Plane travel air quality rapped

The Global Cabin Air Quality Executive (GCAQE) is calling for a public inquiry into the issue of "contaminated air" on UK aircraft.

The group says there is substantial evidence that numerous chemicals known to damage the immune and nervous system leak into cabin air supplies every day.

Captain Tristan Loraine, the organisation's co-chairman, said not telling passengers they were at risk of breathing contaminated air amounted to a breach of their human rights.

"International airlines continue to preside over a global scandal," he said.

"Not only are they supplying the travelling public with unfiltered engine air to breathe, known for decades to sometimes become contaminated with toxic chemicals, they don't tell the public there is a risk of exposure or when they have been exposed.

"No UK aircraft has any form of detection system fitted to warn when the air is contaminated. Each year thousands of contaminated air events go unreported."

There was "overwhelming" evidence that contaminated air was threatening health and flight safety, he said, and only a full public inquiry would give a true picture of the risks faced by passengers and airline crew.

GCAQE said research had found traces of tricresylphosphate (TCP), an additive with neurotoxic properties used in aviation fuel, in pilots' blood.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: "The UK Government is leading the world in ground-breaking research to address concerns about cabin air and has participated in two open and transparent public hearings where all the results have been published."