Posted on 04/21/2003 1:05:50 PM PDT by webber
CONSERVATIVE TRUTH
By Tom Barrett
Why do so many people become ill with a variety of minor and not-so-minor maladies soon after flying on commercial airlines? And could there be a connection between this syndrome and the worldwide SARS epidemic?
I recently spoke with a good friend who had just returned from a trip to Utah. I hardly recognized his voice. At some point on his trip he had picked up a sickness that produced heavy coughing and an extremely sore throat. He was flat on his back for two days as a result. He said something very interesting: "I never get sick except after I fly."
Bells started going off in my head. I had heard similar comments from many people over the years.
I myself often come down with a cold or flu symptoms after flying on commercial airliners. I have long been aware of the research into the connection between flying and contagious diseases.
But what caused me to become very interested in this subject at this time was the worldwide concern with SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
Worldwide there have been 3,288 reported cases of SARS resulting in 170 deaths. It is likely that there have been far more cases, as the disease is so new that many physicians and health-care workers have not been trained to recognize it. In addition, there have been documented cases of Chinese hospitals lying about the number of SARS cases, hiding SARS patients from inspection teams, and even filing false death certificates to cover up the number of SARS deaths.
What does this have to do with the airlines? For many years there has been concern over the quality of air in airplane cabins. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) is just one of many health organizations that has expressed concern over diseases acquired while flying. An article in World Airline News (linked below) states, "The problem may be aggravated by the growing use of recirculated air, a fuel-saving measure that may increase the potential for disease transmission in the cabin."
You read it right. Saving fuel is more important than your health. I did a survey of four of the largest airlines in preparation for writing this article.
I was shocked at the cavalier attitude the airline representatives displayed. One said, "Don't you realize that outside air temperature can be as low as minus 70 degrees on high-altitude flights? It would require extra fuel to heat the air so that it could be used in the cabin."
Here is what my informal survey revealed. The people who answered the phones at United and Northwest told me that 100% of their air is recycled.
American told me they use 50% fresh and 50% recycled. No one (not even supervisory personnel) at Delta could answer my question after almost a half hour on the phone. I finally looked at their website while I was waiting and informed the supervisor that her airline uses 50% recycled air.
Delta's website states, "The air you breathe in the airplane cabin is 50% fresh from outside the aircraft and 50% recycled. This re-circulated air is drawn through High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters prior to returning to the cabin. This system results in a total air exchange within 2-3 minutes (20-30 times each hour). This is more frequent than in homes and office buildings." Right, Delta, but in homes and office building people aren't packed shoulder-to-shoulder like sardines. And if your filters are so efficient, why do so many people get sick after flying?
I spoke to about a dozen people altogether at the four airlines. Most tried to convince me that it is technologically impossible to use fresh air at high altitudes. But one lady from American shared some interesting information with me. She told me that the Boeing 727's American used to use provided only fresh air to passengers, but that they have retired all their 727's. Here's a question for the airlines. If the 727 could use fresh air at high altitudes, why can't you engineer current aircraft to do the same? The answer is that obviously they can, but that they don't want to spend the money.
I had an interesting exchange with a woman from United. When I mentioned that the airlines will likely be on the wrong end of numerous lawsuits from people who get SARS, she said, "You know what? We'll probably be out of business before they can sue us." When I told her I'd like to quote her, for some reason she refused to give her name.
Anyone who flies and is even mildly observant will have noted that airlines are far more concerned about the safety of their personnel than that of their passengers (protestations that "Passenger Safety is Priority Number One" notwithstanding). All you need to do is look at the simple lap belts provided to passengers, and compare them to the double- cross-chest-plus-lap-belt restraints provided for pilots and flight attendants. So it should come as no surprise that the pilots on your flight are not breathing the same air that you breathe. The linked article below on reveals that pilots are provided a separate air supply with a greater flow rate. If there is no problem, as the airlines claim, why don't the pilots breathe the same air as the people who pay their salaries?
Lest you think me an alarmist, consider these facts. Flight attendants from more than twenty U.S.-based airlines, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), are strongly pressing members of Congress for better standards governing cabin air quality. And the National Academy of Sciences is conducting a cabin air quality study, as required by congressional legislation.
In the second article listed below under "Links", there is a subtitle, "Who Is at Risk For SARS?" The answer, in part, is, "People who have had direct close contact with an infected person, such as those sharing a household with a SARS patient." There is danger of infection from just being in the same household? How about sharing a crowded airline cabin and breathing the same air as the SARS patient?
I suggest that everyone who must fly get one of those little masks that the Japanese wear. When people on your flight ask why you are wearing it, tell them, "I don't want to breathe the recycled air the airline uses in the cabin."
Better yet, hang a sign around your neck for those passengers who are too polite to ask you why you're wearing a mask:
"Danger! This airline recycles air instead of providing safe, fresh air for us to breathe."
We need to let the airlines know that we won't fly on any flight that recycles air that has been breathed, coughed in and sneezed in by hundreds of other passengers. They need to get their economic priorities straight. Yes, it will cost more fuel to provide fresh air to their passengers. It would be worth that cost to prevent the spread of colds, flu, pneumonia and other common respiratory diseases. The advent of SARS, with its risk of death, makes the consideration of the cost of fuel even less important.
NOTE: I seldom do this, but I feel this article is so important that it should be forwarded. In addition to forwarding it to your friends and colleagues, let me suggest that you contact the airlines listed below (and others on which you fly) and express your concerns about airline cabin air quality.
LINKS:
Mysterious Illness: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
Information About Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
Poor Cabin Air Quality Seen as Threat to Health and Safety
Flight Attendants Urge Lawmakers To Focus On Cabin Air Quality
AIRLINES:
American Airlines
800-433-7300
United Airlines
800-241-6522
Northwest Airlines
800-225-2525
Delta Airlines
800-221-1212
I wonder if it would be possible to build railroad cars open to the outside air. Didn't railroad cars have windows you could open before the days of air conditioning?
Why does the flight crew have "extra" restraints? Uhh, maybe because the flight crew is a leeeetle more involved in KEEPING THE AIRPLANE FROM FALLING OUT OF THE SKY than the passengers are?
And the pilots' "separate air supply with a greater flow rate" is an oxygen system which is required by the Federal Aviation Regulations, due to the tiny problem of hypoxia at altitudes above 12,000 feet MSL.
The above hyperventilatory (apologies for the pun) screed is a waste of electrons. It'd be better for this person to actually learn some meteorology, engineering, and aviation before flying (again, apologies for the pun) off the handle with this THE AIRLINES ARE TRYING TO KILL US bilgewater.
I wonder if all
your "facts" are as "true" as this?
Truth is, planes must be
pressurized because
air above ten thousand feet
provides minimal
oxygen. (Even
mountain climbers routinely
must take oxygen.)
BINGO !
Or some editor / publisher trying to get himself free first class travel !
It is filtered. Usually at .5 microns.
That's the percentage of oxygen in the flow to the patient. It's to make up for a decrease in pressure, not a decrease in percentage of oxygen. Oxygen is 21% of air at sea level and in Denver.
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