Global Cabin Air Quality Executive

Health effects from exposure to contaminated air may vary from short term effects to long lasting chronic effects.

Doctors can refer to the Health Care Providers Guide below and may rely on traditional diagnoses such as Reactive Airways Disease, migraine headaches, or toxic encephalopathy. Alternatively, doctors may simply list symptoms such as deficits in attention, memory, and information processing, or difficulties with balance, for example. Finally some doctors may diagnose a crewmember with "inhalation injury" or "neurological injury from chemical exposure at work."

Some have proposed the term "Aerotoxic Syndrome" to describe the symptoms that affected crewmembers and passengers report after exposure, although this is not yet a universally accepted term.

WHAT CAN BE DONE IF YOU SUSPECT EXPOSURE TO CONTAMINATED AIR AND ADVERSE EFFECTS OR YOU ARE CONCERNED

1. HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS GUIDE:
Obtain a copy of the FAA funded Health Care providers Guide, both quick-reference Health Care Providers' Guide and Full version posted here.

Ensure you take these to all medical appointments.

2. UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON (FURLONG) TCP BLOOD TEST:
If you have been exposed to oil fumes, you need to get your blood tested for the presence of oil additives to support ongoing research.

Complete instructions on how to do this are posted here.

3. UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA (LOCKRIDGE) TOCP BLOOD TEST:
This ongoing research now has enough samples and is not currently accepting new blood samples.

4. NEUROTOXICITY BLOOD TEST:
Another blood test under development is intended to provide objective evidence of brain damage, but it is not specific to toxins. More information here.

There are a range of other tests that crew and their doctors have found useful such as: TBA

5. RESPIRATORY TESTS:
A range of suggested respiratory tests cab be found in the following published paper here.

6. NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENTS OF AUTONOMIC FUNCTION
Information can be seen here.

HEALTH INFORMATION