It felt like she was trapped in a zombie-like state, as she battled heart palpitations, extreme fatigue, breathing problems, muscle weakness and an attention span so short she couldn't even complete a page of a book.


Chriselda Barretto had a taste of the world as a professional modern jazz-ballet dancer and hoped a job as an in-flight safety instructor would allow her to keep experiencing new countries and cultures around the globe. The exciting role did create many new memories, but it also robbed her of some existing ones, while bringing a raft of health issues.



Not once in her 20-year aviation career did she hear the term Aerotoxic Syndrome – but she now believes it had a massive impact on her and former colleagues and is something the estimated 22 million people who take to the air each day for business and pleasure need to be aware of.


“It doesn't only affect aviation employees but people who fly frequently. Passengers are just as susceptible to the toxic fumes that enter the passenger cabin through the bleed air. It is critical people know the problem exists so they can either insist changes are made in the aviation industry or take care not to be overly-exposed to these environmental conditions,” she said.


The term Aerotoxic Syndrome was first coined in 2000 to describe claims of short-term and long-term health effects caused by breathing airliner cabin air – alleged to have been contaminated with atomised engine oils or other chemicals.


Chriselda recently published Aviation Stories 1: Dying to Fly, fiction based on fact, which explores the often taboo subject, and describes a fume-event; the cabin filling with an “odorous, smoky grey fog” so bad it set off the on-board smoke alarm, in one scene.


“I tried writing a book, but I realised that if I wanted to create more awareness amongst the crew community, then they probably wouldn’t ever have the capacity of concentration to read it. So I decided to try another way, with a podcast: ‘The 3 Pillars’. I think this move paid off because it reached them quicker and was simpler for them to follow,” Chriselda said.

“Training crew for so long only left me feeling responsible that I sent them out believing they were safe to fly, when in reality they were far from it! So I vowed to do all that I could in my power to rectify this and create awareness amongst them.”


Chriselda also launched the online SHIFT (Sharing Helpful Information for Tomorrow) tool, while she also records regular podcasts with Aerotoxic Syndrome survivors and experts, including research psychologist Daniel Dumalin, where they discuss his work on the topic. This includes his finding that permanent brain damage in the areas that control cognitive processes can be suffered among pilots, cabin crew and passengers. About 196,000 passengers a year visit a GP with symptoms that could stem from fumes they have been exposed to on a plane, he also suggests.





Chriselda said she has been “shocked and concerned” with some of the stories she has heard from cabin crew who have contacted her through SHIFT.


“Amongst them, a young 23 year old female attendant that had only just started her career in aviation, who suddenly couldn’t feel her legs anymore and had to drag herself to the front of the cabin during passenger boarding to seek help from the senior purser. Presently on sick leave, doctors can’t explain what is wrong with her, but she suffers severe neurological problems, memory loss, sensitivity to sound, depression and chemical insensitivity,” she said.





Chriselda said: “I clearly recall the zombie-like state after a flight, where you would be physically present but mentally gone, void of any thought. Not to forget the difficulty in trying to hold a normal conversation where your mind is lagging, trying to find the words and not succeeding. It is as if you awake after an entire night’s sleep and still feel so tired at the start of the next day.”


While Chriselda has now settled in Belgium, travel is still central to her life, but it is journeys she tries to take readers on in the 12 books she has had published, that cover poetry, romance, the supernatural and horror. She never could have imagined writing a single page of anything while she worked in aviation, but now years later, progressively she finds her mind has recuperated and rediscovered its previous capacity.


“My travels have opened me up to a lot of different kinds of people, mindsets, places, cultures, stories and situations. It took me 20-odd years to hear about Aerotoxic Syndrome and under 90 seconds to realise it was true. I just want people involved in the industry and outside to read about the symptoms and then speak to me,” Chriselda said.


Find out more about Chriselda at: 'chriselda.blog'


Article by Chris Wood

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