Narrative:

About an hour after departing flight attendant C notified me of an offensive dirty socks odor in vicinity of aft galley; aircraft right coffee pots. She said she hadn't mentioned it earlier because she initially believed the source may have been a group of passenger. She said it was causing a burning sensation in her sinuses. She said passengers were not complaining. I notified the dispatcher; began looking through the manuals for guidance; and discussed the situation with the first officer. Flight attendant contacted me again and explained that flight attendant B also noticed the odor and that flight attendant B had a migraine that began just before takeoff and that she had taken medication to treat the migraine. She [also] said passengers were not complaining about the odor. Shortly after; flight attendant B came forward to the cockpit to notify us that she was feeling 'foggy headed' and she observed that her hands were trembling. At this point we received another call from the cabin and learned that flight attendant a was also noticing the odor and that it was causing her throat to feel 'scratchy.' while events concerning the flight attendants were unfolding the dispatcher suggested trying the 'QRH smoke and fumes' procedure. We configured the aircraft in accordance with this procedure hoping to improve air quality in the cabin. Considering the more serious symptoms reported by flight attendant B and once flight attendant C a also reported a problem we decided to make a precautionary landing at a nearby airport. I made a PA explaining the passengers that we were making a precautionary landing due to reports of poor air quality in the cabin. We donned O2 masks and declared an emergency. The descent and landing was uneventful. After landing paramedics checked the flight attendants. After landing I learned that at least one passenger in the forward part of the cabin had also made comments regarding the odor prior to my PA.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A321 diverted because the flight attendants reported physical symptoms including eye; sinus and throat irritation; foggy headedness; and headaches after detecting a dirty socks odor.

Narrative: About an hour after departing Flight Attendant C notified me of an offensive dirty socks odor in vicinity of aft galley; aircraft right coffee pots. She said she hadn't mentioned it earlier because she initially believed the source may have been a group of passenger. She said it was causing a burning sensation in her sinuses. She said passengers were not complaining. I notified the Dispatcher; began looking through the manuals for guidance; and discussed the situation with the First Officer. Flight Attendant contacted me again and explained that Flight Attendant B also noticed the odor and that Flight Attendant B had a migraine that began just before takeoff and that she had taken medication to treat the migraine. She [also] said passengers were not complaining about the odor. Shortly after; Flight Attendant B came forward to the cockpit to notify us that she was feeling 'foggy headed' and she observed that her hands were trembling. At this point we received another call from the cabin and learned that Flight Attendant A was also noticing the odor and that it was causing her throat to feel 'scratchy.' While events concerning the flight attendants were unfolding the Dispatcher suggested trying the 'QRH Smoke and Fumes' procedure. We configured the aircraft in accordance with this procedure hoping to improve air quality in the cabin. Considering the more serious symptoms reported by Flight Attendant B and once Flight Attendant C A also reported a problem we decided to make a precautionary landing at a nearby airport. I made a PA explaining the passengers that we were making a precautionary landing due to reports of poor air quality in the cabin. We donned O2 masks and declared an emergency. The descent and landing was uneventful. After landing paramedics checked the flight attendants. After landing I learned that at least one passenger in the forward part of the cabin had also made comments regarding the odor prior to my PA.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.