SAN FRANCISCO--Several U.S. airlines--including American, Continental, Delta, TWA, and US Airways--have confirmed to Mother Jones magazine that they use pesticides on their aircraft. Studies have linked pesticides to a variety of ailments, including respiratory problems, skin reactions, increased sensitivity to other chemicals, and cancer. And in the enclosed system of an airplane, where up to 50 percent of the air inside the cabin is recycled, the effects can be intensified. Pesticides break down slowly in the enclosed, poorly ventilated aircraft, says Becky Riley of the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides. Passengers are sealed in a chamber that has been gassed, and sit there for hours.
The article, from the July/August issue of Mother Jones, was published today on the magazine's Web site: www.motherjones.com/mother_jones/JA98/winegar.html.
While most airlines refused to divulge details, Northwest told the magazine that it sprays Saga, a residual, or long-lasting, pesticide, on its domestic flights while the planes are in the hangar. Northwest Communications Director Doug Killian says, It's for the safety of our passengers. But several pilots and flight attendants, who insisted on anonymity, told reporter Karin Winegar that airlines spray more for public relations reasons--to prevent travelers from seeing insects or mice--than for health reasons.
Northwest's Killian says the Federal Aviation Administration is aware of the company's use of pesticides and monitors it. But Don Zochert, public affairs officer at the FAA's Great Lakes regional office in Des Plaines, Ill., told Mother Jones, The application of these chemicals is outside the FAA's regulatory area of responsibility. We have no role in approving the use of the chemical, nor do we have a role in monitoring or tracking its use.
Karin Winegar previously reported, in a 1994 Conde Nast Traveler article, that passengers on international flights were being sprayed with dangerous aerosol pesticides. In response, the Department of Transportation requested details from the countries that required spraying, and all but four countries stopped the practice. But the DOT has paid little attention to the use of pesticides on domestic flights. We know of no particular reason why they would spray, says DOT public affairs specialist Bill Mosley. We do not require spraying, but there is no prohibition against carriers doing it if they wish.
SOURCE: Mother Jones
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