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To be honest, I'm not convinced that getting rid of this or that allergen
for everybody is the way to go on airline flights. There are so many
different things that some individuals can die from, it's really
impossible to second guess. I think peanuts get more publicity than most
because they are such a popular food here in the US, and so it's
"newsworthy". Other allergens can be just as deadly for other people, but
they aren't so firmly esconced in the US diet. Also peanut butter is such
a popular food for children that keeping seriously  peanut-allergic
children away from peanuts is a nightmare for their parents. So hopefully
the publicity on peanut allergy does some good that way.

Definitely we need to have good labels and to convince folks that
"hiding" things like peanuts or gluten in other things (especially school
lunches) is not a great idea. I'm also worried about the genetic
engineering of foods that might mix up the situation for allergics. But
when a person is so allergic to something, at some point they need to
take special precautions on an individual basis rather than just hoping
they can get everybody around them to quit using their particular poison.

I certainly wouldn't trust an airline to provide a nonallergenic meal for
me, for instance -- we really just need to bring our own, especially if
any of our allergies are life-threatening. I would focus on getting the
airlines to help us store our supplies/prepared meals and heat up
anything for us if necessary. It won't kill us to eat simply for the
duration - but eating an airline-prepared meal might, if it's not as safe
as we think.

I have serious problems with various types of artificial fragrances that
are in EVERYTHING practically - soap, shampoo, laundry detergent,
cosmetics, personal care products and cleaning products, as well as in
the more obvious culprits cologne and perfume. When anybody comes into my
air space with even just residues of such things (from just washing up,
for instance, or wearing clothing that was worn while they were wearing
perfume, or when they shampooed a few days ago with one of the "gee your
hair smells terrific" shampoos that linger forever...), it affects ME.
I'm the one who gets the inflamed lungs, the headaches, the inability to
concentrate, the risk of a full-blown asthma attack, etc. etc. etc.

If a perfume-wearer handles some paper before putting it into an
envelope, it contaminates my whole mailbox and I have to store everything
in plastic bags with activated charcoal for a few weeks or hang it up
outside.... or just toss it, perfume is so hard to get rid of. If it's
something I must work with, I have to get it copied. I wear a charcoal
mask when I go anywhere that's a problem (okay, that takes a bit of
courage but it's a great conversation starter), and have an "unwelcome
sign" on my door to explain to scented friends why they are confined to
the porch.... (Local skunks are no problem, ironically enough! Natural
odors -- including naturally scented products -- don't do anything at all
to me.)

So you can imagine the agony on an airplane flight! A charcoal mask
wouldn't last long simply because the load would be so great, with such a
small volume of air recirculating. The last time I tried traveling by air
(before I discovered the joys of charcoal masks), they still had smoking
and nonsmoking sections (as though you weren't breathing the same air as
the smokers, talk about denial). I got in the very front of the
nonsmoking section and away from fellow passengers, but was still laid
low by the perfume and cologne that the attendants drowned themselves in
before takeoff....It's nice that they got rid of smoking (which was
actually a danger for other reasons), but anybody wearing artificial
scent of any sort is really doing the same thing -- forcing everybody
around them to breathe in their stuff.

But I don't expect ever to get the airlines to ban artificial scents for
their passengers or even their staff. Besides, nobody who doesn't have
the problem really understands what it means to come fragrance-less, they
always think that soap etc. or "a little of this or that" or their
lipstick or whatever doesn't count. I WOULD like the airlines to provide
personal filtering apparatus that would be comfortable to use on a long
flight, so people who do have problems (whether with artificial
fragrances or peanut dust or gluten dust or whatever) would be able to
breathe clean, safe air in flight even though they will have to
wash/shampoo/launder etc. thoroughly after landing to get rid of all the
contaminants. This makes much more sense than trying to just ban whatever
allergen has enough of a lobby group.... and much safer for the
allergics, since I personally wouldn't trust my fellow passengers to NOT
have peanut dust already on them, if I were that sensitive to peanuts!
The air volume in flight is just too confined not to worry.

If such filtering apparatus covered the mouth area (which it really
should -- also the eyes -- we're talking gas mask here, folks!), of
course the folks using it would need to take special measures for eating
and drinking. Hey, how about a complete enclosure of a seat when
necessary! I'd love it! How Jetsons! If we tout it as an anti-terrorist
device (bullet-proof shielding!), we're in....

Anyway, we need to really think in terms of individual protection from
our personal poisons. Otherwise it's an uphill battle, and we might get a
very false sense of security. The individual approach also could be
pushed by a wide range of people with all different sorts of allergies
and chemical intolerances, since the same thing would benefit them all.
"In union there is strength," as they say!

                          Peace, Cathy Flick [log in to unmask]