Subject: PANUPS: Aircraft Disinsection
From: [email-masked] (Pesticide Action Network North America Reg Ctr)
Date: 7 May 1994 00:27:30 -0400
Newsgroups: alt.sustainable.agriculture

From: Pesticide Action Network North America Reg Ctr <panna>

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   PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK NORTH AMERICA UPDATES SERVICE
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Aircraft Disinsection

May 6, 1994

	In January 1994, U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico 
F. Pena announced that the Clinton Administration was 
considering a series of measures to discourage countries from 
spraying pesticides in passenger cabins on international 
jetliners, a procedure known as disinsection.  Pena stated 
that the first step would be to change current procedures and 
require U.S. airlines to announce sprayings in advance to 
passengers.  Theoretically, these advance announcements could 
result in decreased tourist traffic by travelers opposed to 
the spraying and contribute to a halt of this procedure.  In 
a letter to more than twenty government transportation 
officials around the world, Pena cited health dangers created 
by the spraying, including long-term and immediate allergic 
reactions of passengers as grounds for discontinuing the 
practice.
	According to the U.S. Air Transport Association, the 
following countries may require cabin spraying before 
arrival: Antigua, Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Belize, 
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, 
Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Northern 
Marianas, Panama, Peru, St. Lucia, St. Martin, and Venezuela.  
Guam, a U.S. territory, also requires aircraft disinsection.  
A U.S. Department of Transportation survey estimated that 
during the twelve months ending in September 1993, almost 
15.2 million passengers flew on major U.S. airlines to the 
Caribbean, Central America, and South America and were 
sprayed in flight or on the ground after landing, exposing 
millions of unsuspecting travelers to pesticides.  
	Some countries require insect quarantine for all 
transcontinental and transoceanic airlines to prevent insect-
spread epidemics such as malaria, dengue fever, and 
encephalitis, as well as to prevent entry of pests that may 
pose an agricultural threat to that country.  One common 
method of disinsection is for flight attendants to walk the 
length of passenger compartments applying insecticides, often 
a premeasured dose of "Airosol Aircraft Insecticide" from 
hand-held aerosol cans.  
	The active ingredient of "Airosol Aircraft Insecticide," 
is d-phenothrin (trade name: Sumithrin), a synthetic 
derivative of an insecticide made from the flowers of a 
Chrysanthemum species, which is also sold commercially as the 
broad-spectrum insecticide Black Knight Roach Killer. Despite 
its rapid breakdown, it has been known to cause problems for 
people with allergies, chemical sensitivities, asthma and 
other respiratory problems. Flight attendants and passengers 
have complained the spraying has caused headaches, nausea, 
fatigue, seizures and in extreme cases, memory loss, 
reduction in cognitive skills or depressed immune systems.  
The Airosol Aircraft Insecticide label describes the 
insecticide as a "hazard to humans and domestic animals" that 
can be harmful if absorbed through the skin, and warns 
against breathing its vapors or having it come into contact 
with skin or eyes.  
	Aircraft disinsection has been carried out since 1949 
under the recommendations of two World Health Organization 
Expert Committees (Insecticides and Vector Biology & 
Control).  Though the U.S. officially ended this practice in 
1979 due to health concerns and questionable effectiveness, 
the Department of Agriculture occasionally requires some 
airlines to spray pesticides in aircraft used in domestic 
flights to prevent the spread of Japanese beetles.  However, 
in these cases disinsection is done prior to the occupancy of 
the crew and passengers.
	In 1983, U.S. Assistant Surgeon General, Dr. Donald R. 
Hopkins, wrote a memo about the U.S. Center for Disease 
Control's position on insect disinsection noting that 
insecticide spraying in aircraft "has never been shown to be 
highly effective in disease control or in species 
containment" and that the nation "cannot support the use of 
insecticides in aircraft areas with passengers present.  
Pesticides registered for such use should not be inhaled."  
More than ten years later, aircraft disinsection still occurs 
with few efforts to establish international regulations to 
govern this practice.
	The Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides 
in Eugene, Oregon recommends that passengers take the 
following precautions to reduce the likelihood of pesticide 
exposure due to aircraft disinsection:
--Ask your travel agent or airline whether the flight will be 
sprayed.  Note that passengers are sometimes given inaccurate 
information as many airline employees are unaware of the 
practice.
--Ask for a written statement that the plane will not be 
sprayed in-flight.
--Ask for a written agreement that you will be able to 
disembark prior to the spraying.  A letter from your doctor 
may strengthen your request.  However,  even such written 
agreements are not always honored in practice.
--Let on-board personnel know of your need to deplane prior 
to spraying.
--If you have respiratory ailments, you should avoid flights 
designated for disinsection; if you must go, use a respirator 
mask that filters particles. 

	Write to the following government agencies and urge them 
to require that ticket agents must warn travelers prior to 
ticket purchase that they may be sprayed with a pesticide:  
--Federal Aviation Administration, Community and Consumer 
Liaison Division, FAA (APA-200), USDOT, Washington, D.C. 
20591, USA; phone 800-424-9393.  
--U.S. Department of Transportation, Consumer Affairs 
Division, Room 10405, Office of Community and Consumer 
Affairs, USDOT, 400 7th Ave., Washington, D.C. 20590, USA.

Sources: Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 67(5): 
543-547, 1989; Buzzworm's Earth Journal, 38-43, 73, Nov/Dec 
1993; New York Times, Jan. 17, 1994; Northwest Coalition for 
Alternatives for Pesticides, Pesticide Action Alert, March 
1994; San Francisco Examiner, April 17, 1994; Vet. Parasitol. 
18:235-239, 1985; Dr. Julius Kleiner, A Guide to Protect 
Passengers from Aircraft Disinsection (not published, 
personal communication).

Contacts: Pesticide Action Network North American Regional 
Center, see PANUPS footer.  Northwest Coalition for 
Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP), Box 1393, Eugene, OR 
97440; phone (503) 344-5044; fax (503) 343-3790; email 
[email-masked].
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The Pesticide Action Network Updates Service (PANUPS) is a 
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Action Network North America Regional Center (PANNA). PANNA is 
located at 116 New Montgomery Street, #810, San Francisco, CA 
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