Aviation Ventilation Expert Available to Speak About Swine Flu Spread on Airplanes

Aviation Ventilation Expert Available to Speak About Swine Flu Spread on
Airplanes

Proper ventilation on board aircraft can help lessen the risk

ATLANTA, April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Society of Heating,
Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers recently created a standard that
offers guidance on air quality on board commercial aircraft, including
requirements for ventilation to lessen the risk of all disease exposure --
including diseases such as swine flu -- while on board.

While airborne transmission is only one way in which disease can spread,
ASHRAE Standard 161, Air Quality within Commercial Aircraft, addresses this
aspect. ASHRAE is working to get the FAA to adopt the standard, or to have the
standard included in federal aviation legislation.

Dr. Byron Jones, the leader of the committee that wrote the standard, is
available to comment. Dr. Jones says, "Some of the more well-known cases of
disease transmission on aircraft were when the aircraft was parked with the
ventilation systems shut down for any period of time," as seen in Tulsa World
newspaper April 29.

Major considerations in the standard include:
-- Providing adequate ventilation. Ventilation flushes out contaminants
generated in the aircraft cabin, including airborne pathogens. In
general, the greater the ventilation rate, the lower the concentration
for these contaminants. Maintaining the ventilation rates at or
higher
than the minimum rates prescribed in Standard 161 helps to limit the
spread of pathogens in an aircraft cabin.
-- Standard 161 prescribes HEPA filtration of all air cabin exhaust air
that is recirculated to the cabin. This requirement is included to
insure that pathogens are not inadvertently carried from one part of
the
aircraft cabin to another part by the aircraft environmental control
system.
-- Standard 161 prescribes minimum ventilation rates for all phases of
flight, including boarding, deplaning, taxi, ground holds, etc.
Because
of the high occupant density in aircraft cabins, contaminant levels
can
increase rapidly if ventilation is shut off. It is important to not
allow aircraft to be occupied for extended periods without the
prescribed levels of ventilation.
-- The Standard provides additional measures for aircraft design,
maintenance, and operation that can be taken to minimize the
opportunity
for transmission of disease in aircraft.

SOURCE American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers

Wendy Angel of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and
Air-Conditioning Engineers, +1-678-539-1216, wangel@ashrae.org