Good news that a less toxic oil is being developed;
The recently held 'Aircraft Cabin Air Conference' in London has revealed a new jet engine oil that may reduce the hazard associated with the ongoing issue of contaminated breathing air on passenger aircraft.
27 September 2024
London, England.
The breathing air supply on commercial jet aircraft, known as ‘bleed air’, comes in flight from the engines and is known to become contaminated with engine oil, engine oil decomposition products and/or hydraulic fluids.
At the recent conference, French engine oil manufacturer NYCO presented extensive research in their development of a new 'less hazardous' jet engine oil. The new oil now needs engine manufacturers such as Rolls-Royce, GE, Pratt & Whitney, IAE International Aero Engines, CFM, Honeywell and others to 'qualify' the oil so it can be used on the wide spectrum of jet engines used to power the estimated 25,000+ commercial passenger jet aircraft flying today.
GCAQE board member Captain Nicholas McHugh BSc(hon) stated:
“We hope jet engine manufacturers will priortise the introduction of the reported new 'less hazardous' NYCO oil and any new oils that come to market that reduce the hazard for the aviation workers and passengers routinely exposed to engine oil and engine oil decomposition products on passenger aircraft. Government agencies responsible for aviation safety and public health should also be helping to expedite the introduction of these reported 'less hazardous' oils.”
The new antiwear additive used in the new NYCO oil was patented in 2021. The patent abstract stated:
'Disclosed is an oil that does not include tricresyl phosphate and includes as an anti-wear additive at least one diphosphorus compound for the prophylaxis of aerotoxic syndrome, especially in case of fume event. It also relates to a lubrication method utilizing such oil.'
The term Aerotoxic Syndrome was first proposed in 1999 to summarise the medical symptoms reported by aircrew and passengers exposed to hydraulic fluids, engine oil and engine oil decomposition products on aircraft when these compounds contaminated the breathing air supply.
Aircraft manufacturers have not accepted the term Aerotoxic Syndrome and repeatedly claim that the air on an aircraft is better than in a home, despite ignoring air accident department calls for all passenger aircraft to have contaminated air warning systems installed. Currently, despite calls from air accident investigators, no passenger aircraft has any technology to monitor the air quality of the air passengers and crews are being supplied to breathe from the engines.
For further information contact:
Captain Tristan Loraine
GCAQE Spokesperson
Email:
tristanloraine@gcaqe.org
+44 (0) 7968 213862
Website: gcaqe.org
Global Cabin Air Quality Executive
First Floor
10 Queen Street Place
London,
EC4R 1BE
England
Notes to editors:
• Low level oil leakage occurs in normal flight conditions. [1][2]
• The GCAQE is a registered not for profit organisation based in London and established in 2006 and is the leading group in the world representing airline employees in relation to the issue of contaminated air on aircraft.
• Cabin breathing air on all aircraft apart from the Boeing 787 is taken directly from the engines and provided unfiltered to the aircraft. This is known as 'Bleed Air'.
• No aircraft currently flying has any form of detection system fitted to warn when these events occur.
• Flight safety has been reported and documented to have been compromised as a consequence of contaminated air events.
• Crew and passengers have been reporting contaminated air events for over 5 decades.
• Contaminated air events are known to be under reported.
• In 2010, the High Court of Australia upheld a ruling that inhaling heated engine oil fumes were harmful (Joanne Turner case).
• ICAO issued Cir 344 entitled 'GUIDELINES ON EDUCATION, TRAINING AND REPORTING OF FUME EVENTS’ in 2015 but this has been mostly ignored by airlines.
• Over the last 20 years, there have been over 50 recommendations and findings made by 12 air accident departments globally, directly related to contaminated air exposures on passenger jet aircraft. The British Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), has twice called for contaminated air warning systems to be installed on all large passenger transport aircraft. However, these critical safety recommendations, endorsed by unions globally have been ignored by aircraft manufacturers and aviation regulators such as the FAA, EASA and the UK CAA.
REF:
1. Michaelis, S. (2016) "Implementation Of The Requirements For The Provision Of Clean Air In Crew And Passenger Compartments Using The Aircraft Bleed Air System", Cranfield University, UK. Cranfield MSc Thesis.
2. SAE AIR 4766/2A (2021) “Airborne Chemicals in Aircraft Cabins”
