A Danish study commissioned from Aarhus University by the 3F union reports that workers on airport tarmacs are breathing in extremely high levels of ultra fine particle emissions from aircraft engines, at a high cost to their health. According to the health and safety department of the European trade union institute (ETUI), a case of bladder cancer in a baggage handler has been recognized as an occupational disease. Danish trade unions are calling the national and European authorities to account by campaigning for a series of demands including an exposure limit value. (WCxKit) The studies authors measured the air concentration of ultra fine particles (diameters below 100 nanometers) on the aircraft parking aprons and maneuvering areas at Copenhagen airport. Measurements in one area studied showed concentrations above 500,000 particles per cm3. For comparison, recorded levels in the Danish capitals most heavily polluted avenue have never topped 40,000 particles /cm3. The chemical properties of these ultra fine particles are still being analyzed and the findings will be published in a new report. The union launched a “Clean-Air” campaign and struck up contacts with the ETUC and Manchester and Arlanda (Sweden) airports to up the campaign to EU-level.
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