To whom it may concern.

On 22nd May 2006 a statement was made concerning the knowledge that harm to health was being caused by breathing oil fumes in an aircraft cabin.

At the time, the term Aerotoxic Syndrome was not known about by the author and so was not mentioned.

In the past three years the Aerotoxic Association has been formed and in that time numerous other aircrew and passengers have come forward with the same pattern of good health followed by exposure to oil fumes in an aircraft and serious chronic ill health.

It is now possible to summarise the present situation.

• The UK Governments research into aerotoxic syndrome can be summarised as:

      “The Department (of` Health) has not commissioned research on the topic.”

• 196,000 UK passengers a year exposed to toxic oil fumes. (UCL 2006).
• Bleed air on all jet aircraft remains unfiltered.
• No toxic fume detectors fitted, aircrew’s nose only.
• Organophosphates still added to jet engine oil.
• Urgent research recommended in 2007 still to be published.
• The content and concentration of visible oil fumes on the ground from the APU of a BAe 146 is still ‘unknown’.
• Despite 100% of pilots tested in 2006 having abnormal chemicals in their blood and fat and cognitive dysfunction  – no follow up research has been commissioned.

It can now be stated beyond reasonable doubt that breathing heated oil fumes in the confines of an aircraft cabin can lead to serious long term ill health in certain people.

Clearly aircrew have very little financial power, however as the air on board an aircraft is breathed by passengers of all class, Aerotoxic Syndrome can effect any person and it is now hypothesised that much undiagnosable mysterious ill health is directly caused by this simple route of exposure.

It is recommended that immediate action be taken to warn passengers of the risks of breathing heated oil fumes, provide protection for passengers and to urgently educate the medical profession that breathing even low amounts of organophosphate fumes in a confined space is harmful to health.

As three years have passed since the first statement, no Personal Injury claim can now be made.

Coincidentally in the last three years, an almost total personal health recovery has occurred primarily due to:

• Not being exposed to the air on a Public Transport aircraft – the BAe 146.

No amount of money could have bought this partial ill health recovery.

Statement by:

John Grahame Hoyte

22nd May 2009