Surviving my career: the health hazards of flying

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: "Cleaning aircraft-cabin air: Breathing more easily; The air inside aircraft could soon be cleaner and more comfortable to breathe," The Economist, 19 September 2009.

Good news: much better tech coming on air filters for planes.

Planes are alleged to mix 50% new air with recycled, but to save money, some airlines (especially on long, overnight flights) drop it down to about 20% fresh air.

Reality is, even on short flights, you get to breathe the same air about 30 times. I could not welcome this news more.

Comments

[Ted O'Connor]

I think the airlines feed you the bad air to knock you out. Passengers are less trouble when they are asleep. Now they are letting more dogs and cats into the passenger cabins. You bring your own sandwich. You sit next to a dog. It's like riding a bus in Honduras.