Bearnairdine Beaumont began her flying career with Lufthansa (Germany) in 1977. After 20 years service and a particularly bad fume event onboard, she was declared ‘unfit to fly’ and was subsequently shown the door by her employer - despite having been injured onboard their aircraft. She received no ill health pension. Bearnairdine is now a mentor, consultant and researcher in the areas of naturopathic medicine, environment based chemical sensitivities and toxicity induced injuries. ‘I started flying at Lufthansa’s in 1977. For half that time, I was first Purser, then Training and Checkpurser. After 16 years on Boeing I changed over to Airbus fleet. One day, four years later, and after experiencing increasing ill health during that time, I went on a four-day flight rotation, which was covering three to four legs per day to various European destinations - never suspecting it was to be my last! On one flight, we had yet again, that strong acrid, smelly socks smell and a fire warning. The cockpit crew donned their masks, while we were sent to search for the fire – but found nothing. We landed and went to our hotel. Nobody went out as we usually did, saying we were too tired, and several of us had headaches. The next day we had the same aircraft on our four hour flight back. Just after take-off, invisible, but clearly toxic fumes enveloped us. Looking over my shoulder in to the cockpit I saw that the pilots had their masks on, and was wondering: why? A headache was building again and my neck felt stiff. I also had palpitations, and my colleague beside me was looking very pale and said she felt ill. Then, I got a call from the aft galley for help. I went there to find one of the girls virtually hanging in her seat belts on the jump seat. I tried to cool her forehead with cold water; her lips looked blue, so I got the O2 bottle out for her. The other girl seemed to be ok and said she’d look after her. I walked to the front galley on slightly unsteady legs that felt like rubber; as I got there I noted that the co-pilot just came out of the washroom looking very pale – and then, without warning, I was violently sick – just making it to the galley waste trolley. The next day I had to ask for a stand-by Purser to replace in me. The girl who was so sick the day before, had left for home when we landed then and there. Completely off balance and unable to work, my crew sat me down and commented on how pale and ill I looked. The headache was relentless, I was dizzy, couldn’t think and felt nauseated. After lying for over two hours in the airport’s emergency room waiting for the dizziness and the pressure in the brain to pass, I dead-headed back home by train . I was really glad to have made it back to base, but couldn’t remember where I had parked my car. After walking along row after row of cars for what seemed like ages, I found it. Driving slowly, I was nearly home, when I realised that I had no clue how I had managed to get there; next thing was that I had to stop the car because I felt so weak and dizzy and so very fatigued that my eyes, heavy, as if covered with a lid of lead, kept closing. Somehow I just fell asleep right after managing to stop the car at the side of the road. I woke some time later, I had no idea how long I had slept; or if, indeed, it was a sleep and not a fainting; my hands and legs were tingling and felt numb. I was hardly able to think; I tried to figure out what had happened, and through the brain fog I was wondering what the heck I was doing at the side of the road, only 2km from home. I sat for a while staring at the steering wheel; then I remembered that I had to start the engine by turning the key, but kept groping for it on the wrong side of the wheel. With a shaking, numb hand I finally found the key and turned it – but, then I couldn’t get the car to move, until I realised that I was pressing down on the brakes instead of the accelerator – I couldn’t feel my feet left from right, and my head was pounding non-stop. My face was burning and I realised I was sobbing. I was so tired and frustrated and ... afraid. Groping mentally for my willpower and concentrating really hard, forcing my eyes to stay open, I drove very slowly and managed to get home. I left my flight-kit, suitcase and everything else in my car, staggered inside and fell on my bed in uniform ... to wake up twelve hours later ... I was diagnosed by 3 doctors AND by the airline’s flight medic with “chronic poisoning by chemicals present on aircraft, and respiratory problems including allergic bronchial asthma”. So, after 20 years of flying , several fume events and exposure to constant low-level contamination, I was signed off as “unfit to fly” - good-bye. As crews who fly for a living and passengers who fly alot on business, we are exposed to these fumes that have certain disgusting odours or smells produced from the many heated toxic substances, warning us that something is amiss. The thing is, that often it is too late when we detect the smell, or there is no smell at all but the contamination is present as we now know. The chemicals travel with every breath we take through our lungs and make their vicious, invisible way to all organs, the central nervous system and the brain. The industry who are the biggest doubter’s of this causality, and their representatives keep repeating themselves like broken records, telling the public and crew members that the air on board is as clean as the air is in a kindergarden or operating theatre. Last year British and Australian researchers proved a “direct connection” between the “aerotoxic syndrome” and work in a cabin contaminated by turbine fumes. The conclusion of their study was published by the World Health Organization in June 2017, and in May 2018 in the renowned ‘The BMJ’ that : Aerotoxic syndrome must be recognised as an occupational disease. When (toxic) substances are being discussed, the decision-makers prefer to avoid a general ban instead to actually deal with it, so first, limit levels are introduced. This starts with the upper limits, which – in every current case – are gradually being reduced due to ever more damning data – until they are down to zero; for example, following a political ban (good example: asbestos). It is striking that, in these cases, until the very end, mainstream occupational medicine insists on talking about (quote): “Insufficient scientifically based causalities”. Which is also why (quote):„No right to compensation can be derived from it.” Airlines, together with their directly interlinked employers’ liability insurance associations, have claimed that there is not enough indication to prove that employees get sick from toxic fumes/ fume events. EASA and other aviation authorities support that by speaking of limit values that “have not been exceeded.” And thus, they say, cannot make anyone ill. And of course call for more research and measurements. All research and measurements will not help, when they then are adapted to the industry’s fancy. Clearly there is a system behind it. And not to the benefit of those poisoned at work – the Aerotoxic Syndrome sufferers!’