Narrative:

Myself and the B flight attendant (flight attendant) noticed an odor in the back of the AC (aircraft) shortly after boarding started; halfway through boarding; we tried notifying the ca (captain) several times to let him know about the odor and finally called the a flight attendant because they were not answering the call in the flight deck. When the B was able to talk to the ca and voice our concerns they were told it was moth balls and that the smell had been up in the boarding area as well. When we asked if we could get some fresh air in the back galley by cracking the aft AC doors the ca said no. The smell continued to get worse and the B and myself started to experience irritation in our throats and noses we concluded to that we weren't okay pushing back until we knew for certain what we were smelling and/or causing the irritation. The B flight attendant went forward to let the ca know along with the a flight attendant at this point boarding was almost finished. Approximately 5 minutes after the B went forward to ask for an in-flight supervisor to come the plane; I was still in the aft galley of the aircraft; the D flight attendant made their way back to see if they could smell what we were smelling; by this time my nose; eyes; throat and face were burning/itching; along with shaking hands. The D flight attendant could smell an odor as well and I went forward to get some fresher air by the boarding door and also let the ca know my symptoms were getting worse. When I went into the flight deck to show him the type of reaction I was having he said someone is on the way. A csa (customer service agent) supervisor was the first to come to the plane; by this time I was also starting to experience flushing of my facial skin and hands along with burning/itching on the front of my shins and continued shaking of my hands and arms. I stayed by the boarding door for the remainder of the time trying to get as much fresh air as possible. In flight supervisors; mechanics and some others came to the plane. A PA was made that a strong odor was being smelled in the back of the AC and that it smelled like moth balls if a passenger had an item in their carry on that they thought may be causing the odor to please ring the flight attendant call button; someone in the back of the AC did ring their button and a carry on was identified where the odor was coming from. It was removed from the plane and put underneath as checked baggage. At this point I was still experiencing the same symptoms and pulled myself for safety reasons from flying the rest of my trip. Reserves were called to take myself and the B flight attendant places. Once off the aircraft; fire/paramedics came to look both of us over. I was still experiencing symptoms; vitals were taken and when asked what we were exposed to; I could not answer that question because whatever was causing the reaction was not identified it was just put under in the belly of the AC. I was told that the symptoms I was experiencing were all consistent with being exposed to some kind of irritant. After the medics left we went out to see if fresh air would help it did help some but came to the conclusion that since we were unsure of what we had been exposed to we would like to be further evaluated. We were taken to the medical center per our request to be further examined. While there they took vitals; blood and had a physical examination. It was determined that whatever we were exposed to was causing an allergic reaction. I was treated and released.it concerns me that the bag was removed from the AC and just put under with all the other passenger luggage; we have no idea what we were exposed to; was it even safe for this item to be in the belly of the AC; was it a hazmat item that could be a safety/security risk? Maybe the policy needs to be looked at regarding the removal or carry-on luggage and why it is being removed. Could we have potentially put other passengers and crew at risk?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier Flight Attendant reported having a reaction to fumes coming from a passenger carry-on bag; and questioned the safety of relocating the bag to the checked baggage compartment of the aircraft.

Narrative: Myself and the B Flight Attendant (FA) noticed an odor in the back of the AC (Aircraft) shortly after boarding started; halfway through boarding; we tried notifying the CA (Captain) several times to let him know about the odor and finally called the A FA because they were not answering the call in the flight deck. When the B was able to talk to the CA and voice our concerns they were told it was moth balls and that the smell had been up in the boarding area as well. When we asked if we could get some fresh air in the back galley by cracking the aft AC doors the CA said no. The smell continued to get worse and the B and myself started to experience irritation in our throats and noses we concluded to that we weren't okay pushing back until we knew for certain what we were smelling and/or causing the irritation. The B FA went forward to let the CA know along with the A FA at this point boarding was almost finished. Approximately 5 minutes after the B went forward to ask for an in-flight supervisor to come the plane; I was still in the aft galley of the aircraft; the D FA made their way back to see if they could smell what we were smelling; by this time my nose; eyes; throat and face were burning/itching; along with shaking hands. The D FA could smell an odor as well and I went forward to get some fresher air by the boarding door and also let the CA know my symptoms were getting worse. When I went into the flight deck to show him the type of reaction I was having he said someone is on the way. A CSA (Customer Service Agent) supervisor was the first to come to the plane; by this time I was also starting to experience flushing of my facial skin and hands along with burning/itching on the front of my shins and continued shaking of my hands and arms. I stayed by the boarding door for the remainder of the time trying to get as much fresh air as possible. In flight supervisors; mechanics and some others came to the plane. A PA was made that a strong odor was being smelled in the back of the AC and that it smelled like moth balls if a PAX had an item in their carry on that they thought may be causing the odor to please ring the FA call button; someone in the back of the AC did ring their button and a carry on was identified where the odor was coming from. It was removed from the plane and put underneath as checked baggage. At this point I was still experiencing the same symptoms and pulled myself for safety reasons from flying the rest of my trip. Reserves were called to take myself and the B FA places. Once off the aircraft; fire/paramedics came to look both of us over. I was still experiencing symptoms; vitals were taken and when asked what we were exposed to; I could not answer that question because whatever was causing the reaction was not identified it was just put under in the belly of the AC. I was told that the symptoms I was experiencing were all consistent with being exposed to some kind of irritant. After the medics left we went out to see if fresh air would help it did help some but came to the conclusion that since we were unsure of what we had been exposed to we would like to be further evaluated. We were taken to the Medical Center per our request to be further examined. While there they took vitals; blood and had a physical examination. It was determined that whatever we were exposed to was causing an allergic reaction. I was treated and released.It concerns me that the bag was removed from the AC and just put under with all the other passenger luggage; we have NO IDEA what we were exposed to; was it even SAFE for this item to be in the belly of the AC; was it a hazmat item that could be a safety/security risk? Maybe the policy needs to be looked at regarding the removal or carry-on luggage and why it is being removed. Could we have potentially put other passengers and crew at risk?

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.