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  "DisINSECTion"
   
  Conde Nast Traveler,
Karin Winegar
"Diana Fairechild, a former international flight attendant and now an environmental health expert, says on certain international flights, 'attendants are required to empty half a dozen cans of pesticide into the passengers' air supply en route.'" [Mar'94]

Evelyn Staus, Passenger
"I've flown Kenya Airways from Nairobi to London four times. Each flight, we were sprayed with pesticide—with babies on board!" [Mar'00]

International Airline Pilot
"We do a weekly trip to a country where the plane is sprayed with pesticide after landing with everyone on board. I am gathering information to present to the officials at this airport concerning the poisoning of crew and passengers. I believe by educating them there could be hope that they will finally stop it. How can they imagine that they protect the environment by poisoning people? Afterwards the spraying, I have to fly two hours to my next airport, nauseated and with a headache." [Feb'05]

Rich LaFond, Passenger
"Most people acknowledge the danger of insecticides, even if they use them. As you alert us to the extensive and numerous ways in which the airlines and the government compromise our environment, people will begin to demand changes. Keep the faith." [Feb'98]

Sandra J. Williams, Passenger
"I saw insecticide sprayed in a Delta plane in Atlanta. Jim Cox, spokesman for Delta, said that they have a contract with Orkin in 20 cities in the U.S. All memebers of my family are sensitive. These pesticides are harmful to us and to everyone who flies." [Jan'01]

 

 

Insecticide by Diana Fairechild
HAZARDOUS TO HUMANS

The World Health Organization approves the spraying of insecticides in aircraft cabins in order to try to prevent crop-ruining insects from immigrating between countries. The procedure is called "disinsection"— i.e. killing insects, and it is done in both "occupied" and "unoccupied" airplane cabins.

Disinsection is a country by country choice; each country deciding if it's more important to try to prevent crop-ruining insects and less important to protect the health of humans.

Most vulnerable passengers are those who are sensitive or have compromised immune systems, as well as the elderly, infants, and frequent flyers repeatedly exposed to these toxins that are known to damage the immune, respiratory and nervous systems of humans.

Toxins can build up in the body and have a cumulative effect. I know this first hand. After 21 years of flying to countries that disinsected, I was tested in a double-blind study and found "chemically injured," i.e. poisoned from the insecticides used on planes. At that point, I stopped flying.

In the 1970s, the U.S. government discontinued disinsections due to lack of evidence that it protected crops. After all, bugs in onboard meal carts and galleys are exempt and that's where most bugs congregate, of course, with the food!

INSECTICIDES IN OCCUPIED CABINS

All passengers must be seated with seatbelts fastened. Starting at the back of the plane and walking forward, the applicator carries two cans of insecticide and aims them in opposite directions trying to direct the sprays to the narrow space between the overhead bins and the passengers' heads— so all passengers get toxic showers.

The airlines ignore the warning label on the insecticide that says:
• "Hazardous to humans"
• "Avoid breathing vapors"
• "Avoid contact with skin and eyes"

BEFORE ARRIVAL: Countries where passengers get sprayed every flight prior to arrival are Argentina, Barbados, Dubai, Grenada, Kiribati, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Panama, Trinidad, Senegal and South Africa.

AFTER DEPARTURE: The United Kingdom requires disinsection only on flights to London departing Egypt, Kenya and India.

INSECTICIDE IN UNOCCUPIED CABINS

Aircraft are saturated with a "residual" insecticide every eight weeks.

Countries that require the residual spray believe that during that time there will be enough fumes in the cabin to kill all insects. Of course, passengers on those flights get to breathe toxic fumes, too.

The following countries require the residual spray: Australia, Fiji, Jamaica, New Zealand and Panama.

DIANA FAIRECHILD'S TIPS FOR THOSE WHO MAY BE SENSITIVE TO THE TOXINS IN INSECTICIDES

TIP 1. IN FLIGHT. During the disinsection, cover yourself with an airline blanket to reduce the amount of insecticide that you will absorb through your skin into your body, as well as the amount you will retain in your clothes and hair where off-gassing will continue to release toxins.

TIP 2. AFTER LANDING. Speak to the purser (head flight attendant) and find out if the disinsection will take place before or after landing. If after landing, calmly tell the purser that you are asthmatic, and ask to be exempted so that you can get off before the spraying. Sometimes they require a note from your doctor. If you can get that before flying, they might open the door after landing and let you off before the spraying starts. Don't speak up before takeoff; the crew might consider you unruly and refuse to let you fly. It's best to wait until the plane has passed the halfway point.

MANY MORE PRACTICAL AND INTRIGUING STRATEGIES FOR AIRLINE PASSENGERS ARE OFFERED IN FLYANA WORKSHOPS AND CONSULTATIONS
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