Report urges more oversight of US flight crew radiation exposure

WASHINGTON – The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lags behind other countries in developing a clear system for monitoring radiation exposure among flight crews and educating workers on the potential risks, according to a recent report mandated by Congress.

Exposure to radiation is an occupational hazard for US flight crews but they aren’t offered the same regulatory protections as other types of workers facing similar risks, according to the report, released earlier in June by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, or NASEM.

The FAA has issued guidance with recommendations on annual exposure limits, but US airlines aren’t required to track exposure and there currently isn’t a mechanism in place for holding them accountable, according to the report.

The approach differs from policies in South Korea and countries in the European Union.

“It’s not getting implemented in a standardised way across airlines, and so there’s a lot of inconsistency in terms of whether flight crew receive information about radiation risks at all, and what level of information that they get,” Casey Canfield, an associate professor at the Missouri University of Science and Technology and a member of the report committee, said on June 29 during a webinar on the subject.

The findings come after a 2024 law directed NASEM to conduct a study to examine radiation concentrations during different stages of flight, the health risks to crew members and possible mitigation measures.

Although the amount of exposure during a single flight is typically low, the level accrued over the course of a career can increase the risk of cancer and other illnesses, according to the report.

The study identified four courses of action the FAA should take, including treating radiation as a regulated occupational exposure, requiring airlines to establish safety programmes, improving models for estimating radiation exposure and developing a centralised tracking system.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said in a statement last week that the mandated study was a product of the union’s advocacy and that the report aligns with its longstanding concerns about radiation exposure on aircraft.

“The first step in fixing a problem is fully defining it,” the union said.

“We will use these study findings to press regulators, lawmakers, and airlines to ensure that commercial aircraft are a safe and healthy workplace for all flight crewmembers.” BLOOMBERG