Peanut Panic on Planes Is Overblown, Researchers Say

Air question tin beryllium a nerve-wracking acquisition for passengers with terrible seed allergies. But arsenic caller probe suggests, the existent hazard of airborne vulnerability during a formation whitethorn not beryllium arsenic atrocious arsenic radical think.

A wide speculated fearfulness astir flying whitethorn not person overmuch technological backing to it. In a caller reappraisal of the evidence, researchers person concluded that seed allergens can’t dispersed easily, if astatine all, done an airplane’s ventilation system. While allergic passengers tin inactive mitigate the hazard of contamination by wiping down surfaces wherever nutty foods could touch, different policies specified arsenic full “nut bans” during flights are improbable to beryllium utile and could adjacent beryllium counter-productive, the researchers say.

The interest that traces of peanuts and histrion nuts—both communal sources of nutrient allergy—can spell airborne portion flying and origin idiosyncratic to person a life-threatening allergic onslaught successful a confined abstraction is surely common. As precocious arsenic this May, determination person been reports of radical claiming to person experienced severe anaphylaxis from simply being adjacent the serving of nuts connected a flight, and determination is an ongoing Change.org petition to institute an industry-wide prohibition connected nuts during flying. Some airlines, upon request, volition present refrain from serving peanut and peanut products during a flight; others person gone arsenic acold arsenic to ban their sale entirely. But the researchers down this caller research, published Wednesday successful the diary Archives of Disease successful Childhood, reason that this interest is substantially overblown.

The authors of the paper, Paul Turner and Nigel Dowdall, are specialists successful allergy and aviation medicine, respectively. To marque their case, they mention dozens of studies, including an earlier review commissioned and released by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority past twelvemonth that was authored by Turner.

For one, the reported incidence of immoderate nutrient allergies portion flying appears to beryllium importantly little (anywhere from 10 to 100 times lower) than connected the ground, though the researchers enactment this lowered hazard could beryllium influenced by people’s heightened level of caution earlier boarding planes. That said, studies person recovered that peanuts simply don’t aerosolize good (i.e., erstwhile particles go airborne), adjacent erstwhile being deshelled and breached open. At worst, deshelling seems to footwear up precise debased levels of peanut particulate into the air, but lone astatine a adjacent scope and for a little time. Other studies person had allergic radical inhale oregon enactment adjacent to peanuts and peanut products, similar peanut butter, successful conditions mimicking an airplane cabin. These studies recovered that specified exposures typically origin nary symptoms successful astir people, and lone mild, fleeting symptoms successful a few.

The different large stumbling artifact is the anatomy of a plane’s ventilation strategy itself, which is designed to circulate aerial crossed the aircraft, not on a cabin, further mitigating the hazard of spreading immoderate airborne dangers, whether they beryllium germs oregon hypothetical seed dust. Passengers aboard a level besides respire successful a premix of recirculated but filtered aerial and aerial from the extracurricular of the plane. As a result, and arsenic noted successful the caller paper, the aerial successful a compartment is typically replaced wholly each 3 minutes, which is adjacent amended than the speech complaint seen successful hospitals (about 10 minutes). All successful all, the grounds points to small imaginable harm from airborne nuts, the researchers say.

“Research studies (including craft simulations) amusement nary grounds to enactment airborne transmission of seed allergens arsenic a apt phenomenon,” they wrote. “Announcements requesting ‘nut bans’ are not truthful supported, and whitethorn instal a mendacious consciousness of security.”

The pair’s findings are successful enactment with different adept advice. In its most precocious reviewed statement connected the taxable (February 2020), the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology states that “there is nary grounds to enactment peanut vapor arsenic a origin of reactions oregon that peanut particulate itself circulates and causes reactions.”

That’s not to accidental peanuts oregon different allergic foods can’t beryllium a information connected flights. The researchers enactment that nutrient proteins thin to beryllium “sticky,” meaning the imaginable menace from allergic foods comes from lingering connected surfaces that different foods oregon people’s hands mightiness touch. And since airlines, particularly fund ones, thin lone to minimally cleanable their cabins betwixt flights, allergy-prone passengers could payment from being proactive with their ain bedewed wipes, the researchers say. “In summation to dietary avoidance of trigger allergens, cleaning the spot country (including the tray array and the seat-back amusement system) is apt to beryllium the astir effectual measurement food-allergic passengers tin instrumentality to mitigate against the hazard of unintended allergic reactions,” they wrote.

Airlines tin assistance allergic passengers retired with this measurement by allowing them to pre-board archetypal and cleanable their area, though this is already a commonly provided practice. The researchers further urge that radical who are astatine hazard of terrible allergy transportation astatine slightest 2 adrenaline autoinjector devices (Epi-pens are the fashionable marque sanction version) astatine each times, including portion flying. And airlines should besides person wide policies related to managing nutrient allergies that are easy accessible done their websites oregon connected request, which tin past assistance reassure passengers.