Air passengers may soon be checking radiation levels

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Per the article "Radiation levels are significantly elevated and you 
should seriously consider postponing your trip" is one recording on 
the 1-877 SUNFLARE hotline established by Dr. Robert Barish.." Well, 
I don't think so, and will gladly catch my flight from Norfolk 
tomorrow, cruise through Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport, and eventually 
end up in Southern California tomorrow afternoon.....


Air passengers may soon be checking radiation levels

NEW YORK (Reuters) - For years, airline passengers have been calling 
ahead to check on weather delays. Soon they may also be calling to 
find out about radiation levels. 

"Radiation levels are significantly elevated and you should seriously 
consider postponing your trip" is one recording on the 1-877 SUNFLARE 
hotline established by Dr. Robert Barish, founder of In-Flight 
Radiation Protection Services Inc., which informs callers about 
possible health risks and at what times solar storms cause radiation 
peaks. 

Radiation from sun exposure is a usually harmless fact of life for 
people on the ground but it can be harmful for people who fly at high 
altitudes during solar storm peaks. 

The storms occur on an irregular basis but their frequency is 
expected to reach a peak this year. They can cause radiation levels 
to reach the equivalent of 100-200 chest X-rays an hour at some times 
of the year and may pose a health risk even to occasional fliers, 
particularly pregnant women, Barish says. 

Dr. Donald Hudson, an aviation medicine adviser for the Air Line 
Pilots Association (ALPA), agrees that heightened radiation from 
solar storms can pose health risks. 

"Most airlines are aware of that and many who fly polar routes rather 
than continental routes make flight adjustments," he said. "But it is 
difficult to predict the peak times. The science is just not where we 
would like it to be." 

HEALTH RISKS TO FREQUENT FLIERS 

For frequent business flyers or airline flight crews who fly more 
than just 75,000 miles a year, regular radiation exposure may pose 
greater long-term health risks, Barish says. 

"If you fly a minimum of 75,000 miles a year, that brings you to a 
level where radiation exceeds the legal permissible radiation dose to 
a non-occupational person (a person who is not officially classified 
as a radiation worker)." 

Even under normal conditions, radiation levels on an airplane at high 
altitudes are higher than on the ground. The atmosphere absorbs 
cosmic radiation, but six or seven miles of protective air are below 
a plane, not above it. 

The FAA estimates that the risks of a birth defect in the fetus of a 
pregnant woman who flies range from 1 in 680 to 1 in 20,000, 
depending on frequency and routes flown. This is a 0.5 percent 
increase over the nonfliers' rate of birth defects, a statement from 
ALPA associate aeromedical adviser Hudson says. 

"The risk for cancer from low-dose radiation is very low except for 
female crew members in childbearing age. But unfortunately that risk 
to the fetus is most severe in the first trimester, when women often 
don't know yet that they are pregnant," he said. 

This information has often not been communicated to airline crews, 
who fly far more than 75,000 miles a year and who are most frequently 
exposed to the harmful rays at high altitudes. 

"I was angry and frustrated," said a flight attendant at a major U.S.-
based airline who did not want to be named. She saw an informational 
pamphlet about in-flight radiation at a crew room in an airport last 
year. "I never knew about this issue. We were never informed about 
radiation and health risks," she said, adding, "We need to be able to 
make informed decisions." 

Occupational radiation exposure allowed by law, such as for nuclear 
power plant workers or employees in medical fields who work with X-
ray machines, is 50 times greater than the normal exposure on the 
ground -- 50 milisievert in the United States and 20 milisievert in 
Europe. 

Airline crew members and frequent-flier business travelers are 
usually not exposed to more than the occupational limit, but their 
bodies certainly have to handle more than the ground limit exposure 
for the general public, Barish said. 

Hudson says the risk of radiation-related illnesses, particularly 
cancer, is very low for airline crews, but he believes concerns about 
in-flight radiation-related illness will be a more publicized issue 
in 10 to 20 years when aircraft are expected to travel at much higher 
altitudes. 

"I think most pilots are aware of radiation exposure, but this is 
just not a front-burner-type topic for today's commercial airlines. 
It is more of an issue for the Concorde and corporate Lear Jets who 
fly higher than today's commercial airlines," Hudson said. "But 
exposure to low-dose radiation will definitely become an issue when 
commercial aircraft will fly in higher altitudes in 10, 20 years." 

RADIATION TRAINING -- ONLY A RECOMMENDATION 

But Barish has been fighting for more information flow  among 
airlines and the business community so people can make an informed 
choice about their health and safety. 

"Even though the FAA has issued advisories to airline officials in 
which they requested airlines to educate all  employees and to inform 
them about radiation, almost no airline has followed through on the 
FAA request, and the FAA never made it a regulation, only a 
recommendation," he said. 

An FAA statement published in May 1994 reads: "...Air carrier crew 
members are occupationally exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation 
from cosmic radiation and from air shipments of radioactive material 
... it is recommended that workers occupationally exposed to ionizing 
radiation ... receive exposure (to the issue) and appropriate 
radiation practices." 

American Airlines has been the lone ranger when it comes to education 
about possible in-flight radiation health hazards. The airline has 
made available a publication on the issue. 

Barish has been fighting to make radiation education a law as the 
European Union has started to do rather than leaving it  to the 
discretion of individual airlines. A law written in 1996 that will be 
fully in effect in the first half of 2000 will require all 27 EU 
carriers to educate flight crews about radiation issues including 
training and dose assessments. 

NO REAL PUSH FOR REGULATION 

"The European Union has more of a concern about this issue and there 
was more of a push to make it a law," FAA radiation biologist Wally 
Friedberg said. "It seems here in the U.S. people have less of a 
concern. There is no real push to regulate this issue. The FAA is not 
inclined to make this a law if it isn't urged to do so," he added. 

Airplanes equipped with radiation monitors are among the options for 
airlines to act more responsibly toward their flight crews and 
frequent business fliers, Barish says. 

This concept is not new. The Concorde has been equipped for 25 years 
with radiation measurement instruments as the supersonic aircraft 
flies higher than regular airliners. 

Several studies have been published on low doses of radiation on 
flights and possibly related health risks including cancer. "Some 
studies indicate a relation between low-dose radiation, others don't 
indicate any direct link,"  Friedberg said. 

Barish believes airlines and companies whose employees fly on 
business should make it a rule to inform frequent fliers about health 
risks. Otherwise he says they may be faced with lawsuits if a direct 
link between low-dose radiation exposure, air travel and cancer is 
established. (<AMR.N>) 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/scperle
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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