THE FORGOTTEN POLLUTION: CABIN AIR QUALITY IN COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT
by Rein A. Roos PhD
As a cold plasma (charged particles) specialist, with a PhD on the subject of the University of Paris, I have always been interested in aeronautical accidents under freezing conditions. This because an aircraft body can behave as a “magnet” to humidity, when it becomes electrically charged by the combustion process in the engines.
Some details can be found in my book “The Forgotten Pollution*”, where I treated the accident of Air Inter flight 148 on the Ste Odile mountain, and I mentioned the crash of the F27-500 F-BPUI in France and the SAS DC-9, flight 751 in Sweden.
Recently this knowledge was used to analyze the basics of what is often called the “Aerotoxic Syndrome” .
An interesting article concerning a type of forgotten pollution appeared in a major Dutch journal DeTelegraaf on the 9th February 2017. It concerns a stewardess who was initially summarily dismissed, but still looses her job at the KLM, the major Dutch airline company, because she suffers from a non recognized professional illness named “aerotoxic syndrome”
THE FORGOTTEN AIRLINER POLLUTION AND THE AEROTOXIC SYNDROME*
by Rein A. Roos
Aero-Toxic Syndrome is more then a “phrase” invented by Harry Hoffman, Chris Winder and Jean Christophe Balouet in 1999, to describe a number of short and long term ill-health effects caused by being subjected to cabin air alleged to have been contaminated to toxic levels by atomized engine oils or other chemicals. Inhalation is, however, only the tip of the transfer ice berg, which also consists of skin deposition, skin penetration, pore manipulation through electrostatic forces and discharges caused by elevated or wrongly directed electric fields. This happens also close to the skin propagating in that way the chemical kaleidoscope covering the crew’s uniforms.
All this, when investigated in the context of Traditional Chinese Medicine, shows that the used term "syndrome" is indeed the right one. The mentioned atomization, is likely a far too simple approach when it comes to the behavior of the synthesized oil and chemical vapors released in the hostile environment present in the aircraft jets and which, after various treatments, is send to the cabin as clean "bleed air".
The symptoms caused by the Aero - Toxicity Syndrome seems for many, like the National Research Council (NRC) to be “broad and nonspecific”. Their review is based mainly on cabin temperature and pressure, and they recommend to add eventually: O3, CO, CO2, and RH. When it comes to the real “suspects”: Phosphor, Sulfur, Hydro Carbons, Bio and Aerosol particles, the instruments necessary to measure them are for the Council [1]: either “not suited”, or “not yet available” or “too expensive”. A stalemate affecting the health of crews and passengers world wide.
Because the sensitivity to these “building blocks” of life depends strongly on the defense system of the person, could be the cause of the seemingly incoherent number of persons falling ill to this aerotoxic syndrome.
For this reason, further investigation into the electrostatic dimension of the aerotoxic syndrome could be a far better approach then trying to conceal the problem by firing the messengers. (read full article here)
The Forgotten Pollution* - Rein André Roos, Kluwer Academic Press 1996
The Forgotten Airliner Pollution and the Aerotoxic Syndrome* - Rein André Roos
Propagation of an airborne virus
Propagation of an airborne virus depends very much on the total electrical charge and humidity present. But also on the size of the virus and its eventual carrier. Assuming the total charge of both to be one elementary charge, then such a particle-virus combination of 0.3µm will be suspended indefinitely in the air because of an equilibrium between the upwards directed force from the electrostatic field of the Earth which is some 180 V/m and the gravitational force. The same size of 0.3 µm is also ideal to pass filters because of the Greenfield gap. This gap is caused by addition of different aerosol particle interception mechanisms, which are:
1. Interception
2. Inertial Impaction
3. Diffusion
4. Gravitational settling
5. Electrostatic attraction
Hinds (1982) says about this approach: These five deposition mechanisms form the basis set of mechanisms for all type of aerosol deposition, including deposition in a lung, in a sampling tube or even in an air cleaner. His chapter about filtering is extremely interesting and can be found at:
Unfortunately this is from the 2nd Edition where the electric charge on particles is not present as it was in the 1st edition.
Concerning the Greenfield gap this is well visible in drawing 9-9 and 9-9.
http://www.academia.edu/attachments/44879607/download_file?s=portfolio
Rein André ROOS
As a cold plasma (charged particles) specialist, with a PhD on the subject of the University of Paris, I have always been interested in aeronautical accidents under freezing conditions. This because an aircraft body can behave as a “magnet” to humidity, when it becomes electrically charged by the combustion process in the engines.
Some details can be found in my book “The Forgotten Pollution*”, where I treated the accident of Air Inter flight 148 on the Ste Odile mountain, and I mentioned the crash of the F27-500 F-BPUI in France and the SAS DC-9, flight 751 in Sweden.
Recently this knowledge was used to analyze the basics of what is often called the “Aerotoxic Syndrome” .
An interesting article concerning a type of forgotten pollution appeared in a major Dutch journal DeTelegraaf on the 9th February 2017. It concerns a stewardess who was initially summarily dismissed, but still looses her job at the KLM, the major Dutch airline company, because she suffers from a non recognized professional illness named “aerotoxic syndrome”
THE FORGOTTEN AIRLINER POLLUTION AND THE AEROTOXIC SYNDROME*
by Rein A. Roos
Aero-Toxic Syndrome is more then a “phrase” invented by Harry Hoffman, Chris Winder and Jean Christophe Balouet in 1999, to describe a number of short and long term ill-health effects caused by being subjected to cabin air alleged to have been contaminated to toxic levels by atomized engine oils or other chemicals. Inhalation is, however, only the tip of the transfer ice berg, which also consists of skin deposition, skin penetration, pore manipulation through electrostatic forces and discharges caused by elevated or wrongly directed electric fields. This happens also close to the skin propagating in that way the chemical kaleidoscope covering the crew’s uniforms.
All this, when investigated in the context of Traditional Chinese Medicine, shows that the used term "syndrome" is indeed the right one. The mentioned atomization, is likely a far too simple approach when it comes to the behavior of the synthesized oil and chemical vapors released in the hostile environment present in the aircraft jets and which, after various treatments, is send to the cabin as clean "bleed air".
The symptoms caused by the Aero - Toxicity Syndrome seems for many, like the National Research Council (NRC) to be “broad and nonspecific”. Their review is based mainly on cabin temperature and pressure, and they recommend to add eventually: O3, CO, CO2, and RH. When it comes to the real “suspects”: Phosphor, Sulfur, Hydro Carbons, Bio and Aerosol particles, the instruments necessary to measure them are for the Council [1]: either “not suited”, or “not yet available” or “too expensive”. A stalemate affecting the health of crews and passengers world wide.
Because the sensitivity to these “building blocks” of life depends strongly on the defense system of the person, could be the cause of the seemingly incoherent number of persons falling ill to this aerotoxic syndrome.
For this reason, further investigation into the electrostatic dimension of the aerotoxic syndrome could be a far better approach then trying to conceal the problem by firing the messengers. (read full article here)
The Forgotten Pollution* - Rein André Roos, Kluwer Academic Press 1996
The Forgotten Airliner Pollution and the Aerotoxic Syndrome* - Rein André Roos
Propagation of an airborne virus
Propagation of an airborne virus depends very much on the total electrical charge and humidity present. But also on the size of the virus and its eventual carrier. Assuming the total charge of both to be one elementary charge, then such a particle-virus combination of 0.3µm will be suspended indefinitely in the air because of an equilibrium between the upwards directed force from the electrostatic field of the Earth which is some 180 V/m and the gravitational force. The same size of 0.3 µm is also ideal to pass filters because of the Greenfield gap. This gap is caused by addition of different aerosol particle interception mechanisms, which are:
1. Interception
2. Inertial Impaction
3. Diffusion
4. Gravitational settling
5. Electrostatic attraction
Hinds (1982) says about this approach: These five deposition mechanisms form the basis set of mechanisms for all type of aerosol deposition, including deposition in a lung, in a sampling tube or even in an air cleaner. His chapter about filtering is extremely interesting and can be found at:
Unfortunately this is from the 2nd Edition where the electric charge on particles is not present as it was in the 1st edition.
Concerning the Greenfield gap this is well visible in drawing 9-9 and 9-9.
http://www.academia.edu/attachments/44879607/download_file?s=portfolio
Rein André ROOS
