In the News – Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants’ Uniforms Causing Hair Loss?

Snippet from the article:

Hundreds of Alaska Airlines flight attendants say their uniform is making them ill. The Association of Flight Attendants – which represents roughly 2,800 Alaska employees – says the company’s recent uniform makeover has prompted itching, hair loss, and other adverse health reactions.

In a letter to the company’s president last month, the union says 280 – or about 1 in 10 flight attendants – developed issues after Alaska made the switch in 2011. It believes a contaminant, possibly Tributyl phosphate, may be embedded in some uniforms and is causing the problem. The union is asking the airline to make a change.

Read the rest — Alaska Airlines uniforms sicken attendants

The employee union believes a chemical in the uniforms has caused the sickness, but multiple labs have tested the uniforms and were unable to make a determination of the cause.

In any case, it sounds like the hair loss has subsided in most of those that were affected… so hopefully this was just a temporary issue.