BBC Radio 4 broadcasts a programme which investigates the problem of fumes in aircraft.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/genre/genre_news.shtml#file.

The majority of claims against agrochemical firms by farmers and farmworkers have survived a review by a high court judge. The claims are being handled by Lis Charles at solicitors Gabb and Co of Hay-on-Wye, Hereford. The cases will go forward as individual cases but with cooperation among the claimants on issues of common interest.
www.gabb.co.uk/trusts.htm.

A BAe 146 aircraft travelling between Paris and Birmingham had to land with automatic assistance after both the pilot and co-pilot suffered ill-effects and nearly passed out after they inhaled toxic fumes. Although the incident happened on 5 November 2000, it has only just surfaced in the UK press (Private Eye 20 April 2001, Observer 22 April 2001). The aircraft was carrying five crew and 42 passengers. The pilot and co-pilot suffered nausea, disorientation and difficulty in focussing, the co-pilot had trembling hands and had to be helped to put on his oxygen mask; both pilots were taken to hospital as soon as the aircraft landed.

Air safety experts have called for more than 200 BAe 146 jetliners, including three with the Queen's Flight, to be grounded. The Liberal Democrat MP, Paul Tyler, is to pursue this subject with parliamentary questions.

The report of an Australian Senate inquiry recommended that all BAe 146 aircraft should be grounded. Dr Chris Winder, head of Safety Sciences at the University of New South Wales, who has given evidence to the inquiry, said that many people now believe that all BAe 146s should be grounded. He said "We call it the 'Flying Gas Chamber'".

The DETR has appointed a committee at the Medical Research Council Leicester to hold further meetings to discuss deep vein thrombosis and air cabin quality.

The OPs used as lubricants in aircraft jet engines are TCP (tricresyl phosphate) known to cause OP induced neuropathy. There are 207 BAe 146s in use around the world, and 115 of these are in service in the UK, three in the Queen's Flight.

The HSE are to undertake research into neurological disorders in children with suspected exposure to OPs. In a letter to OPIN Professor David Coggon, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides, asks OPIN to collaborate by liaising with parents who have contacted OPIN with concerns about their children's ill-health.

This follows a meeting held in 1998 between members of OPIN, Dr Vyvyan Howard of Liverpool University and senior members of HSE, at which OPIN raised the question of a number of families on the OPIN database reporting learning difficulties, speech impairment, short-term memory loss and cognitive deficits in their children.

Professor Coggon asks that parents and medical advisors be asked to co-operate on a confidential basis with Dr John Osman of the Pesticide Investigative Advisory Panel in gathering further information on this subject, to be presented to the ACP for their assessment.

The DETR has approved Stage 2 of a study into air travel and health, which will include an examination of air quality on board aircraft. The results of the study will help to decide what further research will be supported later this year. The Stage 1 study identified the main areas of concern. The Stage 1 report can be found at www.aviation.detr.gov.uk/aircab/index.htm.

The Government announces a research programme to investigate the effects of OPs on human health, to be funded by MAFF, DOH and HSE. Projects have been selected after an 'independent scientific assessment' of responses to the invitation on 20 July 2000 to scientists to submit research proposals. The projects to be funded will address the following questions:

How common is dipper's flu and what causes it?

'Prospective Cohort Study of Sheep Dip Exposure and Dippers Flu'. University of Wales School of Medicine. Start date : 1 April 2001

Does low-level exposure to OPs cause disabling neurological or psychiatric disease in a small sub-group of exposed persons?

'Disabling neuropsychiatric disease in farmers exposed to Organophosphates'. University of Manchester. Start date : 1 June 2001

Other than acetylcholinesterase inhibition, what mechanisms play an important role in the causation of adverse health effects by OPs?

'Characterisation of nonacetylcholinesterase actions of Organophosphates by identification of novel protein targets' MRC Leicester. Start date : 1 April 2001

'Investigation of possible autoimmune responses induced by Organophosphate exposure'. Health and Safety Laboratory, Sheffield. Start date : 1 April 2001

Dr David Ray of the MRC Leicester says this work is "to ascertain how many protein targets there are in the human body, and to describe their reactions to OPs". He says that they are working with a Chilean scientist who is collecting blood samples from subjects involved in agricultural uses of OPs.

What are the effects of low level exposure to OPs on children exposed directly or in the womb?

'A Review of the effects of low-level exposure to Organophosphate pesticides on foetal and childhood health'. MRC Institute for Environment and Health (IEH), Leicester. Start date : April 2001

Dr David Ray of the MRC Leicester is to work with others to review literature, but only that relating to human data - not considering animal studies. They are also considering preliminary studies currently available.

A separate study is being undertaken by the members of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, IOM Edinburgh and the West London Institute of Neurological Science, entitled: 'Survey of Health Complaints amongst sheep dippers'. This survey is also being funded by MAFF, the DOH and the HSE.

Other work is also being considered for inclusion in the research programme.

Further funding for compensation claims against manufacturers of organophosphate sheepdips is being made available following a successful appeal to the Legal Services Commission by Gabb & Co, a Herefordshire firm of solicitors. (See Gabb & Co press release).