The quality of cabin and cockpit air is at least as good as the quality of air in other “normal indoor environments” such as offices, schools and homes, according to a study conducted for the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
No occupational exposure limits or guidelines were violated during flights conducted to assess air quality, said the study, conducted by a consortium of the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine and the Hannover Medical School and released March 23 by EASA.
In-flight measurements were conducted on 69 flights between July 2015 and June 2016 using eight types of aircraft/engine configurations; of these, 61 flights were in airplanes with engine bleed air systems and eight were in Boeing 787s equipped with “bleed-free” electrical compressors.
A second study, made public by EASA on the same day, found that the neuroactive products in some turbine engine oils are present in chemical compounds that can be released in cabin or cockpit air but in concentrations too low to constitute a major concern for neuronal function.
The study was conducted by a consortium of the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment.
