Last month I attended a conference titled “Cabin Air”. I didn’t know what to expect, but since it was nearby and health was a topic of interest to me, I thought it might be worth finding out what topics were being raised. I did.
As it turns out, it was fascinating. The main subject was “bleed air”, which extracts cabin air from the compression stage of an aircraft engine. Problems arise when there are leaky seals in the system and contaminants such as burnt oil can cause what is called a “smoke phenomenon.”
Continuing to create polluted air can cause a variety of symptoms, from nausea, eye and skin irritation to neurological problems such as migraines, dizziness, confusion and altered mental status. I learned.
Surprisingly, the aircraft is not equipped with sensors to alert the flight deck of the occurrence of haze. Instead, crew members are wary of an odor often described as “dirty socks” coming from the air vents. The problem here is that scent is subjective and can often be overlooked in combination with other scents on board.
This has become a major problem as the number of airline crews affected by what is called ‘aviation toxicity syndrome’ is increasing day by day. Many people attended the meeting, and although they loved flying, they all said they suffered from cabin sickness.
Fortunately, there are things you can do. Sensors were a good first step, and oil blenders produced lubricants that do not release toxic chemical chains when burned. Future aircraft designs could also be improved. For example, the B787 uses a completely different design for the cabin air, but no toxic emissions have been reported for this type of aircraft.
However, there was a sense on the floor that the airline industry was not doing enough, and participants believed that this was becoming unclear. I plan to write more about this issue next year and think it could be the next big aviation scandal of our time.
