OP News : August 2007

Dr Sarah MacKenzie Ross has had her first study published in the Journal of Occupational Health and Safety in New Zealand and Australia, Vol 23 (2) April 2007. This is the initial study involving 25 agricultural workers exposed to OPs. The control group of 22 non-exposed people took the same neuropsychological tests.

This study was carried out when there was a hope of legal proceedings and all the participants were referred by their solicitors, and written informed consent was obtained. However, a judge in chambers decided that there was not sufficient evidence of a causal link between OP exposure and neuropsychological damage and therefore the case would not be heard in court.

Dr MacKenzie Ross' latest study involves substantial funding from DEFRA and a much larger exposed cohort. This new study also involves an American geneticist, Professor C Furlong of Seattle, who is carrying out genetic analyses from simple blood tests. The study is based in Leeds, Exeter and UCL universities, the last being where Dr MacKenzie Ross is based. This study will carry far more weight and we do encourage anyone with agricultural OP exposure to take part in the study. Contact details:

Julia Britton Tel: 01392 200478 or 07809 767475 Email: j.britton@ucl.ac.uk.

Kelly Abraham, Tel: 01756 790 686. Email: kelly.abraham@ucl.ac.uk.

Support organisation for aircrew

The Aerotoxic Association is a new organisation which is involved with pilots and aircrew who have been exposed to fumes released into cabin air as a result of contamination from an OP (tricresyl phosphate, or TCP). This chemical is used as an anti-wear additive in the engine oils. Although this problem was identified 30 years ago it has been successfully suppressed and met with a wall of silence in the UK and US. As a result of an Australian government report, which listed incidents of neurological and neuropsychologial damage to pilots, an international group of pilots underwent tests carried out by Professor M Abou-Donia of Duke University in America and Dr MacKenzie Ross in the UK. It was established that these pilots were suffering the same type of damage experienced by hundreds of UK sheep farmers exposed to OPs.

The journalist Christopher Booker has written an excellent article published in the Sunday Telegraph here which can be obtained from his online notebook, describing the problems and the meeting held on 18 June in Portcullis House in London. This meeting included 16 aerotoxic sufferers and launched the Aerotoxic Association with the support of 110 MPs and Lord Paul Tyler. The Aerotoxic Association has asked Elizabeth Sigmund of OPIN to become one of the Association's patrons, and we keep in close contact with them.

The Association's website is www.aerotoxic.org and their contact details are: Aerotoxic Association PO Box BM Aerotoxic Association, London WC1N 3XX tel (44) 01295 770808.

Despite the powerful evidence from both groups of OP-exposed people our government refuses to accept that OPs can cause direct and permanent damage. We wait to see what will happen: as we all know, this affair seems to cause such silent panic among our official bodies that we have to stick to our guns and be aware that any successful outcome may well take years of continuing struggle.