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Standard Guide for Deriving Acceptable Levels of Airborne Chemical Contaminants in Aircraft Cabins Based on Health and Comfort Considerations
1.1 This guide provides methodology to assist in interpreting results of air quality measurements conducted in aircraft cabins. In particular, the guide describes methodology for assessing the impacts of concentrations for airborne chemical contaminants, based on health and comfort considerations, for both non-cancer and cancer risk. It is recognized that there very large uncertainties in health effects which are based on several published health thresholds which are based on uncertainty factors and that “acceptable” is a subjective term that depends on a variety of other considerations, including but not limited to socioeconomic factors, technical feasibility of achievement, the relative importance of tradeoffs, consideration of uncertainty, and the weighting of various types of technical information; these factors are not addressed here. This guide only provides sources of health and comfort-related context for development of what a given area might consider to be “acceptable.”
1.2Â The procedures for assessing the impacts of concentrations are based on considerations of comfort and health effects, including odor and irritant effects, of individual chemical contaminants being evaluated. The guide does not provide specific benchmark or guidance values for individual chemicals to compare with results of air quality measurements.
1.3Â Chemical contaminant exposures under both routine and episodic conditions for passengers and crew are considered.
1.4Â This guide does not address airborne microbiological contaminants, which are also important in consideration of aircraft cabin air quality. This guide also does not address methodologies for investigations of air quality complaints.
1.5Â This guide assumes that a list of chemical contaminants of potential concern has been developed based on existing concentration, emission, or material composition data.
1.6Â The primary information resources for developing acceptable concentrations are databases and documents maintained or published by cognizant authorities or organizations concerned with health effects of exposure to contaminants.
1.7Â Acceptable concentrations developed through this guide may be used as a basis for selecting test methods with adequate reliability and sensitivity to assess the acceptability of aircraft cabin environments.
1.8Â Procedures described in this guide should be carried out in consultation with qualified toxicologists and health effects specialists to ensure that acceptable concentrations developed are consistent with the current scientific understanding and knowledge base.
1.9Â The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.
1.10Â This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
1.11Â This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.
5.1Â Although cabin air quality has been measured on numerous occasions and in many studies, there is very little guidance available for interpreting such data. Guidance for identifying contaminants and associated exposure levels that would cause concern in aircraft cabins is very limited. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airworthiness Standards (14 CFR 25) provide regulatory guidance that explicitly applies to the aircraft cabin environment. The FAA standards, however, define acceptable exposure limits for a limited number of chemical contaminants (ozone, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide). Another limitation of the FAA standards is that these are design standards only and are not operational standards; thus, once an aircraft is put in service these standards are not strictly applicable.
5.2Â Measurements of aircraft cabin air quality often lead to a much larger list of volatile and semi-volatile organic chemicals of potential concern. Exposures to these chemicals, however, are largely unregulated outside of the industrial workplace.
5.3Â An important feature of the aircraft cabin environment is that both passengers (public) and flight attendants (worker population) occupy it simultaneously. Therefore, workplace exposure guidelines cannot simply be extended to address exposures in aircraft cabin environment. Also, the length of flights and work shifts can vary considerably for flight attendants.
5.4Â Contaminant levels of concern for the general public must account for the non-homogeneity of the population (for example, address sensitive individuals, the differences between passenger and crew activity levels, location, health status, personal microenvironment). Levels of concern associated with industrial workplace exposures typically consider a population of healthy adults exposed for 40 h per week (1). Consequently, exposure criteria developed to protect public health typically are more stringent than those for workers.
5.4.1Â Given that the aircraft cabin environment must meet the needs of passengers as well as crew, a more stringent concentration level based upon the general population would protect both.
5.4.2Â Aircraft cabin air quality must be addressed both during flight and on the ground because the conditions during flight are much different than when the aircraft is on the ground.
5.4.3Â Guide E2565 defines the process for developing occupational and health standards, so should be considered alongside this standard when setting acceptable contaminant levels. Guide E3219 details the process for setting health-based exposure limits for pharmaceutical ingredients. The standard provides insight into data analysis for risk assessment, which is useful when reviewing data for this guide.
| SDO | ASTM: ASTM International |
| Document Number | D7034 |
| Publication Date | April 1, 2026 |
| Language | en - English |
| Page Count | 10 |
| Revision Level | 26 |
| Supercedes | |
| Committee | D22.05 |