Pregnancy and in-flight cosmic radiation.

Cosmic radiation is an occupational hazard to commercial and military flight crews. Aside from the direct risk to aviators, this ionizing radiation is a hazard to the fetuses of pregnant crewmembers and passengers. Animal studies of low dose ionizing radiation exposures, and human studies following high (lose exposures, suggest that pregnant avia tors may inadvertently subject their fetuses to a risk of decreased cognitive capacity or frank mental retardation, as well as childhood leukemia.

Grief in the grounded aviator.

Grounding aviators is an important and difficult aspect of being a flight surgeon. The psychological impact that grounding has on a flier may not only represent a serious pathological process in itself, but may also detrimentally affect the flight surgeon's relationships with other crewmembers. Grounding represents a loss to the aviator, the severity of which varies with pre-morbid motivation to fly.