'Contaminated air' on planes linked to health problems

Conclusion These findings indicate that on rare occasions, pilots have not been able to perform as usual due to poor air quality in the cabin. Also poor air quality has been linked to health problems in the long term. However, there are some limitations of the study that need to be considered: The authors claim they have demonstrated a cause-and-effect relationship based on certain criteria. But with the exception of the acute air toxicity incident investigation reports in the second study, these types of study cannot prove causality. While it is likely that exposure to chemicals is toxic, this study did not link many of the symptoms with on-board air samples. There is still a possibility that the acute symptoms experienced by the pilots and crew were brought on by other things too, not just the contaminated air. With regard to the potential chronic effects, it is even harder to eliminate other factors that may have played a role. The data in the pilot survey was self-reported, which might be subject to bias as people might not remember accurately or might exaggerate health outcomes. There was also a high risk of selection bias as only a small proportion of pilots invited to participate agreed. It is likely that those who didn’t participate hadn’t experienced any obvious health problems. The data from the case studies comes from multiple sources that might not have consistent ways of reporting things, so analysing them as a group might lead to inaccuracies. W...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Lifestyle/exercise Neurology Source Type: news