The Toxicity of Commercial Jet Oils

Jet oils are specialized synthetic oils used in high-performance jet engines. They have an appreciable hazard due to toxic ingredients, but are safe in use provided that maintenance personnel follow appropriate safety precautions and the oil stays in the engine. Aircraft engines that leak oil may expose others to the oils through uncontrolled exposure. Airplanes that use engines as a source of bleed air for cabin pressurization may have this source contaminated by the oil if an engine leaks. Examination of the ingredients of the oil indicates that at least two ingredients are hazardous: N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine (a skin sensitizer) and tricresyl phosphate (a neurotoxicant, if ortho-cresyl isomers are present). Publicly available information such as labels and MSDS understates the hazards of such ingredients and in the case of ortho-cresyl phosphates by several orders of magnitude.