2014
Volume 14, Number 4, ppp. 103–106
Respiratory symptoms and lung injury after inhaling fumes on aircraft: toxic fumes or hyperventilation?
J. Burdon
Consultant Respiratory Physician, 166 Gipps St, East Melbourne, Australia 3002
Anatomical considerations relevant to inhalation of toxic fumes in aircraft cabins are summarized in the difficult clinical aspects highlighted. Hyperventilation has been proposed as a diagnosis of the symptoms reported by affected aircrew but the evidence supporting it is weak. Discussion of the issue appears to have lost objectivity, having become polarized between individual sufferers seeking to honestly report their symptoms and employers with occupational responsibilities seeking to disavow them. This polarization has the consequence of putting exposed individuals at the risk of ill health and may, in extreme cases, constitute a safety risk.
Keywords: hyperventilation, inhalation toxicity