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OCR for page R1
Brie Aim
Cal Imp
AIR QUALll Y AND SAFEI Y
Committee on Airliner Cabin Air Quality
Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
Commission on Life Sciences
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1986
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report
was approved by the Governing Board of the National
Research Council, whose members are drawn from the
councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the
National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of
Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for
the report were chosen for their special competences and
with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the
authors according to procedures approved by a Report
Review Committee consisting of members of the National
Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering,
and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was established by the
National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the
broad community of science and technology with the
Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of
advising the federal government. The Council operates
in accordance with general policies determined by the
Academy under the authority of its congressional charter
of 1863, which establishes the Academy as a private,
nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation. The
Council has become the principal operating agency of
both the National Academy of Sciences and the National
Academy of Engineering in the conduct of their services
to the government, the public, and the scientific and
engineering communities. It is administered jointly by
both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. The
National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of
Medicine were established in 1964 and 1970, respectively,
under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences.
This project was prepared under Contract No.
DTFA01-85-C-00013 between the National Academy of
Sciences and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Available from: National Academy Press,
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20418
International Standard Book Number 0-309-03690-9
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, August 1986
Second Printing, November 1986
Third Printing, March 1987
Fourth Printing, March 1988
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COMMITTEE ON AIRLINER CABIN AIR QUALITY
Thomas C. Charmers (Chairman), Mount Sinai Medical
Center, New York, New York
Paul F. Halfpenny (Vice-Chairman), Van Nuys,
California
John D. Spengler (Vice-Chairman), Harvard School of
Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
Harriet A. Surge, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
Michigan
Edward J. Calabrese, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts
Stephen M. Horvath, University of California,
Santa Barbara, California
Nan M. Laird, Harvard School of Public Health,
Boston, Massachusetts
* Genevieve Matanoski, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, Maryland
me,
James M. Melius, National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio
Matthew I. Radnofsky, Seabrook, Texas
Donald H. Stedman, University of Denver, Denver,
Colorado
National Research Council Staff
James A. Frazier, ProJect Director
Devra Lee Davis, Acting Director, BEST
Andrew M. Pope, Staff Officer
Rob Coppock, Staff Officer
Alison Kamat, Information Specialist
Judy Tiger, Administrative Secretary
Jean Perrin, Administrative Secretary
Norman Grossblatt, Editor
* Until February 1986.
Until December 1985.
iii
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BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
Donald Hornig (Chairman), Harvard University, Boston,
Massachus et to
Alvin L. Aim, Thermal Analytical, Inc., Waltham,
Massachusetts
Richard N. L. Andrews, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
William E. Cooper, Michigan State University, East
Lansing, Michigan
John Doull, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas
City, Kansas
Emmanuel Farber, University of Toronto, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada
John W. Farrington, Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
BenJamin G. Ferris, Harvard School of Public Health,
Boston, Massachusetts
Philip Landrigan, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York,
New York
Raymond C. Loehr, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
Roger Minear, University of Illinois, Urbana,
Illinois
Philip A. Palmer, E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.,
Wilmington, Delaware
Emil Pfitzer, Hoffman-La Roche, Inc., Nutley, New
Jersey
Paul Portney, Resources for the Future, Washington,
D.C.
Paul Risser, Illinois Natural History Survey,
Champaign, Illinois
William H. Rodgers, University of Washington, Seattle,
Washington
F. Sherwood Rowland, University of California, Irvine,
California
Liane B. Russell, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak
Ridge, Tennessee
Ellen Silbergeld, Environmental Defense Fund,
Washington, D.C.
Peter Spencer, Albert Einstein College of Medicine,
Bronx, New York
Gerald Wogan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Massachusetts
iv
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Ex Officio
Gary P. Carlson, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana
Thomas Chalmers, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York,
New York
Arthur B. DuBois, John 8. Pierce Foundation Laboratory,
New Haven, Connecticut
Alan M. Goldberg, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore,
Maryland
Bernard D. Goldstein, Robert Wood Johnson Medical
School, Piscataway, New Jersey
David Jollow, Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Roger O. McClellan, Lovelace Inhalation Toxicology
Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Norton Nelson, New York University Medical Center, New
York, New York
Duncan T. Patten, Arizona State University, Tempe,
Arizona
National Research Council Staff
Devra Lee Davis, Acting Director, BEST
Jacqueline Prince, Staff Associate
v
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PREFACE
This study came about because a series of
Congressional hearings in 1983 and 1984 revealed that
the available data on airliner cabin air quality were
contradictory. Concern was expressed about the absence
of standards for many aspects of cabin air quality that
annoyed passengers and crew. The regulatory community
and the airline industry asserted that present standards
and practices were adequate and that the aircraft
environment endangered the health and safety of neither
passengers nor crew.
As a result of the hearings, Congress, in Public Law
98-466, mandated that the National Academy of Sciences
conduct a study to determine whether air quality and
standards aboard commercial aircraft are adequate for
the health and safety of all who fly. The Academy was
asked to determine whether such aspects of cabin air as
the quantity of outside air, the quality of onboard air,
the extent of pressurization, the characteristics of
humidification, the presence of cosmic radiation,
contaminants (such as bacteria, fungi, and other
microorganisms), and pollutants (such as environmental
tobacco smoke, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and
ozone) could be responsible for health problems in the
long or short run; to recommend remedies for problems
discovered; and to outline the safety precautions
necessary to protect passengers in event of in-flight
fires, which produce smoke and fumes. Accordingly, the
Committee on Airliner Cabin Air Quality was established
in the National Research Council's Commission on Life
Sciences.
Issues the Committee addressed included the
following: Are there problems with the air quality in
commercial airliners? If no, what is the potential
public health significance for those exposed over the
vi
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short or long term? Are the problems solely those of
brief discomfort, or are the health and safety of crew
and passengers threatened? How well established is the
threat? What can be done to alleviate it?
The Committee has reviewed the available pertinent
information to reach an independent scientific consensus
on these issues. Unfortunately, evidence on these
questions is sparse, especially on health effects.
Carefully designed epidemiologic studies of health
effects associated with air travel are virtually
nonexistent, and most of the relevant published reports
deal only with specific incidents. Hence, it is
difficult to evaluate the risk to the exposed population.
Indeed, the dearth of pertinent data limits conclusions
about the potential for adverse health effects to no
more than estimates. Much more research must be
conducted before risks can be accurately assessed.
The words "health" and "safety" are emphasized
throughout. The Committee found it difficult to
pigeonhole problems neatly as related to health, safety,
comfort, or combinations of these. For example, the
time required to evacuate a plane if fire occurs is
certainly a safety issue, but it is also a health matter,
in that evacuees will be subject to toxic fumes for a
longer or shorter time. Cigarette smoking might be
primarily a comfort issue for both nonsmokers exposed to
smoke and smokers deprived of their stimulant; it might
also be a health issue for nonsmokers, as well as
smokers; it is certainly a safety issue if cigarettes
are improperly disposed.
The importance of these distinctions is that the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), for which this
study wan prepared, might not have the statutory
authority to deal with some issues the Committee
identifies. Distributed authority for the management of
a situation is not unusual. For example, whether a
radiation hazard is managed under the mandates of the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of
Transportation, or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
will depend on whether the radiation source is in a
nuclear-energy producing facility, is in transit, or is
being disposed of.
vii
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As scientists and engineers, we cannot determine
whether FAA alone can address the questions we raise,
nor can we easily say whether they are questions of
health, safety, or comfort. The legislative branch (if
law must be clarified or written) and the executive
branch (if, for example, coordination among agencies is
required) must sort out responsibilities in appropriate
ways.
The Committee has gathered for the first time much
important information about a complex environment. As a
result of the study, we make one recommendation that
clearly will be controversial. It is unanimously and
forcefully proposing that smoking be banned on all
commercial flights within the United States. The reasons
are presented and elaborated in the text and executive
summary, but the process by which the decision was
reached belongs here.
First, it should be emphasized that the makeup of
the Committee was diverse, and only three of the 11
members were physicians with experience in the care of
patients crippled or dying as a result of cigarette-
smoking. Most of the members are ax-smokers who are
admittedly annoyed by cigarette smoke in airliner cabins,
as well as other public environments. However, most
began the study with the assumption that addicted smokers
could not be deprived of their habit over long flights,
and therefore smoking could not be prohibited, especially
on longer flights. Development of support for a complete
ban was gradual, as the evidence of contamination and the
impossibility of adequate cleansing of the cabin air
became more and more apparent. The coup de grace to
smoking in airliners was the realization that diminished
ventilation with outside air and increased recirculation
of air, a characteristic of almost all new airliner
models, will increase previous levels of toxic products
of cigarette-nmoking in nonsmoking sections of the cabin.
When smoking is permitted, the result of these changes
places cabin air ventilation in violation of the building
coder for most other indoor environments.
We recognize that prohibition of smoking on airplanes
will cause discomfort and annoyance among inveterate
smokers and the tobacco industry, but it is also likely
to be supported by the majority of the flying public and
cabin crew members. We hope that the controversies
viii
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likely to arise regarding this recommendation will not
divert deserved attention from the other notable
proposals of the report, especially the call for much
more research on other aspects of cabin air quality.
To conduct its study, the Committee reviewed the
available scientific and technical literature, including
characteristics of various models of modern aircraft. It
conducted a series of technical meetings and briefings
with experts in relevant fields. In addition, members
made a number of site visits to evaluate specific aspects
of the issues before the Committee. The sites included:
National Airport, to examine the cabin air circulation
machinery of a TWA MD-80; the FAA Technical Center in
New Jersey, to review procedures for testing flammability
of cabin materials; the United Airlines flight attendant
training Center in Chicago, to gather information about
emergency training procedures; and the Boeing Commercial
Airplane Company in Seattle, to explore developments in
aircraft design. We are grateful to all those who
educated and informed us during these visits. The
Committee also thanks FAA for its support in supplying
the information and assistance we requested. The
Committee is unanimous in its praise of National Research
Council staff, who worked prodigiously to make our job
easier and more effective. Equally important, I thank
the Committee members for their hard work in individually
reviewing data and writing the text and for their good
humor and substantive contributions to our many meetings.
r
Thomas C. Chalmers, Chairman
Committee on Airliner Cabin Air Quality
ix
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The preparation of this report by the Committee on
Airliner Cabin Air Quality would not have been possible
without assistance from a large number of people and
organizations.
We especially wish to thank the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), the sponsoring agency, for
responding to our numerous requests for help in locating
and gathering information. In particular, we are
grateful to Philip J. Akers, the project officer, and to
the following other FAA staff members: Louis C.
Bicknese, Charles R. Crane, Edward R. Graves, Andrew F.
Home, Leroy A. Keith, Thomas E. McSweeny, Joseph A.
Pontecorvo, William T. Shepherd, Robert N. Thompson,
BenJamin H. Tollison, Jr., and the FAR library staff.
Flight attendants have direct experience with
airliner cabin environments, and they helped focus
attention on issues of air quality, health, and safety.
We express our special thanks to Margaret Brennan and
Lynne Egge, representing the Joint Council of Flight
Attendant Unions, to flight attendants Phyllis W.
Conrad, Nancy Garcia, Janna F. Harkrider, Lana Holmes,
and Betsy Murtaugh; and to all flight attendants who
wrote letters to the Committee.
The Committee visited several facilities to obtain
information and observe operations and practices. We
wish to thank David J. Shearer, supervisor of airport
services for TWA at National Airport, for explaining the
ventilation system of an MD-80 aircraft; Constantine P.
(Gus) Sarkos and the technical staff at the FAA
Technical Center in Atlantic City, for demonstrations of
fire testing procedures and full-scale simulation tests;
United Airlines personnel Paul Smith, emergency
procedures training manager, Janice Northcott, inflight
x
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safety manager, and Robert A. McGuffin, regional flight
surgeon, for providing information and an opporunity to
participate in training exercises; and Boeing Commercial
Airplane Company personnel M. E. Kirchner, director of
technology, B. C. Mainline, chief engineer, and their
colleagues J. N. Bigford, E. E. Campbell,
M. T. Katsumoto, G. Veryioglou, and A. S. Yorozu for
discussing a variety of topics and demonstrating their
planning techniques.
The Committee consulted with a number of experts
about various topics. We would like to thank John C.
Bailar, William Cain, Frederick 8. Clarke, III, Arthur
B. DuBois, and Ralph Goldman for their contributions.
The Committee gives special thanks to Barry Ryan of
Harvard University for developing the mathematical model
used in this report.
An open meeting was held to receive comments from
the public. We are indebted to Senator Daniel K. Inonye
for giving the keynote address. Several people made
presentations at the meeting; they are included in the
list below.
The Committee thanks all the peer reviewers of the
report. Their constructive remarks contributed to the
improvement of presentations of technical information
and its readability.
So many other individuals and organizations assisted
the Committee in various ways that it is difficult to
mention them all. Nevertheless, with apologies for
whatever inadvertent omissions occur, we shall try:
John F. Banzhaf, III, Action on Smoking and Health
Richard Beckham, American Association for Respiratory
Therapy
William M. Beckner, National Council on Radiation
Protection and Measurements
Merritt M. Birky, National Transportation Safety
Board
Cecil Brownlow, Flight Safety Foundation, Inc.
Phyllis Cleveland, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
J. Donald Collier, Air Transport Association of
America
Elliot C. Dick, University of Wisconsin
xi
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Pascal Dranitsaris, Ontario Research Foundation
Matthew H. Finucane, Association of Flight Attendants
Hugh B. Fulton, Jr., airline pilot
Sam Giordano, American Association for Respirato In
Therapy
Ruth M. Heron, Transport Canada
Rufus R. Hessberg, Aerospace Medical Association
Verena E. Klemm, Independent Union of Flight
Attendants
Jane Larkin, American Medical Association
Richard E. Macdonald, Aerospace Industries
Association of America, Inc.
Samuel C. Marcus, National Center for Health
Statistics
Nora Marshall, National Transportation Safety Board
Robert Millenburg, Smiley, Olson, Gilman and Pangla,
Attorneys
Stanley R. Mohler, Wright State University
Philip R. Morey, National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health
Matthew L. Myers, Coalition on Smoking OR Health
Malcolm B. Reddoch, Food and Drug Administration
John P. Reese, Aeorospace Industries Ansociation of
America, Inc.
James L. Repace, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Harold Schaitberger, International Association of
Fire Fighters
Allen Schanot, National Center for Atmospheric
Research
Sorrell L. Schwartz, Georgetown University Medical
Center
Joseph M. Schwind, Air Line Pilots Association
Donald R. Shopland, Office on Smoking and Health
Jim Spahn, National Council on Radiation Protection
and Measurements
Martin Speiser, National Transportation Safety Board
Dick Tobiason, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
Jacques Vuille, Transport Canada
Judy A. Weidemeier, The Tobacco Institute
Bertil WerJefelt, Xenex Corporation
Wayne E. Williams, National Transportation Safety
Association
P. Wilson, The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators
Edward C. Wood, Flight Safety Foundation, Inc.
Mark Young, The British Air Line Pilots Association.
xii
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We would like to express our thanks to the NRC staff
for their work in supporting the Committee. Alvin G.
Lazen, executive director of the Commission on Life
Sciences, provided valuable advice concerning the
intricacies of HRC activities. Devra Lee Davis, acting
director of the Board on Environmental Studies and
Toxicology, gave unstinting attention and support to the
study. Edna W. Paulson and the staff of the Toxicology
Information Center were of great assistance. Other NRC
staff members contributed information and reviewed
drafts of various documents for the Committee, among
them Stanley M. Barkin, Committee on Toxic Hazards of
Materials Used in Rail Transit Vehicles; Henry Borger
Advisory Board on the Built Environment; Stephen L.
Brown, Board on Radiation Effects Research; Karen L.
Huleb~k, Committee on Fire Toxicology; and Diane K.
Wagener, Committee on Passive Smoking.
Our thanks to Norman Grossblatt for editing the
entire report.
Finally, we wish to express our gratitude to the
following NRC staff who directly supported the study.
James A. Frazier, the project director, was tenacious
and persevering in shepherding us through the study.
Andrew M. Pope provided valuable assistance during the
formative stages of the study, and Rob Coppock
contributed considerably toward the end of our task.
Alison Kamat provided invaluable service not only in
documenting, locating, and obtaining the large amounts
of literature required in the Committee's deliberations,
but also in producing the manuscript of the report. We
especially thank Judy Tiger for holding us to deadlines,
putting together many report drafts, and coordinating a
multitude of details.
xiii
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CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
1 PROFILE OF COMMERCIAL AIR TRAVEL
Passengers, 24
Flight Attendants and Flight Crew, 28
The U.S. Airline Industry, 28
FAA Data on Selected Incidents, 33
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEMS ON COMMERCIAL
PASSENGER AIRCRAFT
Description of Environmental
Control Systems, 39
Performance of Environmental
Control Systems, 48
Effect of Ventilation on Total
Cabin Environment, 54
STANDARDS, REGULATIONS, AND INDUSTRY PRACTICES ... 64
U.S. Regulations and Standards, 67
Foreign Regulations, 73
Industry Operating Procedures, 74
FAA Investigation and Enforcement, 75
Adequacy and Efficacy of Passenger
Safety Information, 79
Overview, 84
xiv
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4 AIR QUALITY IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
Onboard Fires, 91
Depressurization, 106
Conclusions and Recommendations, 108
5 CABIN AIR POLLUTANTS: SOURCES AND EXPOSURES 113
Ozone, 113
Cosmic Radiation, 119
Ground Fumes, 130
Environmental Tobacco Smoke, 131
Biologic Aerosols, 152
Relative Humidity, 160
Pressurization, 165
Carbon Dioxide, 167
Other Potential Exposures, 168
6 HEALTH EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH EXPOSURE
TO AIRLINER CABIN AIR . e e e e · e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e · · -
Health Effects of Concern, 191
Monitoring and Surveillance of
Crew and Passenger Health, 203
Groups at Increased Risk, 207
7 DESIRABILITY AND FEASIBILITY OF ADDITIONAL
DATA COLLECTION ..............................
General Concepts and Approaches, 215
Measures of Airliner Cabin Air Quality, 217
Measures of Health Effects, 220
Other SubJects, 222
APPENDIX A A Computer Model for Assessing Airliner
Cabin Air Quality ~
190
... 214
225
APPENDIX B: Selected Material from the FAA
Accident/Incident Data System 244
APPENDIX C: Airliner Cabin Safety Regulations
and Standards 278
GLOSSARY
xv
293
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