Flying and Radiation Risk

At the high altitudes and latitudes commercial airlines fly, crews are subjected to higher-than-normal radiation levels from the sun and cosmic rays. Physicist Robert Barish believes airline crew members are exposing themselves to more radiation than almost any other occupation and is calling for the airline industry to better educate workers about radiation.

NEW YORK--Most careers have an occupational hazard, but frequent fliers may be exposed to cosmic radiation and not even know it.

We all know the risks when we fly, but one risk we don't know about comes from what's in the sky. Captain Joyce May, a commercial airline pilot, says, "By the time you're at normal jet cruising altitude of, say, 39,000 feet, the total radiation is about 64 times greater than what it is at sea level."

May fears fellow crewmembers and frequent business fliers don't know the risk of cosmic radiation from solar flares. She says, "Aircrew members, by-and-large, are unaware of this issue."

Robert Barish, physicist and author of "The Invisible Passenger: Radiation Risks For People Who Fly," says, "The sun is really a big thermo-nuclear device." Barish believes airline crewmembers are exposing themselves to more radiation than almost any other occupation. He says, "People who work in the nuclear power industry on an average basis are getting 1.6. There are people who fly in airplanes who are getting 2 or 3 or 4 milliSieverts per year. So they are truly radiation workers."

Everyone is exposed to some radiation every day. The sun constantly emits charged particles that intensify during solar flares. Normally, the earth's atmosphere absorbs much of this, but at the high altitudes and latitudes airliners fly, crews are subjected to higher radiation levels and possibly are at higher risk for developing cancer. In Europe, it is mandatory flight crews be educated about cosmic radiation, but that's not the case in the United States.

The risk is not the same for everyone. Casual fliers have nothing to worry about. Only people who fly at least once or twice a week.