Guest post by Kelly N.
The Scream by Edvard Munch
It’s the most heartbreaking thing when you realize that you have no one…. zilch zero that will help you! All you are is a stranger in a strange land with no one hearing your plea. All the faces look around and stare at you like you have no face, no meaning.
Posted in Disability, Environmental Health, Human Rights, Interconnectedness
Tagged doubts, EHS, fibromyalgia, intolerance, invisible disabilities, Lyme Disease, MCS, ME/CFS, Mold
This presentation by Professor Olle Johansson about the biological and health effects of electromagnetic pollution was given to a group of Industrial Engineering students in Barcelona, Spain and was recorded in October 2015. We are fortunate to be able to have access to easy to understand scientific presentations of this caliber.
Professor Johansson, from the Neuroscience department at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, starts by saying the first problem is that they have no women in the class and then discussed how EHS is recognized as a functional impairment in Sweden, and how the environment must be modified to accommodate and include people with a functional impairment. (His recently published paper on the subject is also available below). He went on to describe other issues with wireless radiation and encouraged the class to come up with solutions.
I think it’s worth taking the time to watch, but I like learning about the things that are affecting our lives, and what we can and have to do now and to protect future generations, so that they have a chance at more than mere survival.
“Adverse health effects of modern electromagnetic fields from wireless telecommunication, such as mobile phones and WiFi”
Posted in Accessibility, Disability, EHS, Environment, Health, Human Rights, Public Health, Wireless
Tagged accommodation, brain, EMF/EMR, environmental sensitivities, functional impairment, MCS/ES, science, video, wireless, wireless dangers
Ever notice how when you buy a new appliance or electronic device, and take it out of the box, or plug it in, the smell makes you nauseous, dizzy, and gives you a headache? Or worse?
That smell is made up of some really toxic chemical fumes. Benzene, styrene, and toluene, among others… in everyday technology!
.
New research from the Exposure, Epidemiology & Risk Program, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, on how the pollutants in indoor environments affect people’s cognitive functioning (people who are still able to work in polluted offices, not the people who are already too disabled to work in polluted offices) discovered that
Green office environments linked with higher cognitive function scores
…”People who work in well-ventilated offices with below-average levels of indoor pollutants and carbon dioxide (CO2) have significantly higher cognitive functioning scores–in crucial areas such as responding to a crisis or developing strategy–than those who work in offices with typical levels, according to a new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, SUNY Upstate Medical University, and Syracuse University.
…
“We have been ignoring the 90%. We spend 90% of our time indoors and 90% of the cost of a building are the occupants, yet indoor environmental quality and its impact on health and productivity are often an afterthought,” said Joseph Allen, assistant professor of exposure assessment science, director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment, and lead author of the study.
“These results suggest that even modest improvements to indoor environmental quality may have a profound impact on the decision-making performance of workers.”
Researchers wanted to look at the impact of ventilation, chemicals, and carbon dioxide on workers’ cognitive function because, as buildings have become more energy efficient, they have also become more airtight, increasing the potential for poor indoor environmental quality.
Building-related illnesses and “sick building syndrome” were first reported in the 1980s as ventilation rates decreased. In response, there has been an emphasis on sustainable design–“green” buildings that are energy efficient and are also designed to enhance indoor environmental quality. The researchers designed this study to identify the specific attributes of green building design that influence cognitive function, an objective measure of productivity.
…
“The major significance of this finding lies in the fact that these are the critical decision making parameters that are linked to optimal and productive functioning. Losing components of these skills impacts how people handle their day to day lives.”
∴
In other words, pollution prevents people from being smart!
∴
Here are just some of the harmful emissions from computers:
Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Brain, Chemicals, Disability, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Health, Human Rights, non-toxic
Tagged allergies, appliances, asthma, cancer, certification, cognitive effects, electronics, hazardous air pollutants, health effects, IAQ, indoor air quality, MCS, multiple chemical sensitivities, petrochemicals, Research, sensitive to pollution, toxic chemicals, toxic trespass, VOCs
My computer and old Operating System have seen better days. Things are crashing almost hourly now. I am so grateful that the original donor was twice able to get this computer back up again (with telephone advice) after a partial freeze and fully appearing meld-down, but it is still malfunctioning online, so I have to shut it down frequently, as the sites I use seem to have updated using technology that is no longer inclusive of XP and my minimal RAM (adding more would be cost-prohibitive).
I therefore find myself in critical need of a new computer, even with all the toxicity and adverse health risks involved, and without the time to mitigate them (like running things somewhere else that is also fragrance free, for however long it takes to off-gas everything).
Here are some details:
Alternate title: Be Grateful or Be Miserable!
I had some really good brain and body days in the early spring, enough that they left an imprint on me of how it felt to feel (relatively, and almost) normal. instead of the usual:
Then shit happened… (sorry, I don’t usually use language like that, but I’ve lost access to some parts of my vocabulary lately as a result of the toxic stuff I was exposed to).
Pesticides, dental infections and extractions, toxic products and materials (including trying to replace a SS kitchen kettle -simple, yes? Actually, NO), summer road work, more and more pesticides, heat, VOCs, lack of ventilation and air filtration, which meant no ability to cook, and more…all of which resulted in some serious brain fog, cognitive problems, and drastically reduced physical abilities.
Back to the drawing board…
After having some good days this year, I crashed again, and I haven’t been able to recover… much… There can be a few better mini-moments here and there if the outdoor air quality is exceptional and the breezes have been blowing the “right” way, but nothing like how well I was doing for a while in the spring.
Which makes it so much harder now, because I can actually remember what it was like to be more functional. It was so long ago before, that it didn’t really come into play or into my thoughts, as for so many years, I couldn’t remember what it was like to think clearly, or to function without effort, with relative ease.
Is it really too much to ask to be able to function with relative ease? To not have every thought, every action be like climbing a mountain or navigating an obstacle course?
Posted in Air Quality, Brain, Disability, Environmental Health, Fibromyalgia, Mental Health, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities
Tagged allergies, environmental sensitivities, gratitude, health, Human Rights, MCS, MCS/ES, mental health, mindfulness, petrochemicals, sensitive to pollution, toxic trespass
Guest Post by V from the USA
This was originally posted to an online support group. V granted her permission to share it here. She has been able to put this part of her life story into words that so many of us find hard to express, and I thank her deeply for sharing her words with you too.
It’s about 1:30 a.m. and this is about the time where I start to feel despair about everything in my life. I just can’t seem to adapt to the isolation and lack of a routine or purpose. Also, I can’t seem to find any pain meds for my chronic pain. I have been in physical pain for so long.
I know this post may seem disjointed which is apropos considering how I feel.
I AM so tired of spinning my wheels…Along with MCS I have so many other medical issues…non terminal that I know of but still…I have asthma and allergies.. I can’t be around dogs or cats, the weather determines my breathing status for the day and my physical mobility.
I can only eat about 10 things and it’s exhausting to try to rotate these foods and I spend excessive time trying to plan. Even planning a rotation I still get itching throat and sometimes a swollen throat with some of the ten things I think I can eat…it’s horrible to start eating and not know how I will feel ..
Canada’s top medical journal, the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), says
“Artificial scents have no place in our hospitals“
“These patients may be involuntarily exposed to artificial scents from staff, other patients and visitors, resulting in worsening of their clinical condition. As patients,
family members and emergency physicians will attest, the attacks can be quite sudden and serious. There is little justification for continuing to tolerate artificial scents in our
hospitals.” …
Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Disability, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Health, Health Care, Hospital Protocols, Policy, Precaution, Public Health
Tagged allergies, asthma, autism, cancer, environmental sensitivities, Fragrance, fragrance-free policy, hazardous air pollutants, health care access for people with MCS/ES, Human Rights, IAQ, MCS, MCS/ES, multiple chemical sensitivity, petrochemicals, phthalates, toxic chemicals, toxic trespass
I need several air purifiers to clean the air of pollutants from unavoidable everyday products and materials (like the mail, receipts, product labels, food packaging, replacement of any basic essentials, etc) and also the neighbourhood pollution (trains, planes, laundry products, pesticides, BBQs, fireplace smoke, etc) from my indoor air so that my brain and body can work more like they were intended to.
To cook, clean, and take care of my very basic needs, (nothing extra going on here, I am housebound) I am dependent on clean air to be able to function. My filters need to be changed annually or every other year (depending on what the air quality has been like) and mine were last changed in 2012, three years ago.
I have looked all over the place for funding to purchase new filters and there just isn’t anyone out there with a mandate to provide clean air to those who require it for medical reasons.
! ! !
Last summer was a disaster for me, this year was even worse. I’ve had a horrid three months from area roadwork and pesticide use (there was massive spraying of Wild Parsnip around this part of Ontario during the summer, and the pesticide drift got to me really bad), and now other simpler exposures that hadn’t been bothering me as much as they used to, are again having more serious adverse effects on me because my indoor air is not being filtered anymore.
Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Disability, Healthy Environment, Support
Tagged air purifiers, brain, brain fog, donate, environmental sensitivities, hazardous air pollutants, indoor air quality, MCS, MCS/ES, multiple chemical sensitivities, petrochemicals, replacement filters, sensitive to pollution, VOCs
Another great resource shared by Mary Lamielle, this time on how to make events accessible for people with MCS/ES.
Accessible Meetings Guide Addresses Chemical and Electrical Sensitivities
Posted in Accessibility, Disability, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Healthy Environment, Human Rights, Policy
Tagged access, barriers, conferences, EHS, electrical sensitivities, events, fragrance-free policy, IAQ, inclusion, MCS, MCS/ES, meetings, National Center for Environmental Health Strategies, wireless
 | linda @ Seriously "S… on MCS/ES |
| linda @ Seriously "S… on The CDC and MCS |
 | Tabatha Schnorr on MCS/ES |
| Tabatha Schnorr on The CDC and MCS |
| linda @ Seriously "S… on MCS and Housing |
| linda @ Seriously "S… on Hospital Protocols for People… |
Seriously "Sensitive" to Pollution 