Tourism. "Aerotoxic Syndrome": Can Airplane Air Harm Our Health?

Have you ever experienced headaches, nausea and/or tremors - or even faintness - while flying? You may have been a victim of "aerotoxic syndrome." This term covers a group of neurological, digestive and respiratory symptoms - such as those mentioned above - that can affect the health of passengers and flight crew in the more or less long term due to contaminated air in the cabin . This is a long-standing problem in the aviation industry that has recently resurfaced in the public debate.

Indeed, on May 22, an investigating judge from the Paris Environment and Public Health Unit heard a flight attendant after he had filed a complaint a year earlier against his employer, Air France. The employee, aged around fifty, denounced a "code of silence" and called on the French carrier to protect its employees by modifying "air filtration." He himself suffered three episodes of illness, which he attributes to "aerotoxic syndrome."

Smoke inside the cabin

How does this happen? To allow us to breathe at altitude, the vast majority of commercial aircraft use a specific pressurization and air conditioning system called "bleed air." The aircraft's engine compressors draw in unfiltered air, which, after being expanded and cooled, is released into the cabin. However, leaks or worn engine seals can allow oil, used for engine lubrication, to leak into the pressurization system, thus polluting the air inside.

Sometimes this contamination causes smoke to escape from the passenger compartment, hence its English name "fume event." Other times, the phenomenon is not visible to the naked eye, but a characteristic "wet socks" smell is noticeable.

Although the problem had been identified for many years—a first case of poisoning was reported in the late 1970s—the scandal truly erupted in 2015, when four Alaska Airlines employees filed a complaint against the aircraft manufacturer Boeing. In France, the first complaint was filed in 2016 by an EasyJet pilot, Éric Bailet, founder of the Association of Victims of Aerotoxic Syndrome (AVSA).

However, "aerotoxic syndrome" is not recognized by health authorities. In 2017, three researchers called in a study published by the WHO for "urgent recognition of this occupational disease." However, at the end of 2023, the French National Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES), contacted by AVSA and several staff unions, postponed this request.

Already existing solutions

While she stated that "many gaseous and particulate pollutants […] are present in aircraft cabins," she believes that the data are insufficient to assess health risks and recommends further research.

Airlines also fail to acknowledge the causal link between cabin air and their employees' symptoms. In 2018, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents airlines, stated that "the long-term health risk to crews (...) is a controversial issue, and while research on the subject must continue, there is a great deal of misinformation (...) that is not scientifically sound."

A position that annoys those most concerned, who believe that solutions already exist, such as specific filters treating the air introduced into the cabin, to prevent contamination.