The problem has been known since the 1950s - roughly 70 years and nothing has ever been done about it. The air in the cabin is still ‚bled off’ (the engines) in airplanes - with the well-known possible consequences for flight safety and health, in particular that of flight crew. We have the cultural history on 'Flying is safe' and the ongoing problems investigated at www.ansTageslicht.de/cabinair (EN).
Although the cabin air is 50% re-circulated in modern aircraft types, the basic problem remains unsolved. With one exception: the Boeing B787. This is/was also the state of knowledge at the first big conference on this topic in London in September 2017. The presentations can now be viewed here: www.aircraftcabinair.com
There are many reasons why no solutions are found: the targeted influencing of scientific discussions, the airlines’ economic interests, the links between politics and air transport industry and other reasons.
The ‚Aerotoxic Logbook’, launched in January 2017, is a first comprehensive documentation addressing the problem of potentially contaminated cabin air (www.ansTageslicht.de/Kabininenluft - German) and documents what is happening in this area. Or, what is not happening. And why not. This German language blog (www.ansTageslicht.de/ATLB) is now also available in English and can be accessed directly via this permalink: www.ansTageslicht.de/ENATLB.
The information we collect in German is translated by Bearnairdine BEAUMONT who operates the network www.aerotoxicteam.com and the blog www.aerotoxicsyndrombook.com/blog.
With the ‚Aerotoxic Logbook’ we want to achieve international networking, bringing together all initiatives and activities to communicate about this unsolved problem and to initiate solutions. At the same time it is a scientific experiment: What must happen before a problem is addressed?
Other initiatives providing information on the contaminated air issue you can get here (right side).
How the knowledge of TCP came about, and the current state of affairs is described en detail at www.ansTageslicht.de/Tricresylphosphate.
In addition, there is a chapter in which the 3 studies of the professional associations on this topic are critically examined: The assertion that there could not have been a fume event because no TCP could be measured is nothing else than a scientific bluff: www.ansTageslicht.de/SCHINDLER-Study.
We had no desire that our research would have such an unexpected twist. We have great respect for this courageous person who is now - poisoned by a substance from the Novichok poison range - fighting for his life in the Berlin Charité. Russian students had already drawn a portrait of this intrepid politician in 2013 - in connection with the project Human Media Democracy: www.ansTageslicht.de/Navalny.
We have now put together another documentation about the substance tricresyl phosphate (TCP), which is added to synthetic turbine oils and can enter the cockpit and/or cabin air during fume events and as such harms people: Novichok and TCP belong to the same chemical family of phosphoric acid esters.
The health consequences of such substances: often lifelong damage to the nerves and muscles, sometimes quickly, sometimes with a time delay. Worst case scenario: death.
As usual with Russian poison attacks: the Russian authorities always deny everything. As usual regarding the health damage caused by fume events or TCP: airlines and the employer’s liability insurers always deny everything. Similarly, the Federal Government: "The Federal Government has no knowledge of this.“
We have reconstructed the problem of TCP and have shown how absurd the claim by Lufthansa, the employer’s liability insurance assocations and their mainstream occupational physicians is: 'Because no TCP can be proven, there can be none, full stop.“
The explanation: TCP cannot be detected in blood or urine - the substance is one of the so-called hit-and-run substances: once it has entered the human body, TCP causes damage and dissolves - virtually undetectable, similar to white asbestos dust. Only very few experts can provide evidence in specialised laboratories: not directly, only indirectly on the basis of chemical indices.
Even though flying and the problem of contaminated cabin air are currently only of secondary importance to the public due to corona, we are continuing to work on this topic.
"We": These are the committed members of the Aerotoxic Global Network, the Patient Initiative P-COC, as well as individual experts who work with ansTageslicht.de, including the initiator of ansTageslicht.de.
Following TCP, the next complex subject will deal with filters: filters as in nose-mouth covering, HEPA filters in aircraft and the air in operating rooms. According to Lufthansa, the air in an aircraft is as clean as in an "operating room". We will continue our research into this.
Why TCP cannot be detected and what this means is compiled under "The Hunt for Tricresyl Phosphate", which can be accessed directly at www.ansTageslicht.de/TCP. The English version is fortcoming at www.ansTageslicht.de/tricresylphosphate.
That's what William SHAKESPEARE would ask himself these days. But he is no longer alive, unfortunately. Therefore Prof. Dieter SCHOLZ answers this question. Now in English.
See the article below.
Prof. Dr. Ing. Dieter SCHOLZ explains in an interview with journalist Markus STEINHAUSEN for 3Sat „Kulturzeit“ (German TV). The airlines advertise with the harmlessness of flying and the cleanliness of the air "like in an operating theatre" – as they want to get their planes full again.
The following are the refutations by the aviation professor, who is not paid by the aviation industry, but teaches and researches at a state-financed university (see entry below):
The much praised HEPA-filters do not filter the cabin air from all viruses or aerosols and therefore the cabin air is not as "clean as in a hospital operating room" (where completely different filter systems are used).
The air in the aircraft is not completely replaced every 3 minutes (which is not possible because 50% of the air is recirculated).
The air does not only circulate from top to bottom because this statement does not take into account the thermal turbulence caused by the body heat of the passengers.
The film also shows an example from 2003, when the SARS virus was raging: The University of Purdue/USA proved in a study that 1 (single) passenger infected a total of 20 other passengers sitting over a total of 12 rows of seats, within three hours.
We highly recommend this film (only 7 min)! The video is available until July 3rd, 2025.
Many rules apply in the meantime: mandatory wearing of masks in shops and other facilities, safety distances and lots more.
For the aviation business it’s only recommendations that exist with which the airlines can do what they want. Because of their economic and political power, they have been able to enforce this.
This is a problem for passengers who have to or want to fly because they can't really protect themselves very well even if they want to. The airlines set the tone: seat allocation on the plane, the ventilation, boarding and disembarking and everything else. The legal situation is unclear, as is the individual health risk.
This is the conclusion reached by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter SCHOLZ from the University of Applied Sciences (HAW) in Hamburg, who is one of the very few people in the world to conduct research into the problem of contaminated cabin air in aircraft, from a technical point of view. Now he has published a small documentation with real recommendations: Sommer 2020 Covid-19, Fliegen: Ja oder Nein? (Summer 2020, COVID-19: Flying: yes or no? English version to follow soon).
