Hi Virginia, an acquaintance who is quite sensitive to poor air quality, flew to Viet Nam recently to adopt a child. She was advised to make up a mixture of distilled water and high quality essential oils and spray this around herself and the child during the flight (since this might create some problem in the aftermath of 9/11, it would be advisable to check with the airline first). She claimed doing this provided a calming, yet revivifying feeling, and hopefully lessened the chance of coming down with a cold.
Her partial explanation was that these high quality oils can actually pass into brain cells and alter our mood and healing defence system. -Tom >Gil asked if it may be the air conditioning and not the spray that would >affect someone in an airplane. > >Studies have shown that the quality of the air inside airplanes can be >lacking. Poor indoor air can be due to many reasons, one is insufficient >air exchange. On the ground in houses or buildings, fresh air is introduced >and stale air is taken out. In airplanes, the fresh air would be supplied >from pressurized sources, which I imagine would be more limited . The air >inside the plane is largely re-circulated. Inside, there are a number of >pollutant sources - people, the fragrances they wear, exhaust fumes carried >over from before takeoff , food odors, air fresheners used to mask odors, >residual chemicals used for cleaning, etc. etc. The more sensitive >passengers can notice the effect of the poor air quality. Flight crew who >spend a large fraction of their time in planes have higher exposure to the >contaminants. > >The pest control chemicals sprayed in planes are in a different league from >the contaminants typically found in indoor air. Now you have insecticides >that are intended to kill pests. Our central nervous system is just as >vulnerable as the nervous system of the pests being targeted. In addition >to the active ingredients (the insecticides), carrier solvents are used. >These are mostly xylenes, whose effects are known: respiratory, skin and eye >irritation; affects central nervous system; repeated exposure can damage >bone marrow; and may damage liver and kidney (these info are in >manufacturers' Material Safety Data Sheets). Thirdly, there are the >so-called inert ingredients, many of which are more toxic than the active >ingredients. > >Given all of the above, who wants to be sprayed on the plane? After the >sprays are applied, the residuals will further contaminate the indoor air. > >Virginia Salares >(chemist and indoor air researcher)
