Air Traffic’s Triple Health Impacts: Air & Environmental Pollution and Noise

 

Aircraft pollution not only endangers the health of aircrew and frequent flyers due to contaminated cabin air but also endangers the health of airport ground workers and people living near airports who are exposed to high noise levels and pollution of our all-important life-sustaining air.

Photo by Andrew Palmer on Unsplash

An important source of aviation’s ultrafine particle emissions is impurities in jet fuel. Ultrafine particles (UFPs) may trigger diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, dementia, COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, and most likely much more.

”Globally, approximately between 14,000 and 21,200 early deaths each year are due to PM2.5 emissions by aviation.” Children and elderly are more at risk than the average population.

Kerosene contains Toxins and Sulfur

Aircraft UFP and PM emissions are mainly caused by the combustion of fuel, and to a smaller extent by the use of lubrication oils. “For the fuel burning related emissions, the composition of the fuel impact the number of particulates emitted. In particular, the amount of emitted PM critically depends on the amount of aromatics (and all cyclic structures) in the fuel, and the sulphur content of the fuel.”(sic)

These UFP and PM emissions have additional recognized health consequences beyond the ones previously mentioned, even though they are outside of the focus of a recent study conducted by CE Delft (The Netherlands) on behalf of Transport & Environment (T&E /Europe).

UFPs are particularly dangerous to our health because they penetrate deep into the human body and can be detected in i.e., the blood, brain, and placenta- Ultrafine particles have a diameter of less than 100 nanometers and are therefore about 1.000 times smaller than a human hair. To date, there are no regulations for safe levels of ultrafine particles in the air, although the WHO warned more than 15 years ago that they are a pollutant of “very high concern”.

According to this new study approximately one in eleven people resides within a 20-kilometer radius of five of Germany’s largest airports. Within that radius, they are exposed practically non-stop to ultrafine particles from air traffic.

In addition to being a harmful air polluter, airport noise also directly jeopardizes the health of those living near airports.

The new study focusses on the German airports Hamburg, Munich, Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, and Frankfurt. 1.8 million affected people in Frankfurt alone. 52 million individuals in Europe are at risk for certain health problems when they live close to one of the 32 significant airports. According to the study, there may be a connection between ultrafine particle exposure and about 280.000 occurrences of hypertension, 330.000 cases of diabetes, and 18.000 cases of dementia per year across Europe.

Actual recorded cases of these illnesses in the area of Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport were extrapolated in this study.  Aircraft generate ultrafine particles mostly during taxiing, takeoff, and landing, which has a significant impact on the nearby population. Living five kilometers or less from an airport exposes residents to air that has typically three to ten thousand ultrafine particles per cubic centimeter from airplane emissions. "The growth of the aviation sector and the demands of the few, mostly wealthy, frequent flyers still take priority over the health of the vast majority of citizens and especially vulnerable people," says Marte van der Graaf, leading Transport & Environment's officer on aviation in Germany.

The health hazards associated with air travel are disregarded on a national and European scale, (note: I dare say on an international scale). The results of many studies on the subject show that there is very little legal protection against harmful noise pollution.

The European Union does not even have any restrictions on ultrafine particles.

Airport luggage handlers are particularly exposed to high amounts of pollution. On average, they inhale air containing ca 37.000 particles per cubic centimeter.

That applies to aircrew when walking outside of the aircraft i.e. to the luggage areas and pilots doing their walkabouts.

Unlike gasoline for cars, kerosene contains substantial amounts of sulfur, which considerably raises the number of minuscule particles.

Low-sulfur and low aromatic-content kerosene can be made cheaply. The study suggests that this could result in a 70% reduction in ultrafine particles. "In the road and shipping sectors, this necessary step was taken years ago, but in air traffic, quality standards from the last century still prevail," according to Marte van der Graaf of T&E.

Additional Background

Health impacts of ultrafine particles (UFPs) UFPs are particularly detrimental to health since they penetrate deep into the human body and can be discovered in the blood, brain, and placenta, for example. Ultrafine particles have a diameter of fewer than 100 nanometers, making them about 1,000 times smaller than a human hair. To date, there are no standards for safe levels of ultrafine particles in the air, although the WHO warned more than 15 years ago that they are a pollutant of extremely high concern. UFPs and other air quality-degrading airplane emissions UFPs are included in the "non-CO2 emissions" of airplanes, along with a host of other harmful gases and particles like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

These contaminants have additional established health consequences to those previously reported, while not being taken into account in the current study.

Using "cleaner" kerosene—meaning: less sulfur and aromatics—can lower ultrafine particle emissions by as much as 70%. Aircraft emissions of ultrafine particles are mostly determined by the fuel's composition. There are fewer contaminants released during the combustion of cleaner aviation fuel. Techniques for cleaning up fuel are hydrotreatment or hydrolysis.

However, the quality requirements for aviation fuels have not been updated to reflect the most recent scientific discoveries in decades, in contrast to those for vehicles and ships.

Nor is the aircraft cabin air quality being taken care of.

The incomplete combustion of fuels and lubrication oil emissions in the engine form volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Some VOCs have been classified as carcinogens and can be found in jet engine exhaust fumes. These are the types of fumes that enter the cabin where unsuspecting passengers are sitting, and to which cabin crew and pilots are exposed… which are not being monitored. #fumeevents

“More research is required” - is the aviation industry’s mantra… No further comment.

The study mentioned in the article can be found here

Another excellent study is below. (For a long list of studies go to Scholar Google and enter: airport emissions pollution ultrafine particles)

International airport emissions and their impact on local air quality: chemical speciation of ambient aerosols at Madrid–Barajas Airport during the AVIATOR campaign
Alzahrani, S., Kılıç, D., Flynn, M., Williams, P. I., and Allan, J.: International airport emissions and their impact on local air quality: chemical speciation of ambient aerosols at Madrid–Barajas Airport during the AVIATOR campaign, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9045–9058, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9045-2024, 2024.

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