Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Introduction
The environment extending above and beyond the surface of the planet Earth is
referred to as aerospace (Blashield and Johnson
1969
). This word also symbolizes
the joint ields of aeronautics and astronautics. The former is the art and science of
light through the atmosphere (Blashield and Johnson
1969
) and the latter is the art
and science of space light (Blashield and Johnson
1968a
). Another term frequently
and interchangeably used with aerospace and aeronautics is aviation, which is
deined as the art and science of operating powered aircraft (Chaturvedi
2010a, b
;
The Encyclopedia Americana
1989
).
Toxicology is deined as being “the basic science of poisons” and deals with
the adverse effects of substances on living organisms; any chemical substance is
recognized as potentially being poisonous, although the induction of toxicity is
exposure-, amount-, and frequency-dependent (Eaton and Klaassen
1996
; Gallo
1996
; Loomis
1978
). Toxicology is a multidisciplinary subject and acquires and
integrates knowledge from biology, chemistry, immunology, pathology, physiol-
ogy, and public health. The ield most closely related to toxicology is pharmacol-
ogy (Loomis
1978
). Toxicology can be divided into subareas referred to as
economic, environmental, or forensic toxicology, among others. Thus, aerospace
toxicology can be considered to be closely related to aerospace medicine. This
medical ield is newly emerged and is a specialty area of general medicine
(Blashield and Johnson
1968b
). Aerospace toxicology is concerned with the
health and medical issues of man in aviation and during space lights (National
Library of Medicine
2008
). Aerospace medicine can be viewed as the branch of
preventive medicine that addresses the special problems of lying, both within and
outside the atmosphere (Case University
2008
).
To prepare this review, I performed a literature search for the period from 1960
to 2007; the scope of the search covered aerospace toxicology-related subspecial-
ties, agricultural aviation (aerial application) and aircraft cabin air quality. Overviews
of other subspecialties - aviation combustion toxicology and postmortem aviation
forensic toxicology - have been included in separate scientiic articles (Chaturvedi
2010a, b
). In the present article, I address the safety of aerially applied chemicals,
cabin air quality in aviation, and the harmful effects of fumes and smoke, including
the toxicants that may exist in space vehicle cabin air. During the course of the
review, I also address chemical exposure monitoring, exposure monitoring meth-
ods, aspects of agricultural aviation, in general, and the application of potentially
toxic agricultural chemical active ingredients in combinations and with component
chemicals (organic solvents and surfactants), in the context of agricultural aviation.
Furthermore, in this review I emphasize the potential for the presence of chemical
constituents and pyrolysis products of engine oils, hydraulic luids, and lubricants in
aircraft cabin air, and suggest the need for a thorough evaluation of oil additives
used in aircraft.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search