The Surprising Health Risks Of Flying

By Diane Small

As if CO2 emissions weren’t bad enough! The surprising health risks of flying might just make you take staycations from now on…Forget plane crashes – statistically, you’re far more likely to suffer a car crash. Or even win the lottery! But planes can have serious effects on your health.

Sure, we all know that due to having hundreds of people packed into an enclosed space for a long period of time, we’re more likely to catch a virus. Airplane food is notoriously horrible. And most of us have heard of Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), which can result in blood clots after passengers are forced to sit in small spaces for long durations of time. But there other surprising health risks of flying you may not yet be aware of.

Here are five big ones that may inspire you to take no-fly holidays from now on! But if you still need to fly, we have some tips for mitigating the damage.

Why Flying Can Harm Your Health

The Surprising Health Risks Of Flying

1. Severe Dehydration

Aircraft air is so dry that on a long-haul flight, a passenger should consume a lot of water. Like, around a pint of water every three hours.

That may seem excessive, but don’t forget: on the ground we also consume fresh fruit and veg. This contributes to our water intake during the day. This extra H2O is certainly not provided by the tiny, crappy meals and limited range of drinks served by most airlines.

Indeed, drinking the tea, coffee and alcohol commonly offered on flights will only worsen the problem of  dehydration. The result can be severe headaches, parched skin and lips and a sense of fatigue. And having dehydrated mucous membranes (especially in the nose) leaves us more vulnerable to airborne viruses.

How to reduce the health risks of flying: To combat these threats, of course drink lots of water. But nothing but water! And bring an organic facial spray to mist your face with throughout the flight. For extra peachy skin when you land, smooth on an ‘invisible’ face masque, like Aromatherapy Associates’ rose mask, and wash off when you land.

2. Breathing Issues

You obviously can’t open windows on the plane. So air is drawn in by the engine (umm…isn’t that where the fumes are?) and channelled into the interiors instead. But many airlines try to conserve fuel by recycling internal air several times. In short, this means there’s a serious lack of clean air.

This is often at its worst when the take-off is delayed. That’s when the passengers remain on a stationary aircraft for a long time. Because the engines aren’t running, there is little ventilation and the air becomes increasingly fetid.

The airlines claim that, once airborne, there’s no problem, since filters purify the air as it recirculates. But in fact, there is little proof that filtering systems perform this job effectively.

Moreover, some airlines spray ‘antiviral’ and ‘antibacterial’ sprays in the cabin. And sometimes, even pesticides! These can be a danger to asthmatics and those with other breathing difficulties.

Mysterious sprays

No one is sure what goes into those sprays. But unless someone can prove otherwise to us, we’re pretty sure those fumes are totally toxic. (The one airline we contacted on this matter, Air France, assured us with a snap that ‘the spray is perfectly safe’. End of conversation!) And yet, an academic paper released in 2012 entitled “Quantifying Exposure to Pesticides on Commercial Aircraft” concluded:

“This study documents that flight attendants on commercial aircrafts disinfected with pyrethroid insecticides are exposed to pesticides at levels that result in elevated body burden and internal accumulation comparable to pesticide applicators, exceeding levels in the general U.S. population. It is expected that flying public would be similarly exposed to pesticides on those flights.”

Hmmm….not good.

How to reduce the health risks of flying: While there is little you can do on a flight to avoid breathing in pollution, we believe the government and aviation regulators should be monitoring air quality and aircraft filtration systems far more closely. And if an aircraft is subject to delay before take-off, there should be the immediate disembarkation of passengers if the delay is longer than half an hour.

3. Lice & Bedbugs

As anyone with a school aged kid knows, lice (and bedbugs) can spread like wildfire. And the fact that aircraft blankets and headrests are not cleaned between flights (yes, really!) allows for them to thrive. Especially when flights go to and from countries that have particularly high infestation rates.

Each individual plane can fly between two to eight trips per day, depending on the size of the aircraft and distance of travel. A plane can take 4-16 flights in two days. This means that over a dozen people may have sat in your seat before you. And lice can live for up to two days without a food source!

How to reduce the health risks of flying: To reduce your risk, spray your seat with pure peppermint or tea tree oil (which these bugs hate). And of course, BYOB (bring your own blanket – and pillow!).

4. Increased Cancer Risk

It’s long been suspected that jetsetters are at a higher risk of cancer. But compelling new evidence has reinforced the theory beyond a doubt.

In fact, studies show that stewardesses could be up to five times more likely to contract breast cancer, and cabin crew of both sexes are three times more likely to get melanoma. Why? Apparently, there are two main reasons.

First, long-haul trips disrupt the body clock and affect hormone levels. This can lead to chemical imbalances in the body that leave us vulnerable to tumour growth.

Secondly, at higher altitudes, where the air is thinner and provides less of a shield, passengers and crew can be exposed to between 100 and 300 times the solar radiation dose they receive at sea level.

In one Swedish study, for example, cases of malignant melanoma were between two and three times higher than the norm for both male and female cabin crew. And breast cancer cases were 30 per cent higher.

In another survey in Iceland, more than 1,000 pilots and flight attendants were compared with 2,000 people in the general population. Researchers made a detailed analysis of risk factors for skin cancer. The study concluded that those working on airplanes clearly had an increased risk of melanoma.

How to reduce the health risks of flying: If you’re sitting by the window, wear a strong SPF.

5. Deep Vein Thrombosis

We all know this condition, also known as DVT, can affect the obese and the elderly. But did you know it can hit young people, too? The tragic case of Emma Christoffersen, the 28-year-old bride-to-be who collapsed and died after a 20-hour flight from Australia to London, graphically illustrates this point.

Because air travel is so competitive, airlines are under such enormous commercial pressure to reduce costs wherever possible. This leads  to cramped conditions and poor air quality which have important health implications for passengers.

In the U.S., for instance – where such statistics are carefully collated – there is around 1 medical emergency on every 604 flights, and 350 in-flight deaths a year on the nine major U.S. airlines. This far outnumbers the annual toll of deaths caused by air accidents, which most people fear more than DVT.  Yet around  25% of all people who develop DVT have done so after being on  a long-haul flight.

Packed like sardines

The reasons air travellers develop this problem are all too clear: passengers are packed into their seats like sardines. Hardly able to move, they remain sitting in a vertical position throughout the duration of their flights. This rigid stance that prevents the normal circulation of the blood from the legs back to the heart and lungs.

The high pressure that exists in the veins forces fluid out of the circulation and into the soft tissue of the lower legs. It leads to swelling and can increase the blood’s tendency to form clots. It has been shown that during a simulated transatlantic flight, as much as four kilograms of fluid can shift from the circulation to the legs.

How to reduce the health risks of flying: The best solution? Get up and move around, no matter whether you’re in economy, business or first class. The longer your flight, the greater your chances of developing DVT. Some studies have shown that wearing compression socks like these can reduce your risk of DVT.

Diane Small
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