Aerospace Syndrome

In 1988, more than half of approximately 200 employees working with composite plastic materials in one building of an aircraft manufacturing company reported CNS, respiratory, heart, and gastrointestinal symptoms. The employee response was dubbed aerospace syndrome. Sampling of the air in that building showed the presence of phenol (1.46), formaldehyde (0.35), styrene (2.95), methylene chloride (1.25), methanol (0.77), C9-C12 alkanes and aromatics (3.0-4.0), particulates, and epoxy resins, all at concentrations well below their TLVsJ51 The author of the study concluded that, like the employees exposed to irradiated mail, the aerospace workers responded to psychosocial factors in the workplace. 

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What do Gulf War Syndrome, Katrina Cough, Aerospace Syndrome, and epidemic increases in the incidence of autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), birth defects, asthma, mailroom illness, spontaneous abortion, and many cancers have in common Each of these can be associated with a single causative agent, but each can also be associated with environmental exposure to chemical mixtures that do not contain any of the known causative agents. 

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