressures at 30,000 feet are the same as a person would feel

when climbing an 8,000-foot mountain.

If you suffer from upper respiratory or sinus infections, obstructive

pulmonary diseases, anemias or certain cardiovascular conditions, you might

need supplemental oxygen. Before a flight, ask your doctor. If he or she

recommends oxygen, call the airlines and request supplemental oxygen during

the flight.

If you have a cold, flu, allergies or sinus trouble, changes in cabin

pressure can cause earaches. On ascent and descent, swallow, yawn or chew

gum. About 30 minutes before descent use nasal spray or decongestant to help

open your ear and sinus passages.

If you’re flying with a baby, give the child a pacifier or feed the child

during descent. Sucking and swallowing help the baby to equalize the

pressure in the ears.

Motion sickness is caused by an upset in your sense of equilibrium, either

from air turbulence, or a discrepancy between where you think you are and

where you you are. Ask for a window seat. If the weather’s clear, keeping

your eye on the horizon, the ground or sea will keep a sense of equilibrium.

Flying on larger aircraft may help. Eat a high-carbohydrate meal, full of

whole-grain breads, pasta and fruits and veggies, about two to three hours

before your flight. And ask your doctor about motion-sickness medication.