Organophosphates and aircraft cabin air quality
Concerns have been expressed about the potential danger arising from the contamination of cabin air with fumes from engine lubricants containing organophosphates (OPs). Leakage of fumes into cabin air has been responsible for a number of incidents of pilots blacking-out or becoming seriously disorientated (Independent on Sunday, 27 December 1998).
This article looks at the background to the use of lubricants in aircraft engines.
Two reports have been published which examine this issue in the general context of air safety:- a report by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee published in November 2000
- a report of an inquiry by the Australian Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee published in 2000
The DETR has instituted a series of day conferences, entitled Aircraft Health and Safety. The first conference was held at the Medical Research Council Institute for Environment and Health at Leicester University, on Thursday, November 30 2000. One of the delegates was Bruce D'Ancey, a Senior Technical Officer with the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA), and he, with the representative of the Civil Airline Authority, raised their concerns about the issue of ill-health being experienced by aircrew and passengers, possibly caused by vapour from OPs used as lubricants in aircraft fuel leaking into aircraft cabins. This was accepted as an issue that must be addressed among many others at future meetings. This reverses the recommendation of the House of Lords committee that this was not an issue worth pursuing. We have Michael Meacher MP to thank for instigating this inquiry.
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