Medical Risks Due to Flying?

[bigblockz8]

What does aviation put you at risk for? I was thinking today and was unable to find a comprehensive list of hazards. I also have to wonder if my assumptions are ill-founded. Here are some that I worry about and maybe they are silly but I have to wonder about long term effects.

Lower circulation?- Sitting at FL36 for eight hours.

Lead Poisoning? - Every time I preflight the wind blows some fuel into/on me. I wash it off asap but what about breathing exhaust? Fueling 100LL? This might go away as a concern though.

Radiation Exposure? (Excuse the TSA and the Xray machines)

UV Exposure?

Hypoxia- If you fly a bit higher does the body adapt or will flying at 8000msl every flight eventually lower O2 levels?

This is ignoring the chance of death as that is present even as I type and you read this. Only change is the level of risk but obviously aviation has a higher risk.

 

[Old Geek]

Even at 8,000 feet there's a significantly higher radiation background count. If you're like me and believe that a tiny amount of radiation is harmless, no health effect. If you believe there is no safe amount of radiation then, well, it's what it is.

I think the two most important health safety items you should use are good sunglasses and good headphones.

 

[DavidWhite]

Well, as a pilot the risk of dying in a plane crash is increased.

 

[Henning]

There is more poison in avgas than lead, heck, the lead isn't even the worst, Avoid contact with your skin, if you want to see what 40 years of gas and industrial solvents does to your skin I'll show you my hands lol.

There are also potential injuries to your plural spaces, especially if you have a cold. Reduced pressure at altitude often leads to an increase in swelling of inflamed tissues which can block you Eustachian Tubes leaving you with a difficult descent. It almost caused a major problem with a passenger once in my Travelair when I had to descend from 16,500 at <100' per minute due to severe pain. I almost couldn't do it it on the fuel I had. 100-200fpm descents can really screw up a flight plan.

There are other barotrauma issues such as decompression sickness (The Bends aka Caissons Disease) and finally having your blood boil in your veins and the moisure in your body being sucked through your skin swelling it around 75,000'. These obviously you don't concern yourself with in a typical GA plane.

The biggies of course are not illness but injuries. There's a lot of ways to hurt yourself with an airplane. The greatest medical risk with a 152/172 is catching a case of Cessna Diamond rash, this is a painful rash that manifests itself on your forehead.

 

[denverpilot]

A prop to the head will ruin your whole day.

 

[tonycondon]

starvation

 

[Piloto]

The greatest risk of flying is depletion of your budget. I know of some pilots that had cancelled their health insurance plans due to flying expenses. Others has skip MRIs and medication in favor of flying hours. Yes flying can be hazardous to your health.

José

 

[spinfire]

Lead is definitely not good for you. My understanding is the primary concern is ingestion and the consequences are much worse for developing brains so that means make sure kids aren't touching the exhaust stack or fuel sample/jar without washing their hands afterwards. If you are going out for that $100 hamburger take an extra two minutes and wash your hands after you park the plane (especially true for any young passengers). I know I can't do the fuel sample routine without getting at least some on my hands. But taking some basic precautions before bringing your hands near your mouth should mitigate most of the risk.

 

[murphey]

Lead is definitely not good for you. My understanding is the primary concern is ingestion and the consequences are much worse for developing brains so that means make sure kids aren't touching the exhaust stack or fuel sample/jar without washing their hands afterwards. If you are going out for that $100 hamburger take an extra two minutes and wash your hands after you park the plane (especially true for any young passengers). I know I can't do the fuel sample routine without getting at least some on my hands.

I carry gloves in the car for filling the gas tank, windshield fluid, etc. Another pair of gloves for the airplane. For anything other than avgas, nitrile gloves from Costco.