Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will commission an independent inquiry into aerotoxic syndrome.

Maintaining the safety record of UK aviation is something we take very seriously. That is why concerns raised about cabin air have been investigated at length over a number of years.

Following a recommendation in 2007 by the Committee on Toxicity (COT) – an independent committee of toxicology experts – the Department commissioned a series of scientific studies as part of a research programme into cabin air. The principal research study, carried out by Cranfield University, was published in 2011 and found that, with respect to the conditions of flight experienced during the cabin air sampling, there was no evidence for pollutants occurring at levels exceeding health and safety standards and guidelines. The Department for Transport currently has no plans to launch another independent inquiry into this matter.