Uproar over aircrew link to Parkinson's disease Former Qantas stewardess Louise Young at Concord Hospital / Picture: Sam Ruttyn Source: News Limited THE lawyer running the legal case to establish a link between Parkinson's disease and the spraying of insecticide in aircraft cabins has been swamped with calls from long-haul flight crew members suffering the illness. And the Transport Workers Union said it would consider a national class action on behalf of workers if enough people came forward. This followed The Daily Telegraph yesterday exclusively revealing a possible link between insecticide sprayed inside aircraft and the disease, which leaves sufferers with tremors or immobility. An air hostess sprays insecticide in the 1950s. "I have been inundated with calls from long-haul flight crew suffering Parkinson's," Turner Freeman lawyer Tanya Segelov said. "All these people coming forward confirms anecdotal evidence there is an increased incidence of Parkinson's among flight attendants," said Ms Segelov, who also represented asbestos victim Bernie Banton in his fight for compensation from James Hardie. I believe there will be a lot more to follow. Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon said the union would fight on workers' behalf. When you're flight crew or cleaners you have no choice. You're sucking these chemicals into your lungs every working day," he said. We're calling on the government to provide details of research into these in-flight sprays, their use by overseas airlines and health risks associated with prolonged exposure. Ms Segelov is representing former Qantas long-haul steward Brett Vollus in a test case against the Commonwealth government, which insists every plane landing in Australia be sprayed with insecticide. Mr Vollus said: "This response from other crew clearly shows this is a much bigger problem than anyone has previously admitted. It needs to be addressed before more people get this nightmare disease, which has absolutely ruined my life. One of the responses came from former 747 flight engineer Ron Brecknell, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's 12 years ago. "I would be interested in joining legal action," he said. Another former British Airways and Gulf Air flight attendant, who now lives in Sydney, said she believed she contracted Parkinson's disease through the spraying of insecticide. But she did not want to be named because of what she described as the stigma attached to the disease. The Department of Health said all spraying followed World Health Organisation guidelines and there was no evidence of health risks. Matthew Benns Louise Young in her day as a flight attendant / Picture:Supplied Source: Supplied FLIGHT attendant Louise Young thought nothing of walking through an aircraft cabin with an aerosol can, spraying insecticide. Today she believes the constant exposure to the harmful chemicals is the direct cause of the Parkinson's disease that has ruined her life. "Why weren't we told that this could lead to this debilitating disease?" said Ms Young, who has no history of the disease in her family. The Daily Telegraph yesterday revealed the links between pesticides and Parkinson's that have prompted former Qantas steward Brett Vollus to launch a legal action against the Commonwealth government. "I would be more than happy to join that case and make it a group action," said Ms Young. I am sure there are plenty of us. Ms Young began flying as a stewardess for British Caledonian and regularly sprayed the aircraft on return to its London base from destinations such as North Africa. "Even if you didn't carry out the spraying you were still exposed to the spray," she said. Expert research has linked regular exposure to permethrin in pesticides to the destruction of brain cells leading directly to the onset of Parkinson's. By the time Ms Young joined Qantas in 1995 it had largely stopped regular spraying in the cabin. Louise Young with her husband Bob at Concord Hospital / Picture: Sam Ruttyn Source: News Limited