Nexus - 1001 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

similar-sounding words "noise" and "annoys" are perhaps of occupational exposure to low-frequency noise. It is suggested common origin. that this syndrome relates essentially to prolonged exposure to VAD represents a paradigm shift in our understanding, with infrasound/vibration in aircraft, and not to time zone confusion. immense social and economic implications touched on in Alves- An excess of cases of pulmonary embolism (PE) during the Pereira and Castelo Branco (2000). All present noise legislation, London Blitz, discussed by Milne (1992), is therein attributed to except as mentioned above, erroneously assumes that noise only immobility in cramped conditions. This has been seized upon affects the ear. I quote from their paper: "All the above by contemporary commentators to "explain" DVT syndrome in information must be made public. It is no longer acceptable that airline passengers and other travellers, but this ignores the air individuals have their lives destroyed because of excessive low pressure wave(s), i.e., overpressure, from bomb explosions—a frequency noise exposure" and "This raises the issue (of VAD) more likely primary cause of PE in light of the research collated to the domain of Public Health issues". in this article. Defence forces in Russia and Australia are now In the 1980s, this Portuguese team studied blood coagulation known to be interested in adverse health effects of exposure to arameters in aviation technicians and found hypercoagulability. overpressure from artillery. More recently, a paper was presented by them at the Aerospace Iam not aware of any unambiguous medical evidence linking Medical Association 2000 Annual Meeting, demonstrating that traveller's DVT solely with immobility. The "sitting down" or "Hypercoagulability exists in airline pilots "immobility" theory is quite unconvincing, after a rest period, suggesting that flight given that millions sit, squat or lie down all fatigue includes this state of the blood. over the world, day after day, without ill Related blood parameters were proportional effect—including office workers, individuals to logged flight hours and not to age. Other in old people's homes, people in a coma, etc. authors, e.g., Biondi et al., have said the . No doubt immobility is a contributing factor same" (pers. comm., Alves-Pereira, 2002). It Infrasound Is, in certain individuals, as are, clearly, genetic is important to note that adverse health i factors. But those airline flight attendants effects of exposure to low-frequency noise in tee who have reportedly suffered DVT (and are evidently cumulative. 5 temporal lobe atrophy) are relatively mobile It has been suggested that DVT syndrome H H compared with most passengers. in airline passengers is merely a consequence barometrically rapid, There is an association between age and of the last straw in a lifetime's exposure to low/high increased incidence of non-specific DVT in low-frequency noise from all sources A the general population (which may well be including ground transport and heavy alr pressure change due to longer-term exposure to low-fre- or oscillation at a rate less than 20 times per second and hence inaudible. industry (pers. comm., Alves-Pereira, 2002). As against this, people in their teens or 20s also develop air travel-related DVT syndrome; but this is the group now favouring high- powered sub-woofers in car audio systems as well as loud dance music with a strong low-frequency component at nightclubs. Many years' exposure time is evident- ly not necessary for traveller's DVT syn- drome, given the above information— for air travellers) and receiving some remembering that some people develop ublicity, this can be regarded as small or "silent" blood clots after only one flight (Scurr et al., scraping the bottom of the barrel in an attempt to avoid the more 2001), and also remembering what was shown by Bendz et al., obvious implications of sitting for extended periods of time in the ie., an immediate physiological effect (tissue factor pathway — midst of thunderous noise, even if transformed into inaudibility. activation) of an artificial or rapid air pressure decrease. Newton's second law of thermodynamics (conservation of energy) still applies; such energy is not magically removed. quency noise), but this does not seem to e so with traveller's DVT: a number of cases in young athletes have been reported. Divers—a group already stressed by relatively rapid air or water ressure changes—appear to be particu- arly vulnerable to this syndrome, too. As for the "fear of flying" theory roposed in the UK in January 2002 by Peter Hughes of Hughes DVT Research (the inventor of compression stockings ATUCD ANVEDCE COEEATS AC IAICDACNIIAIN Infrasound is, in effect, a pulsed or repeated, barometrically rapid, "low/high" air pressure change or oscillation at 20 times per second and hence inaudible. OTHER ADVERSE EFFECTS OF INFRASOUND Infrasound is, in effect, a pulsed or repeated, barometrically rapid, "low/high" air pressure change or oscillation at a rate less than 20 times per second and hence inaudible. It is reasonable to suppose that exposure to infrasound can also activate the human tissue factor pathway and thus the blood-clotting process, as clearly indicated in the medical research already referenced. Infrasound is therefore proposed as the essential human health problem in aircraft, and is a common factor in all of the adverse health events discussed in this article and in the Eastern Bloc medical research mentioned previously. Temporal lobe atrophy in female flight attendants has been reported by Cho (2001). He attributes it to jet lag. However, the neurological trauma he reports is apparently consistent with that reported by Castelo Branco et al. (1999) and attributed therein to INFRASOUND IN AIRCRAFT: THE EVIDENCE 1. The contrail (the evidence of our eyes). In atomic physics, a cloud chamber is used to detect and display the tracks of charged particles. Such a device is a minuscule copy of the sky above, in which we can all see that a jet plane leaves a con- trail which is not linear but is like a regular string of beads in still air, or like a fishbone where there is a crosswind. This dis- play is more or less affected by atmospheric turbulence, but the effect in still air is unmistakable and undeniable, insofar as it provides a graphic display of an infrasonic pulsation from the engines which can be timed visually at several pulses per sec- ond. 2. The acoustic frequency spectrum emitted by jet engines (the evidence of our ears). Our ears tell us it is a "thunderous" NEXUS = 35 a rate less than DECEMBER 2002 — JANUARY 2003 www.nexusmagazine.com