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https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/toxic-oil-fumes-onboard-give-ten-get-ten#/
Friends Don’t Let Friends Breathe Oil Fumes on Aircraft: GIVE TEN, GET TEN
Calling everyone who flies: join our GIVE TEN, GET TEN campaign to make air travel healthier. GIVE $10 (or 10 of any currency) to a university research team to develop a blood test for airline crews and passengers (read on…). GET 10 of your Facebook friends (or any friends, or even people you don’t like!) to do the same…
Ever smelled dirty socks during an airline flight? A dirty socks smell coming from the aircraft air supply vents is likely to be engine oil fumes in the ventilation air. You read that right: the air that comes through the cabin and flight deck vents is first compressed in the engines, and it isn’t filtered before you breathe it. Many crew unions around the world receive regular reports from members who report dirty socks or musty fumes in the cabin supply air, followed by problems with memory, balance, and speech, for example. Nobody thinks it will happen to them, until it does.
Every day, just in the US alone, there is an official report of toxic oil fumes contaminating the air you breathe on regular commercial flights. Let alone the many more reports documented around the globe. Aviation engine oils contain neurotoxic additives, so breathing the fumes can cause lasting damage to your brain. Also, flight safety can be compromised when crews are impaired inflight. You will meet some affected crewmembers in our video.
As things stand, few people can access the aircraft maintenance records to PROVE that oil contaminated the cabin air. And there is no blood test specific to these fumes, so airlines often say that “nothing was wrong” and that crews and passengers are just imagining their disabling symptoms. Fortunately, a dedicated research team at the University of Washington is developing a blood test specific to the aviation engine oil. You can help by donating to this campaign.
If you breathed oil fumes on YOUR flight today, how would you prove it? If you’re a crewmember, would the airline doctor listen and support you, or pressure to you to return to work sick? Would your doctor tell you that you’re over 50 now, so maybe that explains your memory problems? Can you afford to not work and not get paid for a while? These are the stories that previously-healthy crewmembers share, and passengers breathe the same air…
Everyone who flies needs this blood test, so we all need to GIVE 10 of any currency and GET 10 friends to do the same. If you are exposed to oil fumes onboard, then you need to be able to prove it, and all of us need the industry to feel more motivated to clean up the cabin air.
A single person’s TEN DOLLARS won’t fund anything, but our GOAL is to bring ENOUGH people onboard that ENOUGH ten dollar donations are received, that the research will be a success, for the good of crews everywhere. So please, GIVE TEN, GET TEN, and encourage your flying partners, family, friends, people you don’t even like, your dog, your barista, the guy who fixes your car, anyone and everyone, to do the same…
Don’t leave the page until you have given $10 and sent the link to ten people! The GIVE TEN, GET TEN! campaign is overseen by Clean Up Cabin Air, run by volunteer flight attendants and their supporters. You can make an anonymous donation, or you can put your name to it – either way works.
Join us. Change the way the industry handles the air you breathe on regular commercial flights. Donate now! Currently, 95% of your donation goes directly to the researchers, and 5% to Indiegogo, per their rules. We are in the final stages of securing non-profit status so that contributions (made in the US, at least) will be tax-deductible. EVERY dollar, euro, pound, peso and yen, every bit – however small – helps. Larger contributions are also encouraged! 🙂 Go ahead, watch our video and add your voice to the people who want clean cabin air now. And thank you.
More information:
1) 60 Minutes Australia video – oil fumes story aired in 2013. Many more videos posted here.
2) Practical advice if you breathe oil fumes on aircraft: Cabin crew union offers practical advice for you and your doctor if you breathe oil fumes onboard.
3) Additional information on the research project: Status of current research and proposed work, CVs of research team members, in addition to anabbreviated less-technical overview
4) Global Cabin Air Quality Executive: Global coalition of airline worker unions dedicated to networking, education, and research. If your union is not yet a member, sign up!
5) Aerotoxic.org: Non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the health and safety impact of breathing oil fumes on aircraft, supporting those affected, and pushing for change. Website includes an impressive list of relevant media articles and videos.
6) ToxicCabinAir.com: Dedicated to informing you and helping you with toxic cabin air issues, help, and developments.