Abstract
Cabin air quality and thermal conditions have a direct impact on passenger and flight crew’s health and comfort. In this study, in-cabin thermal environment and particulate matter (PM) exposures were investigated in four China domestic flights. The mean and standard deviation of the in-cabin carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in two tested flights are 1440 ± 111 ppm. The measured maximum in-cabin carbon monoxide (CO) concentration is 1.2 ppm, which is under the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit of 10 ppm. The tested relative humidity ranges from 13.8% to 67.0% with an average of 31.7%. The cabin pressure change rates at the end of the climbing stages and the beginning of the descending stages are close to 10 hPa·min−1, which might induce the uncomfortable feeling of passengers and crew members. PM mass concentrations were measured on four flights. The results show that PM concentrations decreased after the aircraft cabin door closed and were affected by severe turbulences. The highest in-cabin PM concentrations were observed in the oldest aircraft with an age of 13.2 years, and the waiting phase in this aircraft generated the highest exposures.
Highlights
The results show that particulate matter (PM) concentrations decreased after the aircraft cabin door closed and were affected by severe turbulences
In E4, the cabin pressure rises sharply from 20: 12 to 20: 22 (Figure 2b). This is because the E4 flight was scheduled to stop at Yichun Mingyueshan Airport (YIC) before landing on NKG (HAK→YIC→NKG)
The cabin pressure change rates at the end of the climbing stage strictions for real flights, only four actual domestic flights were −tested for mass conand the beginning of the descending stage are close to 10 hPa·min 1, and this rate may centrations, and the thermal environment parameters were only collected in two flights
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The air supplied to the aircraft cabin is a mixture of outside bleed air and interior recirculated air [2,3] Both bleed air and return air contribute to incabin air pollution and affect the health of cabin crew and passengers [4,5]. Ambient pollutants are introduced to aircraft cabin by the ECS along with bleed air, especially when the aircraft is waiting or taxiing on the ground. This research investigates the realistic thermal environment and particulate matter (PM) exposures in four Chinese domestic flights, aiming to explore the in-cabin factors affecting airliner crew and passengers’ comfort and health, in order to provide preliminary data and directions for future studies on their safety and health
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