Is flying making you sick?

A new study commissioned by the British Government is about to investigate claims contaminated cabin air is making pilots and passengers ill.

The study will examine levels of so-called "dirty air" or "bleed air" — thought to be caused by leaking engine oil making its way into the cabin — in five aircraft types. There are concerns that this "dirty air" could be causing cabin crew, pilots and passengers to suffer nausea, headaches, dizziness and lethargy.

Investigating the flighty facts
The UK Department of Health's Committee on Toxicity estimates that one in 2000 flights are the subject of "fume events". However, last year, only 116 cases of contaminated air were reported to the UK's Civil Aviation Authority, out of a total 1.3 million passengers and cargo flights. British airline unions, however, claim the real figures are much higher.

The pressure is on
So what's causing the contamination? Experts say it's caused by air from deep within the engines being used to pressurise the cabin. This "bleed air" is siphoned off from the engines before the fuel is burned, cooled, and then pumped into the cabin for unsuspecting passengers and crew to breathe in. Faulty seals, which are prone to leaking when the plane is grounded and during take-off and landing, mean the air can the become contaminated with engine oil.

A sickening study
The study, which was commissioned by the British Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority, and conducted by researchers at Cranfield University, aims to measure the cabin air on five different types of aircraft, from five different airlines. The research hopes to identify if toxins are present in the air, and if so, develop filters to prevent contaminates from entering the cabin.

"It's going to be difficult, and that's why we are using the latest equipment to do it," says Professor Helen Muir, who is heading the research team. "We are looking for volatile organic chemicals to a very high level of accuracy. This sort of thing doesn't happen often in aviation."

UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Aviation spokesman, Jim Fitzpatrick, notes this is a world-first. "We are filling a gap in the worldwide knowledge because there are no published studies of air sampling during fume events anywhere."