RF absorption / Cancer / we're all gonna die

[liter a cola]

Obviously we are all going to kick the bucket at some point but at my current facility I've been told there is a trend of cancer here. Like there is an usually high amount of controllers that worked here, retired then died fairly quickly after walking out the door... All cancer.

We've been told the water is bad but it's been fixed... "Just run the water for about 5 minutes prior to filling up your cup" but no one drinks the stuff due to fear and ridicule... Yes you'll be made fun of for drinking the cancer water.

Then you got all the RF energy. We have a set of speakers for the asde in the tower. You can hear blip every 10 to 11 seconds like they are picking up a radar sweep. We do have a long range radar that is fairly close and an asr-9. We also have a asde-3 radar that is right on top of the tower cab.

I'm sure that when I go it will probably be because of some other poor life choices I made but always wondered about the 10k watts spinning above my head day in day out 6 hours a day.

I know when I was military working radar they'd tell us to stay the hell away from the antenna. The military maintainers would pop popcorn or send the new guy out there who would come back all light headed.

#thingsyouthinkaboutonthemid

 

[DankVectorz]

The cancer rate is so above normal at my facility that NATCA partnered up with the CDC and independent testing companies to do air and water testing. They’re trying to do soil sampling as well but the FAA is fighting them on it even though they’re not paying for it.

Think we’ve had something like 13 cancer diagnosis between recently retired and active controllers in the last 2 years.

 

[FoggyWindow]

Stress makes you more prone to cancer. I'd argue that's the cause before anything else.

 

[Super Salt]

Stress makes you more prone to cancer. I'd argue that's the cause before anything else.

Work isn’t stressful though..

 

[FoggyWindow]

Work isn’t stressful though..

Riiiiiiiight

 

[DankVectorz]

Stress makes you more prone to cancer. I'd argue that's the cause before anything else.

Not in people under 56 at the rates we’ve been seeing. Hell we have 2-3 people under 40 here with cancers

 

[Phillyman2633]

Port Authority plumbers came in here a few months ago to fix the breakroom sink and asked a group of us sitting in the breakroom "You guys dont drink this shit, right?" Said the pipes they used during construction were some kind of PVC that was known to cause cancer. FacRep is an asshat so nothing important gets addressed with management but luckily we have water coolers...not that that helps with hand/dishwashing.

 

[SavannahATC]

Is this a common thing at all facilities or just a select few fortunate enough to have pvc pipes?

 

[NEatc933]

Port Authority plumbers came in here a few months ago to fix the breakroom sink and asked a group of us sitting in the breakroom "You guys dont drink this shit, right?" Said the pipes they used during construction were some kind of PVC that was known to cause cancer.

That's comforting to know as a fellow controller at a neighboring port authority airport.

 

[MagioX1]

Just curious. Would terminal guys be exposed to more radiation than those in enroute facilities since their radar and radios, I would assume, would be less powerful since they do not need such long range?

 

[PushingTin]

And the ARTCCs all have or had asbestos. Very strange to go to yearly training on how to don these huge masks and fit your boom through it so you can heroically continue working traffic as the asbestos fills the room, and your lungs. I always sat there and envisioned the scary quarantine scene in ET. Remember after the creepy as hell part where Eliott found him all pale and white and shit down by the river. Eeeeeeeee!

We should all get 5% CIP just for working under these arcane conditions. Lifetime supply of Reece's Pieces? Joseph, you could be our Erin Brokovich.

P.S. and most peoples TSPs will have gone to shit by the time they retire, too. Thanks to goddam China.

 

[penaltyvectors]

Is this a common thing at all facilities or just a select few fortunate enough to have pvc pipes?

In our case it's due to a literal garbage incinerator immediately next to the facility. The jokes just write themselves.

Covanta Energy Under Fire Over Substance Raining Down On Long Island

What's falling from the sky on Long Island? Some who live and work near a massive power-generating incinerator fear toxic ash is raining down on them.

newyork.cbslocal.com

 

[liter a cola]

Just curious. Would terminal guys be exposed to more radiation than those in enroute facilities since their radar and radios, I would assume, would be less powerful since they do not need such long range?

I haven't been in every ARTCC but most of the RF emitting equipment is off site. Long range radar and radio antenna. Most of this information is beamed back to the facility via microwave antenna, looks like a big drum on a radio tower. They need to remotely place these sites because of the massive amounts of airspace ARTCC's cover.

In a terminal environment other than a consolidated tracon (think up down) most of the equipment is at the airport. ASE mode S is good out to 60 miles, asde (ground radar) will either be on top of the tower itself or on a separate radio tower somewhere on the field. Radio antenna will be scattered all over from the atct to a remote site on a hilltop.

With that being said I believe a terminal environment would be worse assuming a radar scope isnt blasting us with crap everyday.

 

[rhombus]

The cancer rate is so above normal at my facility that NATCA partnered up with the CDC and independent testing companies to do air and water testing. They’re trying to do soil sampling as well but the FAA is fighting them on it even though they’re not paying for it.

Think we’ve had something like 13 cancer diagnosis between recently retired and active controllers in the last 2 years.

Mind if I ask what kind of cancers? It's easy to blame Covanta and it's predecessors but you'd think that would only lead to lung problems.

 

[DankVectorz]

Mind if I ask what kind of cancers? It's easy to blame Covanta and it's predecessors but you'd think that would only lead to lung problems.

Brain (under 40), breast (under 40), testicular (under 40), colon, off the top of my head. 3 of those are just in my area alone.

 

[Shikaka]

This type of discussion is what lends massive amounts of legitimacy to PushingTin just fyi'ing for future reference.

 

[GMX]

We have some reverse osmosis thing on our water and are only supposed to use certain taps for drinking water, and I drink about 64-96 oz. per day of it. Tech Ops says that water is legit and it gets tested periodically; it was tested last week. Who's to say?

We do have signs that specify where all the asbestos is and how not to disturb it, but we don't get masks or anything.

When I worked for the TSA for 5 years and ran an X-ray at sac level they said we didn't need dosimeter badges to measure what, if any radiation we received. We were told the machines were "certified" and "calibrated" and to trust them because they were the government and all.

My facility is old as hell and dingy and gross. Not just the ATC parts but the airport itself is gross and it often smells of sewage in the terminal. All through July on TV watching moon landing NASA stuff from 1969 I was struck by how much their equipment looked like what we use! Lots of switches, lots of giant steel consoles with panels of stuff and ancient relics. We were one of the very last ARTS facilities to get STARS and we didn't even get that until after our radar left to AZO.

STARS is already old as hell but now that I see it on our TSDs it would have owned to work traffic on it. It updates EVERY SECOND! There's a TRACKBALL! There are like 16 bit COLORS or something! I guess there was a certain finesse to vectors on ARTS when it updated like once every 6-7 seconds or so and sometimes you don't even have much of a primary to watch. STARS must certainly be what they talk about when they say "Working radar is like a video game!"

All my stress is from management these days. The other stuff might kill me too.

EDIT: Want to talk about cancer causing stress? I put together a trampoline today for my kid. If people think IKEA assembly is a ripe environment for divorce, then they've never done a trampoline with "premium" enclosure. That enclosure shit is weakstick to begin with but I was instructed to do it. =\

 

[liter a cola]

shit is weakstick to begin with but I was instructed to do it. =\

Would be a shame if the next big storm blew the "premium enclosure" away only to leave the trampoline behind.

 

[Itsallgucci]

Asbestos should be safe to work around, unless it's been previously disturbed and has pulverized and breathed in. Example, I take a 18in drill bit and decide to drill a hole into asbestos insulation. Congrats, you have now turned the place into Mesothelioma zone.
I worked next to the stuff for a long time, it's when it's airborne that it becomes an issue. Also, if your work location has asbestos, it should be properly labeled, and the air must be tested every so often to comply with OSHA.

 

[liter a cola]

Asbestos should be safe to work around, unless it's been previously disturbed and has pulverized and breathed in. Example, I take a 18in drill bit and decide to drill a hole into asbestos insulation. Congrats, you have now turned the place into Mesothelioma zone.
I worked next to the stuff for a long time, it's when it's airborne that it becomes an issue. Also, if your work location has asbestos, it should be properly labeled, and the air must be tested every so often to comply with OSHA.

In a previous job I worked in a building that had asbestos tiles. We couldn't sweep them only wet mop to keep the dust down. Just walking on them wears them and releases the stuff...

It would be nice to get a professional opinion on what we are exposed to on a daily basis and what are risks are.