Medical Whistleblower wishes to thank Senator
Dianne Feinstein of California for bringing the issue of Aerotoxic Syndrome
into the discussion of the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety
Improvement Act. Senators have given final passage to the FAA Air
Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act (S.1451 / H.R. 1586) by
a vote of 93 to 0. The bill was introduced by Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.,
chairman of the Senate's commerce committee, and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman
of the aviation subcommittee.
Two important aspects of this new legislation
relate to Medical Whistleblower advocacy efforts. There will be protection for
passengers so that there will no longer be incidents of being stranded on
tarmacs longer than 3 hours. This problem was presented to the US Congress by
passenger rights groups in cooperation with transportation whistleblower
groups.
The protection for stranded passengers is part of
larger bill that provides a blueprint for Federal Aviation Administration
programs for the next two years, including an acceleration of the agency's
timetable for modernizing the nation's air traffic control system. The
provision would provide for the human rights of passengers and their health and
safety by: 1) Requiring planes delayed more than three hours to return to a
gate to give passengers the opportunity to get off 2) Requiring airlines to
provide passengers with food, potable water, comfortable cabin temperature and
ventilation, and adequate restrooms while a plane is delayed on the ground.
Senator Feinstein added an amendment designed to address the problem of toxins in the cabin air on airplanes. This amendment addresses the issue of toxins entering the ventilation systems on commercial aircraft. Designed to ensure the FAA has the necessary information to protect the American public from exposure to harmful contaminants while flying the amendment calls for the following: 1) It would require FAA to complete a study of cabin air quality within one year. 2) The amendment would provide FAA with the authority to mandate that airlines allow air quality monitoring on their aircraft for the purposes of the study.
This amendment was necessary because the air in the passenger cabin is a mixture of re-circulated cabin air and fresh air that is compressed in the airplane engine. Airplane cabin air can get contaminated with engine oils or hydraulic fluids that get heated to very high temperatures, often appearing as a smelly haze or smoke. These aerosolized toxins that appear as a haze or smoke that enters the cabin air and can contain carbon monoxide gas, neurotoxic chemicals called tricresylphosphates (TCPs) and also heavy metals. Exposure to these toxins can cause serious health problems including:
Fatigue feeling exhausted, even after sleep
Blurred or tunnel vision
Shaking and tremors
Loss of balance and vertigo
Seizures
Loss of consciousness
Memory impairment
Headache
Tinnitus
Light-headedness, dizziness
Confusion / cognitive problems
Feeling intoxicated
Nausea
Diarrhea
Vomiting
Coughs
Breathing difficulties (shortness of breath)
Irritation of eyes, nose and upper airways
Tightness in chest
Respiratory failure requiring oxygen
Increased heart rate and palpitations
At present there appears to be no FAA standard
for identifying or preventing the presence of toxic fumes in aircraft cabins.
This newly enacted legislation would now require that the Federal Aviation
Administration implement a research program to identify appropriate
and effective air cleaning technology and sensor technology for the engine and
auxiliary power unit air supplied to the passenger cabin and flight deck of all
pressurized aircraft. But there should be more than a "research
program" to study what equipment most effectively fixes this air quality
problem.
There is already the Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner
which already eliminates the possibility of cabin air contamination by engine
oil. Instead of bleed air, cabin air is supplied by electrically-driven
compressors.
In even in today's existing bleed air aircraft, the
quality of cabin air could be improved, and the risk of contamination by engine
oil reduced with these solutions, all of which could be easily and relatively
cheaply implemented: 1) Installation of bleed air filters 2) A less toxic oil
formulation. The French company NYCO already has suitable oil available with
approved for use in most airliners. 3) Contaminated air detectors in the bleed
air supplies.
See the previous OpEd News article on this subject: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Airline-Travelers-in-Dange-by-MedicalWhistleblow-090816-488.html
Listen to archived Medical Whistleblower blogtalk radio show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/medicalwhistleblower/2009/08/19/aerotoxic-syndrome
For additional information on this topic please see The Aerotoxic Association website at http://www.aerotoxic.org/
