India has proposed a new regulation for all pilots and flight attendants not to wear any perfume since some perfumes contain trace amounts of alcohol that can cause impaired reactions and trigger a false positive breath test.
India’s Office of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Vikram Dev Dutt, who oversees the country’s aviation industry, recently proposed an update to its bylaws regarding alcohol consumption.
It reads: “No crew member shall consume any drug or formulation or use any substance such as mouthwash, tooth gel, perfume, or any such product that has alcoholic content. This may result in a positive breath analyzer test.”
However, it’s still unclear to many if wearing perfume on one’s body can trigger a false positive breath test since some perfumes have trace amounts of alcohol.
The proposed addition is up for debate through the whole month of October 2023.
The majority of adverse effects produced by alcohol relate to the brain, eyes, and inner ear, which are three crucial organs for a pilot.
And these could cause brain effects like impaired reaction time, reasoning, judgement, and memory.