Comments:
Australia and New Zealand demand that all incoming planes (and people) be sprayed with pesticides before debarking.
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Dear Steve:
I was just given the article by you "Poisons Sprayed in Airplanes" in the California Sun. I am a flight attendant for United Airlnes and last March after working a Sydney trip I ended up at Cedar-Sinai, Los Angeles, because of a violent allergic reaction to the pesticide required by the Australian government. I would like to speak with the Chicago-based lawyer Perry Sanders who is organizing the class action suit. I was unable to obtain his listing and would appreciate a phone or e-mail to pursue what has/will happen with the suit.
I quit flying international after the warning from two doctors that my immune system had been assaulted from the pesticide. After current layoffs I am now flying domestic reserve and since all of our 747s are sprayed and these airplanes are also used domestically, I have to refuse the trips scheduled on 747s. United continues not to acknowledge or disclose the dangers of this pesticide which makes me lose pay and puts me in jeopardy of losing my job because I refuse a trip that is dangerous for me. For example, last March when I called Health & Safety at United I was told my problem couldn't have been from the pesticide because it was plant based. I responded, "What about arsenic and hemlock? And, why do we avoid POISON ivy and POISON oak?"
Keep up your important work.
Sincerely,
Carol Applegate sweetc321@hotmail.com Fax: 323-654-8305 Phone: 323-654-0710
I am pleased to have discovered your website. For the last four years I have been conducting my own resrearch on the possible health effects of d-Phenothrin and other pyrethroid sprays in aircraft, especially on frequent flyers and crew.
I am a frequent flyer, and I travel by choice on British Airways. For the first couple of years I accepted the airline's assurance that the sprays were safe. It was only when I began to notice that my throat felt slightly constricted after spraying and later I also began sneezing after the spray that I started to take notice of the effects of the sprays' effects on my (and others') health. I have recently started suffering severe headaches if I am exposed to these sprays - I believe this to be some sort of allergic reaction. I take every precaution to prevent inhaling the spray.
I wrote to British Airways in 1998 asking for consideration to be given to suspending use of the spray at least, or stopping use completely, pending further research into its effects. I received a bland reassurance that the spray is 'safe' and in any case the World Health Organization and other authorities demand that it be used.
It is clear that there is enough evidence that its effects are harmful for the United States to have banned its use on planes. Nevertheless these sprays are still used. In many cases the threats posed by the pest for which the spray is being used is so remote as to be negligible - in my view outweighing the possible bad health effects of the sprays used.
I have continued my written dialogue with British Airways, most recently with the Senior Consultant Occupational Physician at B.A. I am asking B.A. to act in the interest of its passengers and crew. I believe it is only a matter of time before spraying with insecticides is exposed as a health hazard, and the airlines are forced to act. Surely it would be better in the interests of all concerned, to act now anyway?
I look forward to hearing your comments.
Whilst I am happy to supply you with my personal email address, I would prefer (for personal reaons) if you did not publish it or mention my name.
Regards,
MW
(Find out about more pesticide victims at: http://www.getipm.com/our-loved-ones/injured.htm)
Permethrin strikes again in the attached article. I just received word from the neuropsychologist who evaluated me, post-pyrethriod exposure, with the results that my IQ suffered a 24 point drop in addition to many other deficits in nearly all areas of functioning. The EPA apparently stopped airlines from spraying this in airline cabins but no one minded the chemicals being used in schools. These chemicals must be banned.
Barbara Rubin