Narrative:

Aircraft (tail) was a ron and had been pre-deiced. The entire crew arrived early; (1 hour prior to departure) introduced ourselves; and talked about the flight. We briefed security; weather; mels; and most importantly safety. Boarding was uneventful. The weather in ZZZ1 was a 1/4 sm and VV002. We asked dispatch for an altitude as there wasn't one on our release. We also had to remove an additional MEL on our release that was previously cleared by maintenance. We ended up leaving 13 minutes late waiting for a printed out 2nd release. Pushing back I asked my first officer (first officer) to start engine number 1. He started engine number 1 while I monitored the push and talked to the ground crew. The first officer immediately brought to my attention the large plume of smoke coming from the engine during the start sequence. All engine parameters were within limits. After the start there were no unusual smells or indications. We attributed the smoke to a possible over-spray of deice fluid onto the engine (not uncommon); as well as it was the first flight of the day; and it was cold outside. We taxied out on 1 engine per suggested procedures via spot xx to runway 34R. In sequence for takeoff engine number 2 was started and the APU was shutdown. We ran all appropriate checklist. There were no abnormal instrument indications. There were no fumes or unusual odors prior to flight. I was the pilot flying this particular leg. Taking off runway xxr was uneventful until acceleration altitude. Shortly after I brought the thrust levers back from takeoff to climb detent; I noticed an unusual smell. It was very light at first. I asked my first officer if he could smell anything. He initially couldn't smell anything different than normal. We were extremely busy on the departure and cleaning up the aircraft. We were handed off to departure and were told to make a left turn which was opposite of the departure procedure. It was somewhere around this time that my first officer told me that he could smell something as well. It was faint at first and not distinguishable. The odor grew stronger and began to irritate my throat. If I had to choose it was more chemically than the musty sock smell. I had my first officer don his O2 mask and call the back to see if they had anything unusual to report. I continued to fly the plane and was handling the radios. I turned the AP1 on at this time to reduce the workload and focus on the fume problem. The flight attendants (fas) had nothing to report. We told them to let us know if anything changed. We began to troubleshoot the problem turning the bleed fans to high. It seemed to me that the smell was dissipating as time progressed. Initially I thought it was one of those smells that come and go just as fast. A good example of this is a familiar smell flying through the thin layer going into ZZZ2. We had flight attendant B come forward to the cockpit to give us a second opinion on whether the odor was still lingering. When she came upfront she immediately noticed the smell. I had a conversation with her I'm a bit foggy as to everything she or I said. I do remember flight attendant B saying it hurt her throat. She left the cockpit and I donned my O2 mask. I don't recall the exact amount of time or altitude this all transpired as we were obviously busy and the aircraft was light and climbing fast. I did occasionally remove it for a few seconds to see if the smell dissipated. After flight attendant B left; we discussed the QRH and whether or not to return to ZZZ. My throat was pretty sore; I felt light headed; and we both had O2 mask on. The safest thing to do was return to ZZZ. The first officer made the request to ATC [and] they gave us an altitude and heading. They asked if we were requesting priority handling. My first officer acknowledged with fob; sob; and the nature of our situation. I called the back and told our flight attendants that we [notified ATC] and were returning to the field because of the fumes in the cockpit. I was talking through the O2 mask and I believe I said there weren't going to be any pas explaining everything to the passengers from us. The first officer called the company enlightened them on our situation and got us a gate. I was pretty foggy at this point even with the O2 mask on. My throat hurt and I was coughing. My first officer conveyed that he felt better than I did and offered to be flying pilot. I transferred controls to my first officer to be the flying pilot. ATC gave us direct ZZZ and eventually cleared us to land for runway xxr. I ran the checklist and handled the radios. The first officer did a flawless approach and landing. We exited the runway and taxied at a steady pace to spot xx and cleared to gate xx. Arriving at the gate we had no rampers and the spot was blocked by a row of baggage carts. I had both engines running and every light on to hopefully get everyone's attention. Still having my oxygen mask on I opened my window stuck my head out and waved rapidly at the rampers at the next gate over. They saw me and quickly came over to clear the area and parked us. We pulled in and shut down. Ran the checklist and opened the cockpit door. The emergency crews were already there. We collected our bags and followed the paramedics to the gate area where they evaluated us. The three of us all went to the hospital for further evaluation. We all tested positive for high co levels in our blood. Looking back at the event; it seemed to me a few times that the odor was dissipating or gone. I felt that the conditions were the most toxic shortly after I reduced thrust from takeoff thrust. I realize today that I was completely acclimated to the odor and what I was sensing was inaccurate. Unlike an engine indication or a warning light there is no way for a pilot to definitely determine that the problem still exist with this particular fume event. I remember looking at the QRH saying 'but the odor is decreasing.' I've had several 'fume events' at this airline and each one unlike the first. The flight attendants did an excellent job. They understood the severity of the situation and passed the necessary information along quickly. We called them several times and they were very straight to the point and factual. When the cockpit door opened on the ground and we exited the aircraft not one passenger was standing. Without a doubt they had positive control on the cabin. Flight attendant B coming forward in helping us asses the cockpit fumes was crucial. She remained calm; told us the conditions in the back; and immediately went into what she smelled and how it was affecting her. I lastly want to commend my first officer. He offered several solutions as what he thought the problem was. My first officer did all that he could to keep the workload down and assist me as well as reminded me if something was missed. We did deal with the situation together. We were lucky that we had flown with each other for the last 3 days and understood one another. We kept the cockpit communication open and flowing. Finally after deciding to return to ZZZ my first officer realized the condition I was in and offered to assume control of the aircraft. I agreed with him as that was the best decision. He has good character; makes the right decisions under pressure; and is a pleasure to fly with. He will make an excellent line captain. Maintenance returned the aircraft back to service after performing the cabin air troubleshoot form. They discovered deice fluid on the APU inlet. They deactivated the APU and returned to flight where the next crew had another fume event. I disagree with maintenance's solution to the problem. We did not have the APU running when we had the problem for one. Secondly the chemical smell that I experienced wasn't the typical deice smell. Does boiling deice fluid produce co? I'm not sure? I've had fume events before and the air filters were replaced. I see nothing in this report that the filters were checked or replaced. I've heard countless remarks from maintenance on the line that we are using different oil in our APU and not changing ourair filters regularly. What happened to the carbon filters that we were getting? What happened to maintenance running the bleed on the ramp to high temperatures for burn off procedures like [other airline]? This is my 3rd fume event. This is too common of an occurrence and the only way to prevent this is by actually cleaning the bleed systems; changing the air filters regularly; and tracking the aircraft fume events between airlines.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 flight crew reported strong fumes during initial climb and experienced health issues. Executed a return to departure airport.

Narrative: Aircraft (tail) was a RON and had been pre-deiced. The entire crew arrived early; (1 hour prior to departure) introduced ourselves; and talked about the flight. We briefed security; weather; MELs; and most importantly safety. Boarding was uneventful. The weather in ZZZ1 was a 1/4 sm and VV002. We asked Dispatch for an ALT as there wasn't one on our release. We also had to remove an additional MEL on our release that was previously cleared by Maintenance. We ended up leaving 13 minutes late waiting for a printed out 2nd release. Pushing back I asked my First Officer (FO) to start engine Number 1. He started engine Number 1 while I monitored the push and talked to the ground crew. The FO immediately brought to my attention the large plume of smoke coming from the engine during the start sequence. All engine parameters were within limits. After the start there were no unusual smells or indications. We attributed the smoke to a possible over-spray of deice fluid onto the engine (not uncommon); as well as it was the first flight of the day; and it was cold outside. We taxied out on 1 engine per suggested procedures via spot XX to runway 34R. In sequence for takeoff engine Number 2 was started and the APU was shutdown. We ran all appropriate checklist. There were no abnormal instrument indications. There were no fumes or unusual odors prior to flight. I was the Pilot Flying this particular leg. Taking off Runway XXR was uneventful until acceleration altitude. Shortly after I brought the thrust levers back from takeoff to climb detent; I noticed an unusual smell. It was very light at first. I asked my FO if he could smell anything. He initially couldn't smell anything different than normal. We were extremely busy on the departure and cleaning up the aircraft. We were handed off to Departure and were told to make a left turn which was opposite of the departure procedure. It was somewhere around this time that my First Officer told me that he could smell something as well. It was faint at first and not distinguishable. The odor grew stronger and began to irritate my throat. If I had to choose it was more chemically than the musty sock smell. I had my First Officer don his O2 mask and call the back to see if they had anything unusual to report. I continued to fly the plane and was handling the radios. I turned the AP1 on at this time to reduce the workload and focus on the fume problem. The Flight Attendants (FAs) had nothing to report. We told them to let us know if anything changed. We began to troubleshoot the problem turning the bleed fans to high. It seemed to me that the smell was dissipating as time progressed. Initially I thought it was one of those smells that come and go just as fast. A good example of this is a familiar smell flying through the thin layer going into ZZZ2. We had FA B come forward to the cockpit to give us a second opinion on whether the odor was still lingering. When she came upfront she immediately noticed the smell. I had a conversation with her I'm a bit foggy as to everything she or I said. I do remember FA B saying it hurt her throat. She left the cockpit and I donned my O2 mask. I don't recall the exact amount of time or altitude this all transpired as we were obviously busy and the aircraft was light and climbing fast. I did occasionally remove it for a few seconds to see if the smell dissipated. After FA B left; we discussed the QRH and whether or not to return to ZZZ. My throat was pretty sore; I felt light headed; and we both had O2 mask on. The safest thing to do was return to ZZZ. The First Officer made the request to ATC [and] they gave us an altitude and heading. They asked if we were requesting priority handling. My First Officer acknowledged with FOB; SOB; and the nature of our situation. I called the back and told our Flight Attendants that we [notified ATC] and were returning to the field because of the fumes in the cockpit. I was talking through the O2 mask and I believe I said there weren't going to be any PAs explaining everything to the passengers from us. The FO called the company enlightened them on our situation and got us a gate. I was pretty foggy at this point even with the O2 mask on. My throat hurt and I was coughing. My First Officer conveyed that he felt better than I did and offered to be Flying Pilot. I transferred controls to my FO to be the Flying Pilot. ATC gave us direct ZZZ and eventually cleared us to land for Runway XXR. I ran the checklist and handled the radios. The First Officer did a flawless approach and landing. We exited the runway and taxied at a steady pace to spot XX and cleared to gate XX. Arriving at the gate we had no rampers and the spot was blocked by a row of baggage carts. I had both engines running and every light on to hopefully get everyone's attention. Still having my oxygen mask on I opened my window stuck my head out and waved rapidly at the rampers at the next gate over. They saw me and quickly came over to clear the area and parked us. We pulled in and shut down. Ran the checklist and opened the cockpit door. The emergency crews were already there. We collected our bags and followed the paramedics to the gate area where they evaluated us. The three of us all went to the hospital for further evaluation. We all tested positive for high CO levels in our blood. Looking back at the event; it seemed to me a few times that the odor was dissipating or gone. I felt that the conditions were the most toxic shortly after I reduced thrust from takeoff thrust. I realize today that I was completely acclimated to the odor and what I was sensing was inaccurate. Unlike an engine indication or a warning light there is no way for a pilot to definitely determine that the problem still exist with this particular fume event. I remember looking at the QRH saying 'but the odor is decreasing.' I've had several 'fume events' at this airline and each one unlike the first. The Flight Attendants did an excellent job. They understood the severity of the situation and passed the necessary information along quickly. We called them several times and they were very straight to the point and factual. When the cockpit door opened on the ground and we exited the aircraft not one passenger was standing. Without a doubt they had positive control on the cabin. FA B coming forward in helping us asses the cockpit fumes was crucial. She remained calm; told us the conditions in the back; and immediately went into what she smelled and how it was affecting her. I lastly want to commend my First Officer. He offered several solutions as what he thought the problem was. My FO did all that he could to keep the workload down and assist me as well as reminded me if something was missed. We did deal with the situation together. We were lucky that we had flown with each other for the last 3 days and understood one another. We kept the cockpit communication open and flowing. Finally after deciding to return to ZZZ my First Officer realized the condition I was in and offered to assume control of the aircraft. I agreed with him as that was the best decision. He has good character; makes the right decisions under pressure; and is a pleasure to fly with. He will make an excellent Line Captain. Maintenance returned the aircraft back to service after performing the cabin air troubleshoot form. They discovered deice fluid on the APU inlet. They deactivated the APU and returned to flight where the next crew had another fume event. I disagree with Maintenance's solution to the problem. We did not have the APU running when we had the problem for one. Secondly the chemical smell that I experienced wasn't the typical deice smell. Does boiling deice fluid produce CO? I'm not sure? I've had fume events before and the air filters were replaced. I see nothing in this report that the filters were checked or replaced. I've heard countless remarks from Maintenance on the line that we are using different oil in our APU and not changing ourair filters regularly. What happened to the carbon filters that we were getting? What happened to Maintenance running the bleed on the ramp to high temperatures for burn off procedures like [other airline]? This is my 3rd fume event. This is too common of an occurrence and the only way to prevent this is by actually cleaning the bleed systems; changing the air filters regularly; and tracking the aircraft fume events between airlines.

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.