2014
Volume 14, Number 3, pp. 71–74
The potential rôle of aircraft cabin aerial dust for transporting semivolatile organic contaminants into the lungs
J.J. Ramsden1, 2
1 Department of Materials, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL, UK
2 Sustainable Aviation Unit, Collegium Basilea (Institute of Advanced Study), Hochstrasse 51, CH-4053 Basel
There is presently concern regarding toxins, especially neurotoxins, which have been detected in aircraft cabin air. Among them, the tricresyl phosphates (TCP) are especially problematical, because of their ability to engender organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN), leading to lasting damage of the central nervous system. The low volatility of TCP in principle offers some protection, since any contaminants emerging from the jet engines that supply hot compressed air to the cabin will tend to condense on the inner walls of the ducts leading to the cabin, where they have indeed been found. Were it not for that, cabin air concentrations would presumably be considerably higher. Alongside various organic compounds, high levels of fine and ultrafine particles (of unknown composition) have also been detected in aircraft cabin air. This paper firstly examines whether volatilized jet oil could account for the measured particle numbers. Since the two are not well correlated, an alternative hypothesis, that the particles are mineral debris, is examined. If coated with monolayer of TCP, such particles could transport a significant quantity of TCP into the lungs. A definitive evaluation requires more parameters to be measured, such as the chemical nature and distribution of diameters of the particles measured in aircraft cabin air.
Keywords: adsorption, metal oxide, nanoparticle, respiration, tricresyl phosphate