Tag: Cancer

Irish Air Corps Health & Safety officer ordered evidence of Carbon Monoxide risks destroyed.

In 1995 the Irish Air Corps commissioned an independent third party organisation to carry out air quality testing in the Engine Repair Flight building. ERF comprised the Engine Overhaul facility, the Non Destructive Testing workshop and the Machine shop. Avionics Squadron was located in the same physical building as the ERF and the open attic spaces meant  chemical vapours & fumes from either unit were free to flow in either direction.

The Avionics / ERF building was also less than 20m downwind from the 3m high Spray Paint Shop exhaust stack which exhausted benzene, hexamethylene diisocyanate, toluene and xylene.

Ambient Air Monitoring for Health & Safety at Work Report from the 2nd of August 1995 found that #Dichloromethane (also known as Methylene chloride) was found in some areas to be 175ppm. At the time The most stringent health and safety limits for #DCM were 50 ppm (TWA for 8 hours) and 126 ppm (STEL for 15 minutes).

Personnel, including other ranks employed in the Formation Safety Office, were never informed of these results. Avionics / ERF personnel were left in situ for a further 12 years before the workshops were finally condemned & demolished and needlessly exposed to #DCM and other chemicals.

Significantly Dichloromethane metabolises as Carbon Monoxide once inhaled but is lethal in many other different ways.  We have at least 10 untimely deaths of men who worked in this building alone, their average age of death was 49.3 years and the youngest was only 32.

*****

So we have one state body warning the general public about the dangers of Carbon Monoxide, while another state body hid evidence of a known carbon monoxide threat from personnel working in a heavily contaminated facility.

Delay – Deny – Die

Samsung toxic chemical scandal Versus Irish Air Corps toxic chemical scandal

Samsung has apologised to employees who developed cancer at one of its computer chip manufacturing facilities following a ten-year legal battle.

The announcement comes after the company and a group representing ailing Samsung workers agreed to accept compensation terms and end a highly-publicised standoff. The company’s apology was part of the settlement.

Kim Ki-nam, the head of Samsung’s semiconductor business, said: “We sincerely apologise to the workers who suffered from illness and their families. We have failed to properly manage health risks at our semiconductor and LCD factories.”

Campaigners claim that 320 employees at Samsung have developed illnesses after being exposed to toxic chemicals at in its chip factories. They also claim that 118 people died as a result.

Read more on the Telegraph UK

*****

Here is a list of some of the chemicals used by Samsung and surprise, surprise all of them bar one were used by the Irish Air Corps in different hangars, labs & workshops at Baldonnel & Gormanston aerodromes.

In fact Trichloroethane was so “borrowed” by other units that almost every location at Baldonnel would send personnel up to the Engine Shop to  obtain some TRIKE in plastic Coca Cola bottles, milk cartons, aerosol lids or any other vessel capable of begging some of the liquid. Trike was used to clean, degrease or even just remove black marks off floors. 

This last usage meant that on at least 2 occasions floors in the Air Corps Training Depot were actually disolved in separate incidents years appart. One where old fashioned lino was dissolved back to the backing twine and another years later were a lecture room was mopped with a 25 litre drum of Trike that resulted in the vinyl floor tiles shrinking & curling up and the wall paint disolving & flowing off the walls onto the floor. 

ChemicalUsed By SamsungUsed By Air Corps
Trichloroethylene
aka TCE aka Trike		YesYes
DichromatesYesYes
DimethylacetamideYesYes
Thinners (containing Benzene, Toluene, Xylene).YesYes
Arsine YesNo
Sulphuric AcidYesYes
ResponseKim Ki-nam, the head of Samsung’s semiconductor business, said: "We sincerely apologise to the workers who suffered from illness and their families. We have failed to properly manage health risks at our semiconductor and LCD factories.”You were not exposed to toxic chemicals.
If you were exposed to toxic chemicals you should have worn the PPE provided.
You should have relied upon the Chemical Training provided.
You should have used common sense.

Note that the “independent third party” investigator, Christopher O’Toole, is a retired barrister from the office of the Attorney General (an office incidentally being sued by exposed personnel..so much for third party independence). O’Toole could find no documentation to back up the Air Corps / State Claims Agency claim that PPE was provided nor that Chemical Training was provided….simply because it WASNT…not until 2017 a full 2 years after the whistleblower’s protected disclosures.

Furthermore O’Toole DID NOT investigate ILLNESS, O’Toole DID NOT investigate CHEMICAL EXPOSURE. O’Toole only really investigated whether documentation to prove Air Corps compliance with Health & Safety legislation existed prior to 2015 and he could find NONE.

My expertise is in the area of law and in carrying out this review it was my intention to examine compliance by the Air Corps with the relevant law and regulation. I was not in a position to consider the substances in use or any implications for human health arising from such use as these issues are outside my competence. The allegations concern both the current health and safety regime and compliance with that regime in a period stretching back over 20 years.

Delay – Deny – Die

Epichlorohydrin – Guide to Hazardous Air Pollutants used by the Irish Air Corps

Epichlorohydrin
(1-Chloro-2,3-Epoxypropane)

CAS  106-89-8

Hazard Summary

Epichlorohydrin is mainly used in the production of epoxy resins.  Acute (short-term) inhalation exposure to epichlorohydrin in the workplace has caused irritation to the eyes, respiratory tract, and skin of workers.

At high levels of exposure, nausea, vomiting, cough, labored breathing, inflammation of the lung, pulmonary edema, and renal lesions may be observed in humans.

Chronic (long-term) occupational exposure of humans to epichlorohydrin in air is associated with high levels of respiratory tract illness and hematological effects.

Damage to the nasal passages, respiratory tract and kidneys have been observed in rodents exposed to epichlorohydrin by inhalation for acute or chronic duration.  An increased incidence of tumors of the nasal cavity has been observed in rats exposed by inhalation. EPA has classified epichlorohydrin as a Group B2, probable human carcinogen.

Please Note: The main sources of information for this fact sheet are EPA's IRIS (2), which contains information on inhalation chronic toxicity and carcinogenic effects of epichlorohydrin and the RfC, and unit cancer risk estimate for inhalation exposure, and the Health and Environmental Effects Profile for Epichlorohydrin. (1)

Uses

  • The primary use of epichlorohydrin is in the production of epoxy resins used in coatings, adhesives, and plastics. (1,5)
  • Epichlorohydrin is also used in the manufacture of synthetic glycerine, textiles, paper, inks and dyes, solvents, surfactants, and pharmaceuticals. (1)
  • Epichlorohydrin is also listed as an inert ingredient in commercial pesticides. (1)

Sources and Potential Exposure

  • Individuals are most likely to be exposed to epichlorohydrin in the workplace. (1)
  • Epichlorohydrin may be released to the ambient air during its production and use. (1)
  • Accidental releases to waterways may expose the general public to epichlorohydrin. (1)

Assessing Personal Exposure

  • No information was located concerning the measurement of personal exposure to epichlorohydrin.

Health Hazard Information

Acute Effects:

  • Acute inhalation exposure to epichlorohydrin in the workplace has caused irritation to the eyes, respiratory tract, and skin of workers.  At high levels of exposure, nausea, vomiting, cough, labored breathing, chemical pneumonitis (inflammation of the lung), pulmonary edema, and renal lesions may be observed in humans. (1,2)
  • Dermal contact with epichlorohydrin may result in irritation and burns of the skin in humans and animals.(1)
  • In rats and mice acutely exposed to epichlorohydrin by inhalation, nasal and lower respiratory tract irritation and lesions, hemorrhage, and severe edema have been observed.  Renal degeneration and CNS depression with paralysis of respiration and cardiac arrest have also resulted from acute inhalation exposure in animals. (1-3)
  • Tests involving acute exposure of rats, mice and rabbits have demonstrated epichlorohydrin to have high acute toxicity from inhalation, oral, and dermal exposure. (4)

Chronic Effects (Noncancer):

  • Chronic occupational exposure of humans to epichlorohydrin in air is associated with high levels of respiratory tract illness and hematological effects (decreased hemoglobin concentration and decreased erythrocyte and leukocyte counts). (1,5)
  • Chronic inhalation exposure has been observed to cause pulmonary effects including inflammation and degenerative changes in the nasal epithelia, severe lung congestion, and pneumonia in rats and mice. Effects to the kidneys were also observed. (1,2)
  • Hepatic damage, hematological effects, myocardial changes, and damage to the CNS have been reported in chronically exposed rats. (1,5)
  • The Reference Concentration (RfC) for epichlorohydrin is 0.001 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) basedon changes in the nasal turbinates in rats and mice. The RfC is an estimate (with uncertainty spanningperhaps an order of magnitude) of a continuous inhalation exposure to the human population (including sensitive subgroups), that is likely to be without appreciable risk of deleterious noncancer effects during a lifetime. It is not a direct estimator of risk but rather a reference point to gauge the potential effects. At exposures increasingly greater than the RfC, the potential for adverse health effects increases. Lifetime exposure above the RfC does not imply that an adverse health effect would necessarily occur. (2)
  • EPA has medium confidence in the study on which the RfC was based because of the inflammation in the respiratory tract of control and exposed animals although it was well conducted and contained detailed histopathological examinations of numerous tissues including the respiratory tract; medium confidence in the database because chronic studies that adequately address the respiratory system and a two-generation reproductive study are lacking and the only chronic inhalation study is confounded by severe nasal inflammation in the controls; and, consequently, medium confidence in the RfC. (2)
  • The provisional Reference Dose (RfD) for epichlorohydrin is 0.002 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day (mg/kg/d) based on kidney effects in rats. The provisional RfD is a value that has had some form of Agency review, but it does not appear on IRIS (6)

Reproductive/Developmental Effects:

  • In humans occupationally exposed to epichlorohydrin, effects on sperm counts, hormone levels, and fertility have been not detected. (1,2)
  • Epichlorohydrin has been demonstrated to reduce fertility in male rats when inhaled or administered orally.(1-3)
  • Teratogenic effects (birth defects) have not been observed in studies of rodents exposed by inhalation or ingestion. (1,2,5)

Cancer Risk:

  • An increased incidence of lung cancer mortality (not statistically significant) was reported in one study of workers exposed to epichlorohydrin. (1,2)
  • An increased incidence of tumors of the nasal cavity has been observed in rats exposed to epichlorohydrin by inhalation. (1,2,5)
  • An increased incidence of forestomach tumors has been reported in rats exposed via gavage (experimentally placing the chemical in the stomach) and in drinking water.  Mice have exhibited local tumors when exposed by subcutaneous injection. (1-3,5)
  • EPA has classified epichlorohydrin as a Group B2, probable human carcinogen. (2)
  • EPA uses mathematical models, based on human and animal studies, to estimate the probability of a EPA uses mathematical models, based on human and animal studies, to estimate the probability of a person developing cancer from breathing air containing a specified concentration of a chemical. EPA calculated an inhalation unit risk estimate of 1.2 × 10-6  (µg/m3)-1. EPA estimates that, if an individual were to continuously breathe air containing epichlorohydrin at an average of 0.8 µg/m3 (0.0008 mg/m3) over hisor her entire lifetime, that person would theoretically have no more than a one-in-a-million increasedchance of developing cancer as a direct result of breathing air containing this chemical. Similarly, EPA estimates that breathing air containing 8.0 µg/m3 (0.008 mg/m3) would result in not greater than a one in-a-hundred thousand increased chance of developing cancer, and air containing 80.0 µg/m3 (0.08mg/m3) would result in not greater than a one-in-ten thousand increased chance of developing cancer. Fora detailed discussion of confidence in the potency estimates, please see IRIS. (2)
  • EPA has calculated an oral cancer slope factor of 9.9 x 10-3 (mg/kg/d)-1. (2)

Physical Properties

  • The chemical formula for epichlorohydrin is C3H5OCl, and its molecular weight is 92.53 g/mol. (1,7)
  • Epichlorohydrin is a volatile and flammable clear liquid at room temperature and is insoluble in water.(1,2,7)
  • The threshold for odor perception of epichlorohydrin is 0.93 parts per million (ppm). Epichlorohydrin has a pungent, garlicky, sweet odor. (2,8) The vapor pressure for epichlorohydrin is 22 mm Hg at 30 °C. (1)

Read the full EPA (USA) PDF on the above Hazardous Air Pollutant with references below.

*****

Relavance to personnel who served in the Air Corps

  • Epichlorohydrin is a component of PR1829b windshield canopy sealant.

There are possibly more chemicals used by the Air Corps that contain Epichlorohydrin. If you know of some let us know in the comments section. 

Dichloromethane – Guide to Hazardous Air Pollutants used by the Irish Air Corps

Methylene Chloride (Dichloromethane)

Above is a photgraph taken in Irish Air Corps in 2015 of a drum of Dichloromethane. This was in use by the spray paint shop in Baldonnel for stripping paint but was handed out to staff from any other unit that wanted some in containers like soft drinks bottles or milk cartons.

Note : The European Union had banned this chemical 3 years earlier in 2015. The current Health & Safety officer in Baldonnel didn’t know Dichlorometheane had been banned and in fact didn’t even know Dichlorometheane was actually in use as no chemical register was in existance at the time despite being mandatory since 1989.

This was prior to the Irish Air Corps becoming LEADERS in workplace chemical Healh & Safety as “self-declared” recently to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence.

CAS  75-09-2

Hazard Summary

Methylene chloride is predominantly used as a solvent. The acute (short-term) effects of methylene chloride inhalation in humans consist mainly of nervous system effects including decreased visual, auditory, and motor functions, but these effects are reversible once exposure ceases.

The effects of chronic (long-term) exposure to methylene chloride suggest that the central nervous system (CNS) is a potential target in humans and animals.

Human data are inconclusive regarding methylene chloride and cancer. Animal studies have shown increases in liver and lung cancer and benign mammary gland tumors following the inhalation of methylene chloride.

Please Note: The main sources of information for this fact sheet are the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR's) Toxicological Profile for Methylene Chloride and EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), which contains information on oral chronic toxicity and the RfD, and the carcinogenic effects of methylene chloride including the unit cancer risk for inhalation exposure

Uses

  • Methylene chloride is predominantly used as a solvent in paint strippers and removers; as a process solvent in the manufacture of drugs, pharmaceuticals, and film coatings; as a metal cleaning and finishing solvent in electronics manufacturing; and as an agent in urethane foam blowing. (1)
  • Methylene chloride is also used as a propellant in aerosols for products such as paints, automotive products, and insect sprays. (1)
  • It is used as an extraction solvent for spice oleoresins, hops, and for the removal of caffeine from coffee. However, due to concern over residual solvent, most decaffeinators no longer use methylene chloride. (1)
  • Methylene chloride is also approved for use as a postharvest fumigant for grains and strawberries and as a degreening agent for citrus fruit. (1)

Sources and Potential Exposure

  • The principal route of human exposure to methylene chloride is inhalation of ambient air. (1)
  • Occupational and consumer exposure to methylene chloride in indoor air may be much higher, especially from spray painting or other aerosol uses. People who work in these places can breathe in the chemical or it may come in contact with the skin. (1)
  • Methylene chloride has been detected in both surface water and groundwater samples taken at hazardous waste sites and in drinking water at very low concentrations. (1)

Assessing Personal Exposure

  • Several tests exist for determining exposure to methylene chloride. These tests include measurement of methylene chloride in the breath, blood, and urine. It is noted that smoking and exposure to other chemicals may affect the results of these tests. (1)

Health Hazard Information

Acute Effects:

  • Case studies of methylene chloride poisoning during paint stripping operations have demonstrated that inhalation exposure to extremely high levels can be fatal to humans. (1,2)
  • Acute inhalation exposure to high levels of methylene chloride in humans has resulted in effects on the central nervous system (CNS) including decreased visual, auditory, and psychomotor functions, but these effects are reversible once exposure ceases. Methylene chloride also irritates the nose and throat at high concentrations. (1,2)
  • Tests involving acute exposure of animals have shown methylene chloride to have moderate acute toxicity from oral and inhalation exposure. (3)

Chronic Effects (Noncancer):

  • The major effects from chronic inhalation exposure to methylene chloride in humans are effects on the CNS, such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, and memory loss. (1,2)
  • Animal studies indicate that the inhalation of methylene chloride causes effects on the liver, kidney, CNS, and cardiovascular system. (1,2)
  • EPA has calculated a provisional Reference Concentration (RfC) of 3 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) based on liver effects in rats. The RfC is an estimate (with uncertainty spanning perhaps an order of
    magnitude) of a continuous inhalation exposure to the human population (including sensitive subgroups) that is likely to be without appreciable risk of deleterious noncancer effects during a lifetime. It is not a direct estimator of risk but rather a reference point to gauge the potential effects. At exposures increasingly greater than the RfC, the potential for adverse health effects increases. Lifetime exposure above the RfC does not imply that an adverse health effect would necessarily occur. (5)
  • The Reference Dose (RfD) for methylene chloride is 0.06 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day (mg/kg/d) based on liver toxicity in rats. (4)
  • EPA has medium confidence in the RfD based on: high confidence in the study on which the RfD is based because a large number of animals of both sexes were tested in four dose groups, with a large number of controls, many effects were monitored, and a dose-related increase in severity was observed; and medium to low confidence in the database because only a few studies support the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL). (4)

Reproductive/Developmental Effects:

  • No studies were located regarding developmental or reproductive effects in humans from inhalation or oral exposure. (1,2)
  • Animal studies have demonstrated that methylene chloride crosses the placental barrier, and minor skeletal variations and lowered fetal body weights have been noted. (1,2)

Cancer Risk:

  • Several studies did not report a statistically significant increase in deaths from cancer among workers exposed to methylene chloride. (1,2)
  • Animal studies have shown an increase in liver and lung cancer and benign mammary gland tumors following inhalation exposure to methylene chloride. (1,2,4)
  • EPA considers methylene chloride to be a probable human carcinogen and has ranked it in EPA’s Group B2.(4)
  • EPA uses mathematical models, based on animal studies, to estimate the probability of a person developing cancer from breathing air containing a specified concentration of a chemical. EPA calculated an inhalation unit risk estimate of 4.7 × 10-7 (µg/m3)-1. EPA estimates that, if an individual were to continuously breathe air containing methylene chloride at an average of 2.0 µg/m3 (0.002 mg/m3) over his or her entire lifetime, that person would theoretically have no more than a one-in-a-million increased chance of developing cancer as a direct result of breathing air containing this chemical. Similarly, EPA estimates that breathing air containing 20 µg/m3 (0.02 mg/m3 ) would result in not greater than a one-in-a-hundred
    breathing air containing 20 µg/m3 (0.02 mg/m3) would result in not greater than a one-in-a-hundred thousand increased chance of developing cancer, and air containing 200 µg/m3(0.2 mg/m3) would result in not greater than a one-in-ten thousand increased chance of developing cancer. For a detailed discussionof confidence in the potency estimates, please see IRIS. (4)
  • Note the MAX mathamatical/theoretical EPA level above of 200 µg/m3(0.2 mg/m3) equates to 0.05758ppm (parts per million). Dichloromethane was measured in ERF on Wednesday 12th & Thursday 13th July, 1995 at 175ppm. This equates to 607,880 µg/m3(607.88 mg/m3). So the level the EPA use to calculate a one-in-a hundred thousand increased chance of developing cancer were exceeded by the Irish Air Corps by a factor of 3,039. So statistically if a person inhalled the levels that many Irish Air Corps were exposed to 24/7 for a lifetime they would have a 1 in 33 chance of developing cancer as a result.
  • EPA calculated an oral cancer slope factor of 7.5 x 10-3 (mg/kg/d)-1. (4)

Physical Properties

  • A common synonym for methylene chloride is dichloromethane. (1,4)
    Methylene chloride is a colorless liquid with a sweetish odor. (1,6)
    The chemical formula for methylene chloride is CH2Cl2, and the molecular weight is 84.93 g/mol. (1)
  • The vapor pressure for methylene chloride is 349 mm Hg at 20 °C, and it has an octanol/water coefficient (log Kow) of 1.30. (1)
  • Methylene chloride has an odor threshold of 250 parts per million (ppm). (7)
  • Methylene chloride is slightly soluble in water and is nonflammable. (1,6)

Read the full EPA PDF on the above Hazardous Air Pollutant with references below.

*****

Relavance to personnel who served in the Air Corps

  1. Dichloromethane was a  component of Ardrox 666 used in ERF.
  2. Dichloromethane was a component of the Paint Remover 82510 used by the Spray Paint Shop but also by technicians in No3 Sp Wing, BFTS & possibly elsewhere.

There are possibly more chemicals used by the Air Corps that contain Dichloromethane. If you know of some let us know in the comments section. We are not statisticians and our interpretation of the cancer statistics are open to correction.

Solvent exposure and Parkinson’s disease

Shaun Wood worked was a painter and finisher  at Royal Air Force (RAF) bases across the world. During the early 1990s he was involved in the very intensive work preparing Tornado aircraft for the first Gulf War, in particular gluing anti-missile patches to the aircraft. This work was often done in confined spaces over long working hours.  He generally wore a respirator but these were not really adequate for the circumstances.

German Tornado Undergoing Maintenance

Shaun has been diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), which is a debilitating Parkinsonian syndrome that affects the nervous system. He is just 53 years of age.

Throughout his work Shaun was exposed to various solvents, but primarily trichloroethylene and dichloromethane. There is not a great deal of information about exposure to these solvents in aircraft maintenance. I have seen results from a survey carried out at an RAF base in Scotland where dichloromethane levels were measured during paint striping in the cockpit area of a Nimrod aircraft. There was only 1.5 m2 of paint removed, but the peak air concentrations were about 700 mg/m3. Results from three monitoring surveys where the British Health and Safety Executive sampled for dichloromethane during paint stripping on aircraft are shown in the following figure. The mean levels measured in each of these surveys were: 330, 790 and 1,960 mg/m3, and the highest individual level measured was 3,590 mg/m3.

Read full article on OH-world.org A blog about exposure science and occupational hygiene

http://johncherrie.blogspot.ie/2011/12/solvent-exposure-and-parkinsons-disease.html

*****

Below is a photo of one of the locations in the Irish Air Corps that used Dichloromethane, namely the NDT Shop of Engine Repair Flight. Yes that is a stream of the chemicals dripping out of the extractor fan and running down the wall. And yes that is dichloromethane, cresylic acid and the hexavalent sodium chromate all over the floor. The small barrel that is being dissolved by its contents contains Hydrofluoric Acid.

Some extracts from the Ambient Air Monitoring For Health and Safety at Work report dated 2nd August 1995

  1. Dichloromethane levels were measured in the engine shop in Wednesday the 12th and Thursday the 13th of July 1995 at the behest of Captain John Maloney who is still serving in the Irish Air Corps
  2. The level of dichloromethane found in ambient air in the engine
    cleaning area exceeded health and safety limits. 
  3. Levels of Dichloromethane were measured at 175.9ppm (622.5 mg/m3)  while the TWA health & safety limit for this chemical in 1995 was 50ppm.
  4. Significant levels of all parameters monitored were found in nearly all ambient air samples taken in the engine cleaning area.
  5. The ventilation in all areas monitored was deemed to be insufficient. It is thus recommended that mechanical heating and ventilation systems be adapted designed and installed in all areas monitored.

To summarise, the Irish Army Air Corps knew that Dichloromethane levels in the NDT shop in 1995 exceeded health & safety limits by 3.5 times yet officer management…

  1. LEFT personnel of all ranks and none to rot in this exceptionally toxic working environment for a further 12 years.
  2. IGNORED the recommendation to design and install design a proper ventilation system, (they stuck in 2 x Xpelairs).
  3. NEVER re-tested the environment to see if the Xpelair fans worked, we suspect they made things worse by increasing evaporation rate.
  4. NEVER informed personnel of enlisted ranks that their workplace was contaminated to dangerous levels.

DELAY – DENY – DIE

‘Cancer cluster’ fury: The ‘red zone’ residents ‘being left to rot and die’

ALONG one stretch of road, 50 people have been diagnosed with cancer. The people of this Australian town had enough of being told there’s nothing wrong.

THE people of Williamtown know that 50 residents living on one stretch of rural road have been diagnosed with cancer.

They want the Government to admit it. And to fix the problem now.

The fury of those living in the “red zone” of toxic contamination near the RAAF base in the NSW township of Williamtown, near Newcastle, is palpable.

After years of drinking the water, washing in it, cooking in it, they were finally told in 2015 it was contaminated. They are out of patience, and want answers.

And their anger has only been further inflamed by a NSW Health report saying there’s no evidence of a cancer cluster caused by contamination which the Department of Defence allegedly hid from them for three years.

The report dismissing their concerns has left them devastated.

Read more on news.com.au

*****

This article may be of relevance to Air Corps fire fighting personnel who used AFFF in the past. The Air Corps as usual will not admit whether they used poly-fluoroalkyl substances. In well regulated workplace environments exposure should be minimal but in the Air Corps there was no regulation nor health & safety training for the handling of fire fighting foam.

However as with the Air Corps toxic chemical scandal the Australian DoD is trying to downplay the effects of dangerous chemicals just like Dr. Leo Varadkar did in the Dáil on the 7th of February.

Read information sheet on firefighting foam from the Australian Department of Defence

DELAY – DENY – DIE

Leo Varadkar urged to act on Air Corps chemical exposure ‘legacy’

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he believes the courts should decide whether former Air Corps staff are suffering chronic illnesses due to chemical exposure.

Mr Varadkar made the comments yesterday in the Dáil where Sinn Féin Defence Spokesperson Aengus O’Snodaigh repeated calls for a health study of Air Corps members, similar to an analysis of Australian Air Force staff, which found technicians who worked with carcinogenic chemicals were at greater risk of illness.

Last year, the Irish Examiner revealed the State is facing a number of claims from former staff, and that whistleblowers had raised concerns about the safety of workers using chemicals at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel.

“While I have absolutely no doubt that the serious ill-health suffered by some former members of the Air Corps is real, it has not been proven whether this array of illnesses could be caused by chemical exposure,” Mr Varadkar said.

“There is litigation in the courts, which are the best place to assess the evidence and see whether the allegations are supported by that evidence,” he said.

Mr O’Snodaigh said a survey is needed as the implications of widespread staff exposure to the chemicals used goes beyond the seven cases currently against the State. “We do not want to be here in 10 years’ time with a higher death toll, having failed to address this scandal,”he said.

Read full article on Irish Examiner website below…

Delay – Deny – Die

The vast majority of Irish Air Corps Chemical Abuse Survivors are not currently engaged in legal action. For these serving and former personnel the Taoiseach is offering them no respite, not assistance and no hope.

Brendan Howlin: Review Air Corps health claims

Labour leader Brendan Howlin is not satisfied with the Government’s response to the Air Corps chemical exposure scandal, and has called for an external review of the allegations.

In the absence of military or government statistics on untimely deaths in the Irish Air Corps we created our own. We are happy to have these tested or even proven wrong by better statistics gathered by the state in a comprehensive, open and transparent manner. #WeAreNotStatisticians

The State is facing seven High Court claims from former Air Corps technicians, who say they suffer chronic illnesses due to exposure to toxic chemicals while they were cleaning and servicing aircraft.

A number of whistleblowers have made protected disclosures about working conditions in Air Corps headquarters at Casement Aerodrome. The Health and Safety Authority subsequently investigated, and threatened legal action, unless the Defence Forces improved worker safety.

Mr Howlin raised the issue in the Dáil last month, and has since received correspondence from the Government.

“I’ve raised it with the Taoiseach directly and I’ve gotten a two-page response from the minister with responsibility for defence, and I’m not satisfied,” Mr Howlin said. “There needs to be at least an expert-review panel set up to look into this in some detail.”

However, Mr Howlin did not call for a full commission of investigation, but said that the findings of an external review should determine whether such a process is necessary.

“Whether a full tribunal of investigation is required remains to be seen, but the first step to that is to have an external, expert review, and that needs to happen immediately, and I certainly will be pressing for that,” he said.

This review should include a health study of Air Corps members past and present to determine if they have a higher prevalence of chronic conditions compared to the general public, he said.

“That would have to be a critical part of the review, because, once the fears are there, they have to be empirically checked out,” Mr Howlin said.

“They are either fact or not fact. There’s no point in people either dismissing them, or saying it’s a fact. We need to have external, independent, authoritative decisions on these matters.”

Read full article on Irish Examiner website below…

Delay – Deny – Die

 

Hexamethylene Diisocyanate – Just one of the toxic chemicals the Irish Air Corps and State Claims Agency want to hide from former personnel!

  1. Exposure can occur when isocyanates are curing or when cured isocyanates are heated.
  2. An individual’s response to isocyanate exposure can be immediate or may be DELAYED FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
  3. Skin exposure can also cause respiratory sensitisation.
  4. The odour threshold for isocyanates, i.e. the level at which an individual can smell an isocyanate, is typically higher than the allowed exposure limits.
  5. The Air Corps did eventually provide a “supplied air” respirator to spray paint & welding personnel. Unfortunately they sourced the “supplied air” from an old machine compressor located in ERF where the air had previously tested as 3.5 times over the allowed limit for Dichloromethane i.e. allowed limit was 50ppm and sourced air was from a location measured at 175ppm…out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Air Corps Hexamethylene Diisocyanate Usage

Hexamethylene Diisocyanates were a chemical component of polyurethane paint hardener used by the Spray Paint Shop (Dope Shop) at Baldonnel. For most of the existence of this shop personnel were NOT supplied with ANY PPE. The walls between the Spray Paint Shop and Engineering Wing Hangar & Workshops were not sealed and so Hexamethylene Diisocyanate and other chemicals entered these workplaces whilst spraying was in progress exposing all personnel.

Furthermore if a component could not be removed from an aircraft for spray painting it was spray painted in-situ in Engineering Wing Hangar whilst unprotected line & tech personnel worked in adjoining offices & workshops or on other aircraft in the hangar.

Visiting personnel to Engineering Wing hangar such as BFTS personnel doing an IRAN, Heli personnel doing an overhaul & even Military Police on a walkabout were also exposed.

A “waterfall” system with an extractor fan was also present. Personnel spray painted aircraft components toward the waterfall which captured most of the over-spray droplets. Fumes from this waterfall were then extracted by a fan, up a duct and released at approximately 3m height where the prevailing winds then carried the extracted fumes in the doors & windows of : 

  • 5th Maintenance Engineers
  • Air Corps Apprentice School
  • Avionics Squadron
  • BFW Stores
  • Engine Repair Flight
  • Old Tech Stores
  • Training Wing HQ Prefab
  • Parachute Shop

5-20% of people are prone to isocyanate sensitisation. and isocyanate cross sensitisation is a recognised phenomenon. Sensitisation is irreversible and unfortunately once sensitised it is next to impossible to avoid isocyanate allergy triggers in the modern environment as they are used to make all Polyurethane products.

It is also likely that health effects are suffered beyond the respiratory system & skin for example the gastric & nervous systems and it is also probable that sensitisation to isocyanates will lead to allergies to other unrelated chemicals leading to a cascade of triggering chemicals allergies & intolerance for over exposed individuals.

DELAY – DENY – DIE

Navy (New Zealand) veteran’s landmark compensation deal has others with Parkinson’s fearing trichloroethylene

Hundreds of New Zealanders may have been affected by a toxic chemical in a wide range of workplaces, a Weekend Herald investigation has found.

The discovery follows a landmark compensation pay-out to a New Zealand navy veteran who proved links between exposure to the solvent during his military service and his Parkinson’s disease.

The Herald reported last month that Veterans Affairs has provided the ex-serviceman with an entitlement to disability compensation for Parkinson’s, a condition attributed to his exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) while degreasing and cleaning electronics on a Royal New Zealand Navy ship during the 1948-1960 Malayan Emergency.

The Weekend Herald has since tracked down other men who fear their handling of TCE in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s could have caused their debilitating diseases and who now want to pursue their own compensation cases.

A former New Zealand Post Office telephone exchange technician, a naval dockyards apprentice and an aircraft engineer have all spoken about using TCE in their workplaces for years, without any health and safety precautions.

None of them used gloves or breathing apparatus while being exposed to the potent halocarbon that was popular across an array of sectors and workplaces in New Zealand, including garages, railway and aircraft workshops, and other depots.

“Trichlo was strong enough to bowl you over,” said 65-year-old Steve Walker, an ex-New Zealand Post Office employee at the Balclutha exchange, who now struggles with Parkinson’s. “It seeped into your skin, into your clothes. It took over you completely.”

Dave Schafer, a 58-year-old who used TCE weekly while cleaning instruments on Navy frigates during a five-year apprenticeship at the Devonport naval base, said: “Holy cow, that stuff was powerful. But as apprentices you kept your mouth shut and did your job, you didn’t rock the boat.”

Parkinson’s New Zealand, the Returned and Services’ Association (RSA), and those spoken to by the Weekend Herald, all believe there will be many more New Zealanders – hundreds if not thousands – who have been exposed to TCE over the years.

“Researchers have suggested there could be a significant lag time between exposure to TCE and the onset of Parkinson’s,” said Parkinson’s New Zealand chief executive Deirdre O’Sullivan.

“As such, we have reason to believe there could be many more serving and/or ex-serving NZDF people in a similar situation to this veteran.”

The potentially precedent-setting Navy veteran’s decision was made on appeal to the independent Veterans’ Entitlements Appeal Board, which considered appeals against decisions made under the War Pensions Act 1954.

It was made possible by ground-breaking international research including a major 2011 study on TCE exposure that concluded it was likely to result in a sixfold increase in the chances of developing Parkinson’s.

Read more on the New Zealand Herald’s website

*****

Interesting that the New Zealand Herald article discusses exposure in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. No mention of the 1990s onwards obviously because the industries there using the chemical copped on in the 1990’s.

Unfortunately the Irish Air Corps was still exposing personnel to Trike, (without protection) in ERF / Avionics in the 1990s and well into the first decade of this century and likely elsewhere in Baldonnel & Gormanston

DELAY – DENY – DIE