Air Corps Chemical Abuse Survivors
An information resource for serving & former members of the Irish Army Air Corps suffering illness due to unprotected toxic chemical exposure in the workplace.
See details at Child Illness List
We have updated our annotated photograph of the black hole of Baldonnel, that being the Non Destructive Testing (NDT) workshop of the Engine Repair Flight (ERF).
We have also added the old European hazard symbols (up to 2007) as well as the current R-Phrases as sub-menus under the Chemical Info menu.
Below are just 2 (lethal) chemicals from 1 location. All tech locations in Baldonnel used chemicals as well as photo section and refuelers. In all up to 300 different chemicals were in use with ZERO safety precautions.
A whistle-blower has criticised the Government’s handling of allegations of health and safety management in the Air Corps, claiming that staff exposure to toxic chemicals has caused the deaths and chronic illnesses suffered by members and their families
The new protected disclosure, submitted earlier this week, claims that chemical exposures may have contributed to the cancers, depression, and cardiac diseases recorded in Air Corps staff, as well as the miscarriages and illnesses suffered by the partners and children of members.
Read more on the Irish Examiner website.
It would be great to get a the definite answer or even to establish why I am suffering in silence, embarrassed by years of sudden uncontrollable bowel issues, breathing issues & aching to the bones even after the slightest bit of manual work. Looking at other men your age running and exercising every day without a hint of tiredness.
When you say to your family that you have no energy to do basic household maintenance work you really mean it and are not being lazy or when you suddenly seem to enter a dark mood and depressive state for no reason.
Have ticked a lot of the boxes for the range of “unexplained symptoms” listed so far and I am really hoping that they are not caused by the workplace environment & chemical products handled over the years. Because it creates a real daily worry as to what the future holds. What quality of life will I have if some of the more serious illnesses that colleagues have suffered eventually get a grip on me!
See the known list of illnesses suffered by Air Corp Chemical Abuse survivors below.
AN AIR CORPS whistle-blower who claims he was exposed to harmful chemicals whilst in the force believes there could be more than 1,000 people affected by what he has described as “a scandal of the highest order”.
In an interview with TheJournal.ie, the man – who we are not naming as he has made a protected disclosure – detailed the trouble he experiences with daily life which he alleges traces back to his exposure to chemicals over a nine-year period at Baldonnel Airfield in west Dublin.
A 2016 inspection by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) identified a number of shortcomings at Baldonnel with corrective actions then taken by the Defence Forces in relation to how it handles such chemicals.
According to the HSA report seen by TheJournal.ie, the Air Corps was warned it could face prosecution if it did not “comply with advice and relevant legal requirements” about how hazardous substances were managed, among other safety matters.
Read more on The Journal website
http://www.thejournal.ie/air-corps-whistleblower-3230614-Mar2017/
The Government says it has no plans to establish a review to determine if the chronic illnesses suffered by former Air Corps staff were as a result of exposure to chemicals while working at Casement Aerodrome.
This is despite similar studies and investigations in Australia and the Netherlands.
The State is currently facing six legal actions from former Air Corps staff, who claim their chronic illnesses were caused by their working conditions at the military airfield in south-west Dublin.
Meanwhile, an official has been appointed to investigate claims by three whistleblowers, who made a number of allegations around the current health and safety measures within the Air Corps.
Last October, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) issued a report calling on the Air Corps to implement a number of improvements on the management of staff exposure to hazardous chemicals.
However, responding to a question from Sinn Féin defence spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh, junior defence minister Paul Kehoe said the Government did not intend to commission any specific study to investigate whether working conditions at Casement Aerodrome had an adverse effect on workers’ health.
“There are a number of processes already in train relating to reviewing health-and-safety procedures in the Air Corps,” said Mr Kehoe of the review of the whistleblowers’ claims and the Defence Forces’ response to the HSA report.
“In the circumstances and pending the completion of the ongoing processes, I have no plans to commission another review on this matter.”
Read more on the Irish Examiner website
Please find below a link to a very useful “Toxicant & Disease Database” hosted by the The Collaborative on Health and the Environment in the USA.
Enter a disease and see what evidence there is for known chemical causes. Enter a chemical and see what evidence there is for diseases caused by this chemical.
The State is facing further claims that Air Corps staff may have suffered illnesses as a result of exposure to harmful chemicals at Casement Aerodrome.
The solicitor representing six people currently taking legal action over their exposure to toxic chemicals confirmed he has received instruction from up to six more workers who are considering submitting personal injury claims.
Read more on the Irish Examiner website
Opposition parties are to raise whistleblowers’ concerns on the management of air corps staff exposure to hazardous chemicals in the Dáil today.
Read more on the Irish Examiner website
