Aerotoxic syndrome
[13] In 1996, Air UK reported overuse of a disinfectant (formaldehyde) for the toilets and to clean the galley floor and that inhalation of the fumes from that chemical, would produce light-headedness, headaches and nausea.
[20] After examination, a doctor ruled that chronic and toxic fume inhalation had rendered Myers "incapable of functioning" as an airline captain.
[22][23] The UK Parliament's Select Committee on Science and Technology concluded in its response to the many complaints received "from a number of witnesses, particularly the Organophosphate Information Network, BALPA, and the International Association of Flight Attendants, expressing concerns about the risk of tricresyl phosphate (TCP or TOCP) poisoning for cabin occupants, particularly for crew who might be subjected to repeated exposure in some aircraft types, as a result of oil leaking into the cabin air supply.
"[15] According to a 2008 report by former British Airways head doctor Michael Bagshaw, Aviation Medicine Director at King's College London and an advisor to Airbus, there have been no peer-reviewed recorded cases of neurological harm in humans following TCP exposure.
[26][27] In his 2013 paper, "Cabin Air Quality: A review of current aviation medical understanding," Bagshaw noted further: "A German study in 2013 of 332 crew members who had reported fume/odour during their last flight failed to detect metabolites of TCP in urine samples.
"[18] The evidence was independently reviewed by the Aerospace Medical Association, the US National Academy of Sciences and the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) Expert Panel.
There is strong scientific evidence that nocebo effects can lead to (sometimes severely disabling) illness from environmental exposures that are perceived as hazardous.
[29] The nocebo effect may also be inadequate at explaining the prevalence and consistency of symptoms experienced by people exposed to engine oil fumes on aircraft.
These symptoms can have a significant impact on the health and well-being of aircrew, potentially affecting their ability to perform their duties safely and effectively.
[31][32] In a 2006 article in Aviation Today, Simon Bennett found that media coverage of contaminated cabin air has been sensationalized, with distortions of facts.
Bennett noted that the article with the latter subtitle stated in its body that the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) found that oil seal failures occur once in every 22,000 flights.
[33] When the results of a clinical audit of the "cognitive functioning of aircrew exposed to contaminated air" were submitted by Sarah Mackenzie Ross to the UK government's Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT),[34] some media used it to write articles that were sensational and misleading.
[33] Dagbladet.no wrote that the Ross report "... adds weight to the hypothesis that compounds resembling nerve gas in cabin and flight deck air have caused irreparable neurological damage to aircrew",[33] though the report itself stated that: "[T]he evidence available to us in this audit does not enable us to draw firm conclusions regarding a causal link with exposure to contaminated air."
Former British Airways Captain Tristan Loraine BCAi also produced a number of documentaries on the subject matter through Fact Not Fiction Films.
