Category Archives: Environmental Health

Choices… We Always Have Some

When Toxics Drift

we end up with choices.

Sit outside for a little while to get some Vitamin D

or

Be able to think, wash dishes, and/or make something to eat

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When Toxics Drift

Toxics Drift
smoke, asphalt, refineries, pesticides, gases, laundry fumes, etc

When pollutants drift, then people (and other living beings) get hurt, especially the many millions who are more ‘sensitive’ to pollution.

Smoke is one form of pollution that is visible, but other types may not be.

Here are a few images that show how different types of visible pollutants move through the air we all depend on to breathe, and how far they can travel:

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Fragrance-Free Initiative From UC Boulder’s OIT

 

The Fragrance-Free Initiative from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) has created a video I really like,  and they have also put together some other resources that can be useful to learn from when creating fragrance-free policies.

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Every Day is Earth Day

When we pollute our planet,
we  pollute ourselves.


If we don’t look after our life support system, how will we live?

We all need clean air, clean water, healthy soil, and safe food.

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Laundry Products Harm Humans!

 

We often hear from people who think they aren’t wearing any fragrance while their fume trail is noticeable (and headache inducing or worse) from 100 feet away.  Not only that, but the scent residues are left everywhere these people have touched anything, including pretty much permanently in the furniture they’ve used.

How can this be?

Laundry products!

 

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Open Letter to the Ontario Minister of Health and the MOHLTC

Dear Minister of Health, we’re ready for action!

According to official statistics:

250,000 Ontarians had been diagnosed with MCS in 2014
and the discrimination is still systemic in 2018

SUBJECT: Accommodation for People with Disabilities

Honourable Helena Jaczek, Minister of Health (at hjaczek.mpp@liberal.ola.org )


On September 29, 2017,
Ontario  quietly released the report “Time for Leadership: Recognizing and Improving Care”  for those with myalgic encephalomyelitis /chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and environmental sensitivities /multiple chemical sensitivity  (ME/CFS, FM and ES/MCS). This report  was produced by the Task Force on Environmental Health for the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.

The report found that throughout the Ontario health care system and in society at large, there is:

• a lack of recognition of the seriousness and severity of these conditions
• a profound shortage of knowledgeable care providers
• a dearth of clinical tools to support and guide care
• a discouraging shortage of services and supports for people living with these conditions
• an absence of support for family caregivers

The lack of knowledge and appropriate accessible care has devastating effects on Ontarians struggling with ME/CFS, FM and ES/MCS.

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11 Reasons To Stop Using Fragrances and Implement Fragrance-free Policies

Here are 11 excellent  reasons to stop using and allowing fragrances in your home, at work,  in healthcare, in housing, at school, in transportation, in retail, and in other public places:

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Ontario’s Task Force Releases its Phase 1 Recommendations to help people suffering from chemical sensitivity but health ministry abdicates again. Here’s a new take on that report.

An important update on the situation in Ontario, from Varda Burstyn, one of the original members of the Task Force on Environmental Health.

Please read and share, and find a way to put pressure on the elected reps, and if possible, get much needed media attention on this travesty of justice!

Note too that it’s not just for us, it’s a public health issue when over 50% of children have chronic health problems (including preschool kids with disabling anxiety), and something like 2/3 of the population on at least one pharmaceutical drug. We know that removing the cause of the problem results in better health than ineffectively trying to manage some symptoms!

When the canaries are ignored, public health suffers!

Varda Burstyn's avatarDispatches from The Chemical Edge

Hundreds of thousands are sick – and after 33 years, Ontario government again declines to implement basic measures of care

 Extracted pages from task_force_on_environmental_health_report

“These three environmental health conditions typically have a devastating impact on the individuals affected. Unfortunately, our health care system too often has not helped them to the extent they need. The report of the Task Force sets out a course that will begin to remedy this. I look forward to seeing the Minister’s response to our report, and urge him to respond quickly and decisively. There is a need for strong leadership.“ Neil Stuart, Vice-Chair of the Task Force.

Few people have any idea of the number of people in Ontario afflicted with the debilitating, painful, often co-occurring and even life-threatening conditions of Environmental Sensitivity/Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (about 310,000), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (about 215,000) and Fibromyalgia (about 196,800). But it turns out that, in total, there are a…

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tis the season

Wishing you all some Happiness during the  Holidays!

May all beings have clean air, clean water, healthy organic food, and safe and healthy shelter! All that and love, lots and lots of love!

Acts of Festive Kindness

Christmas, Birthdays, and Other Holidays with MCS/ES

For most people, these special occasions are times of joy and celebration in the company of friends and loved ones, but for people with invisible disabilities and chronic illnesses like MCS/ES, they can be sad reminders of the lives that we no longer have  access to.

We are still seldom  included in the festivities and are usually left alone to fend for ourselves. Unfortunately, since human beings are social beings, not everyone is well equipped to self occupy, and  some people become seriously depressed and even suicidal because of this.

To realize it’s because some friends, family, neighbours, and co-workers prefer to keep using certain products instead of using other products so we can safely be around them and enjoy their company,  makes it even harder for us, knowing they care more about the products they buy than they care about us. It’s a heart breaking thing to have to live with.

 

  Thankfully, not everyone chooses products over people 

 

Before I became too chemically injured to socialize in crowds, I had a wonderful friend who happily made the effort to make her place and parties safe for me!

In 2005  her invites were all sent out with these words:

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