Comment on: Chen R, Fang L, Liu J, Herbig B, Norrefeldt V, Mayer F, Fox R, Wargocki, P. Cabin air quality on non‐smoking commercial flights: A review of published data on airborne pollutants

Abstract

and summarizing an extensive array of published data on airborne contaminants collected in the aircraft cabin and flight deck over a 52-year period. They use the term "benchmark," which suggests that these data represent typical onboard conditions. The dataset is large enough that this is probably true, although the authors explicitly acknowledge that the dataset does not characterize conditions during what are known as "fume events" (either transient or sustained engine bleed air contamination with oil or hydraulic fluid fumes), which narrows the definition of typical. Here, I raise four concerns with the authors' interpretations of these aircraft data and point out some specific errors and oversights, which should be addressed.