This 1993 US-EPA study determined that massive amounts of known carcinogens come directly from aircraft engines, confirming earlier studies. The Chicago Midway Airport study of 260,000 annual operations in 1990, also predicts dire consequences to a large percentage of the population.

Note: Although these investigators considered the affected population to be representative of the area, we strongly believe that a competent investigator would find that those types and the extraordinary amounts of carcinogenic emissions are responsible for a causal increase for the types of cancers studied. For example: He would compare the airport affected population with that of a comparable population living at least 25 miles upwind from an airport and/or flight path. Another example: Because of decomposition, synergistic, atmospheric, solar, combustion and trigger effects some of the compounds become more toxic the further away they get from the airport.

Please also note, not considering the many other hazardous compounds listed in the study, that the amounts of just three known carcinogens emitted from the aircraft at Midway (benzene, formaldehyde 1,3-butadiene) are over 80 TONS-per year. Other major Illinois polluters, such as Sun Chemical and Corn Products, are rated in pounds-per-year, if they emit such compounds at all. Remarkably, the study also included the predicted emissions from Robbins Incinerator which paled in comparison to the airport emissions. Also, because of fuel and combustion process, aircraft produces PAH’s (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). PAH’s are known to be extremely carcinogenic even in minute quantities.

It is also notable that the study concluded that it was the aircraft engines, not the ground vehicular traffic emissions that was responsible for 99% of the total cancer cases, that are more than 400 times than that allowed at a federal Superfund cleanup site (toxic waste dump).

CLICK HERE to download selected pages from the study.(PDF Format)* 

ARECO Homepage