Airlines spraying passengers with insecticide, new WHO directive!

I had no idea where to post this as it could fit in several forums. Mod's, please move if necessary.
So, to the story from a friend of mine who made this post on his Facebook page...

Flight back from Madeira last night. Flight EZY 2214. Get's everyone on board, closes the door's, and with no notification before boarding, announces that due to a new directive from the World Health Organisation, they are now going to fumigate the cabin, to kill any insects that might be on our person. This is no joke. That is what they said, then preceded to walk up and down the cabin, spraying the unknown contents of supposed bug killer, on everyone sealed in an air tight cabin for the next four hours. Now, as soon as they mentioned the W.H.O, I was on full alert. I held my breath for a good few minutes, as long as I could, then breathed through a heavy denim hat for ten minutes after. fat lot of good that will have done, but what else can you do? It was so dense you could taste it, people were coughing for a couple of hours after. . . Anyone paying the slightest bit of attention these last few years ought to be asking big questions. . .Bugs travel around the globe, on the winds and in every form of cargo mankind uses, in the water etc etc. . . .This has always been, and we know it to be so. So, what the hell is going on here really? You have to be brain dead to not smell the stink surely? Has anyone experienced this? My flying day's are over. But hey, we're just cranks eh??? Nothing to see here!

Link to his Facebook post, where you can also see comments

Oh wow! So, so wrong of the airline, and what WHO directive? Is this tied to the whole new WHO directive that most countries including UK have signed up to that in the eventuality of another pandemic all countries who have signed up will take their 'directon' from WHO? Also makes me wonder where Billy Boy Gates is tied up in this given he's behind all these mosquito releases that are immune to malaria and will kill off the malaria carrying mosquitoes.... allegedly!
Has anyone else had this experience on a flight?
My friend has written an email to the airline to find out:
a) was there anything about this in the 'small print' of the flight ticket?
b) what exactly was in the 'product' they were spraying? He wants a complete breakdown.
c) he wants evidence of the WHO directive that they are following.

I'm gobsmacked this happened, and if you can access the link, it would appear this has been happening on and off over the years on random flights. But what I find concerning is not just that they (airline) did this, but they said they were following 'so-called' WHO guidelines.

Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel

Happens or did to every international flight into australia, for at least 50 odd years
No one blinks or ever has

a reply to: Raggedyman
It's the first I've ever heard of this!
Why such a random selection of flights? That isn't going to solve any possible insect infestation is it?
I'm still trying to find where, as claimed by this particular airline, thast they are following a WHO directive.
Rainbows
Jane

Seriously??? So a couple of bugs, might or might not, be on a passengers clothing, and therefore ALL passengers have to be fumigated with God only knows what..... which might, or might not kill any single 'illegal immigrant insect' that is hoping on a 'freebee' flight to another destination..... and this single or couple of bugs will cause some sort of pandemic in the destination country????
*gives her head a wobble*
Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel

wi ki link - aircraft disinsection
news link
WHO link

It's common practice from certain places apparently, especially since Zika. I was interested in what chemicals they used. It was only a few years ago they stopped using DDT. They use phenothrin and/or methoprene these days.

Tbh advice and guidelines is all WHO does, it's the individual nations that mandate this be done so the airlines wouldn't have a choice.

I seem to have a problem linking factsheets regarding phenothrin. Seems for travel a 2% solution is used and apparently it is safe to use within enclosed spaces at lower doses. Seems to be one of the milder and safer pesticides.

Apparently it is Premethirin to stop the spread of Zica virus..... or so they claim....
Link
Rainbows
Jane

Not that I needed it, but that's one more reason not to get on a flying petri dish. There's just something about being locked in a small, ill ventilated space with sneezing, coughing, hacking, farting people that puts me off.

*shrug* maybe it's just me.

Without warning?
I have asthma and kidney disease, both could be very negatively impacted.
Do they really not mention it at all anywhere?
To those that say it has happen for ages, so what?
Doesn't make it any better.


Do they fumigate illegal invaders from different continents?
I bet they don't. So who cares about a bug or two?

a reply to: Hecate666
Nope, no warning at all.
I'm seeing several people saying they have had the same experiences and now they are questioning it too.
I posted the link somebody found about it, which has countries listed on it. My post just above David's.
Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: angelchemuel

This has got to be illegal.

If I walk up to you on the street and spray an unknown chemical on you, it’s assault and battery.

If the doors were locked and people weren’t allowed to decline / leave, it’s kidnapping.

There is no physical difference between this and the WW2 gas chambers. This is not an exaggeration at all.
People being gassed against their will, while being held captive. Everybody involved in doing this should be in prison for a good long stretch.

If they all agreed to let this be done to them, that’s a different story. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

a reply to: Hecate666

Do they really not mention it at all anywhere?

From the link:

According to WHO, spraying approved permethrin-based insecticides poses no health risk issues for passengers and crew. It does say, however, that passengers are sometimes concerned about their health after being exposed to pesticides on aircraft.

To combat passenger fears,WHO has found no evidence that the specified insecticide sprays harm human health when used as recommended. If you're still scared, it doesn't hurt to close your eyes as the crew walks through the cabin either.

[simpleflying.com...]

Well, that's comforting! The WHO also found no evidence that the C19 did any kind of harm whatsoever to people-until they had to fess up.

What are some signs and symptoms from a brief exposure to permethrin?
Health effects from permethrin will depend on how someone is exposed to it. Dogs and cats that have permethrin on their skin may act strangely, and flick their paws, twitch their skin or ears, or roll on the ground. Animals that have licked treated skin may drool a lot or smack their lips. Cats that have been exposed by accident to products with high (45-65%) levels of permethrin may seem anxious and can't walk normally. They may also have muscle tremors and seizures and they may die from the exposure.

When people get permethrin on their skin, they may have irritation or tingling, burning and itching at that spot. If permethrin gets in the eyes it can cause redness, pain or burning. If people eat permethrin it could cause sore throat, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. People that have breathed in permethrin have had irritation in the nose and lungs, difficulty breathing, headaches, dizziness, nausea and vomiting.

Sounds safe, eh?

What happens to permethrin when it enters the body?
Less than 1% of the permethrin put on the skin of people was taken into the body. If permethrin is eaten, most of it is quickly absorbed. The pyrethroids easily pass through the lungs into the body if inhaled, but no specific data on permethrin was found.

Once permethrin is absorbed, it quickly moves throughout the body. The greatest amounts of permethrin have been found 3 to 4 hours after it was eaten. Permethrin leaves the body mainly in the urine, but may also be in the feces. In laboratory tests in rats, half of the permethrin was gone from the animals' bodies within a day.

Is permethrin likely to contribute to the development of cancer?
Permethrin was classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as "not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans" in 1991. This means that IARC could not decide whether or not permethrin can cause cancer. The U.S. EPA decided that permethrin was "likely to be carcinogenic to humans" if it was eaten. This decision was based on the structure of permethrin, what happens to it in the body, laboratory tests that caused tumors in mice and evidence of tumors in rats.

For more detailed information about permethrin please visit the list of referenced resources or call the National Pesticide Information Center, Monday - Friday, between 8:00am - 12:00pm Pacific Time (11:00am - 3:00pm Eastern Time) at 1-800-858-7378 or visit us on the web at npic.orst.edu.... NPIC provides objective, science-based answers to questions about pesticides.

|[npic.orst.edu...]

originally posted by: angelchemuel
a reply to: Hecate666
Nope, no warning at all.
I'm seeing several people saying they have had the same experiences and now they are questioning it too.
I posted the link somebody found about it, which has countries listed on it. My post just above David's.
Rainbows
Jane

It’s such a bizarre story that I can imagine some of the people just sort of being in shock and not complaining. That would be a somewhat normal part of the human condition.
But now that I’ve heard this story, if I ever experience something like this, I’m leaving before they do any spraying.
I’m hoping they act professionally and open the door and let me walk out. But if not, I’m smashing my way out of there, through anybody and anything in the way.
And the law should be 100% on the side of the person escaping. They’re doing nothing but escaping a kidnapping and assault.

Buuuuut ……. afrer all that dramatic interlude, this does sound like an urban myth.

a reply to: angelchemuel

It's a man made version of a natural insecticide.

Pyrathrins have been used for centuries as an insecticide and are present in Chrysanthemums. I agree with others that warnings should be given. Maybe they are but people don't hear...

On a brighter note if anyone has insect problems in the garden I read that Chrysanthemums are a great companion plant, might be worth looking into extracting pyrathrins too for a natural insecticide.

a reply to: stevieray
I would have objected immediately and really pissed off the rest of the plane by delaying the flight, through being arrested/ejected from the plane.

As my mother always said to me "You stubborn bugger, you'd cut your own nose off just to spite your face"

...she remains correct to this day, but my nose remains in place, although scarred and broken multiple times!
I'd take a sky marshal's baton or tazer before agreeing to an unknown chemical spray which wasn't mentioned on my ticket/booking forms.🤬

originally posted by: angelchemuel
a reply to: Hecate666
I posted the link somebody found about it, which has countries listed on it. My post just above David's.

Wow... I travel very little by air, even domestically, much less international.

That said, India is on the list, and I went there and back 3 times in 2014, and ours wasn't sprayed. Maybe they are one that allows the plane to be sprayed without passengers?

Man, this would royally piss me off if it ever happened to me. You'd probably be seeing a video of me throwing a fit and being thrown off of the plane.

It looks like I'll be taking a trip to Ukraine in April, and plan on doing a thread about the experience when I get back. I sure hope they don't start doing this crap.

a reply to: RAY1990
This is worse than that last story, where the plane had to turn around and return …….

After a passenger ran down the aisle spewing diarrhea everywhere.

That was basically treated like a toxic spill.

originally posted by: AdultMaleHuman73
a reply to: stevieray
I would have objected immediately and really pissed off the rest of the plane by delaying the flight, through being arrested/ejected from the plane.

As my mother always said to me "You stubborn bugger, you'd cut your own nose off just to spite your face"

...she remains correct to this day, but my nose remains in place, although scarred and broken multiple times!
I'd take a sky marshal's baton or tazer before agreeing to an unknown chemical spray which wasn't mentioned on my ticket/booking forms.🤬

You would hope that you wouldn’t be alone in your objections. One reason I think this could be a myth is that nobody said anything, apparently.

I would think that half or more of the people would be in an uproar.

I mean it could happen in North Korea or Russia or China, but not in a first world country with a functioning constitution or legal system.

Fuggedaboudit

a reply to: stevieray
Exactly my point!
Thank you
Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: stevieray
Erm.... no, not an urban myth at all! Besides my friend on Facebook, a few others have also said this has happened to them on different flights to or from different locations. It really is a 'thing'.
Rainbows
Jane