‘Chemical burns’: Delta flight attendants say new uniforms cause rashes

Rashes on the neck of a Delta Flight Attendant's uniform caused by exposure to formaldehyde. (Anonymous)

Over at the Guardian, Payday Senior Labor Reporter Mike Elk has an investigation into how Delta flight attendant uniforms made out of the formaldehyde are causing skin rashes for some of Delta’s flight attendants:

Last May, Delta unveiled a new set of slick purple uniforms designed by Bravo’s Project Runway star Zac Posen and manufactured by the retailer Land’s End.

The uniforms were designed to turn Delta’s 24,000 flight attendants into walking advertisements for the airline. Delta encouraged flight attendants to promote the new uniforms on their social media accounts.

Shortly after their introduction, some female flight attendants said that they started getting sick, reporting skin rashes, shortness of breath, and hair loss.

“I noticed right away after I put the uniforms on that I had shortness of breath and I have been a runner my whole life,” said one Delta flight attendant who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. “I don’t smoke or anything like that, so when I couldn’t get up the stairs without being extremely winded, I know there was some sort of problem.”

For more, go to the Guardian.

About the Author

Mike Elk
Mike Elk is an Emmy-nominated labor reporter and alumni of the Guardian. A native of Pittsburgh, Elk grew up in a UE union family. Elk was the only American reporter in the room with Lula on the morning of the election & traveled with him to the Oval Office. Credited by the Washington Post for being the first reporter to track the strike wave systematically, Elk started Payday Report using his NLRB settlement from being illegally fired for union organizing in 2015. He lives in his hometown of Pittsburgh and attended journalism school at PUC-Rio de Janeiro. He speaks both Portuguese and Pittsburgh fluently. His email is [email protected]

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