Plane de-icing fumes sicken 25, delay flight

Seven Alaska Airlines employees and 18 passengers were checked for eye and throat irritation Wednesday after fumes from de-icing fluid seeped inside a plane shortly before it was scheduled to leave from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

As a precaution, the Alaska employees were taken to Highline Community Hospital in Burien for evaluation, said Terri-Anne Betancourt, airport spokeswoman.

They included six aircraft-crew members and an off-duty flight attendant, Port of Seattle police said.

Airport officials were investigating the incident, she said.

Alaska Airlines Flight 528, bound for Burbank, Calif., from Gate N7, was being de-iced around 8:15 a.m. when passengers reported symptoms from fumes that "made their way onto the aircraft," Betancourt said.

All 143 passengers got off the plane, and those who were affected were offered treatment from medics. A new Alaska Airlines plane was brought in for the flight and left at about 10:30 a.m.

Effects of inhaling de-icer fumes would likely "be transient," said Marc Stifelman, a toxicologist in the Seattle office of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The most common de-icer used by airlines contains ethylene glycol, he said, and inhalation can irritate the eyes and upper-respiratory system.

"Aircraft workers are routinely exposed, despite wearing masks, but it's not considered very dangerous,... " Stifelman said.

Staff reporter Erik Lacitis contributed to this story.

Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com.