Category Archives: Human Rights

Review Finds Ontario Far From Accessible but Report Includes People With Environmental Sensitivities

Posted on March 8, 2019 | 3 comments

The Honourable David C. Onley, the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (2007-2014) was appointed to lead the Third Review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

The report has now been released.

LISTENING TO ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES
REPORT OF THE THIRD REVIEW OF THE ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, 2005

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“For most disabled persons, Ontario is not a place of opportunity but one of countless, dispiriting, soul-crushing barriers”

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Thanks to everyone who wrote in, those of us with environmental sensitivities have been recognized, and thanks to David C. Onley, we’ve been included in the report and the final recommendations:


In the SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS (on pg 80):

7. Ensure that accessibility standards respond to the needs of people with environmental sensitivities.

 

Other mentions of environmental sensitivities and details:

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Disability, Environmental Sensitivities, Human Rights, Policy

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Petitions! Fragrance-free Health Care in the U.S. & Safe Housing in B.C.

Posted on March 6, 2019 | 4 comments

Two new petitions have been brought to my attention. Both of them are on change.org.
Please sign and share if you are able:

 

Make all health care facilities and services “fragrance free.”

https://www.change.org/p/us-department-of-health-and-human-services-make-all-health-care-facilities-and-services-fragrance-free

…”Please ask the secretary of HHS to provide leadership on addressing this issue and require all health care facilities and service providers to be scent free.”…

 

and

 

Stop the Human Rights Violations of Disabled British Columbians.

https://www.change.org/p/dear-bc-provincial-gov-t-and-vancouver-municipal-gov-t-leaders-stop-the-human-rights-violations-of-disabled-british-columbians

…”Health supporting housing is needed for low income British Columbians living with MCS. Currently there is no safe, affordable housing in BC for people with this chronic illness. In fact, the housing that is available is making people with MCS more ill by exposing them to off gassing building materials, strong chemicals used in building maintenance, laundry venting, cigarette smoke, and toxicant containing household and body products used by fellow renters.” …

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Action, Change, Health Care, Housing, Human Rights

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Harm Reduction Policy for People With Autism

Posted on February 21, 2019 | 2 comments

Recent research that Anne Steinemann conducted in  three countries (United States, Australia, and the UK), found that 83.7% autistic adults reported adverse health effects from exposures to  fragranced products, effects such as:

migraine headaches (42.9%),
neurological problems (34.3%),
respiratory problems (44.7%), and
asthma attacks (35.9%)

In particular,
62.9% of autistic adults report health problems from air fresheners or deodorizers,
57.5% from the scent of laundry products coming from a dryer vent,
65.9% from being in a room cleaned with scented products, and
60.5% from being near someone wearing a fragranced product.

Health problems can be severe, with 74.1% of these effects considered potentially disabling under legislation in each country. Further, 59.4% of autistic adults have lost workdays or lost a job, in the past year, due to fragranced product exposure in the workplace.

Results show that vulnerable individuals, such as those with autism or autism spectrum disorders, can be profoundly, adversely, and disproportionately affected by exposure to fragranced consumer products.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Autism, Child Health, Fragrance, Human Rights, Policy, Public Health

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The Fragrance-free Checklist

Posted on February 19, 2019 | 2 comments

 

It seems like the best way to clear up some confusion about being fragrance-free, is to provide a checklist of products and places where fragrances that can make you not be fragrance-free are found, so that you don’t inadvertently bring fragrances with you when going  somewhere with a strict fragrance-free policy.

The checklist addresses some common misconceptions about what being fragrance-free really means.

Being fragrance-free is about more than not using perfume or cologne.
It’s also not about skipping deodorant, as some people seem to think.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Health Promotion, Human Rights, Policy, Products

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They Said I Wasn’t Fragrance-Free. How Can That Be?

Posted on January 24, 2019 | 6 comments

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Has anyone ever asked you to be fragrance-free or told you that your fragrance is affecting their ability to function in some way, and you didn’t know what they were talking about?

You may or may not have heard that fragrance-free policies are becoming much more common now since so many people are being adversely affected by fragranced products.

Unfortunately, many people still don’t know why fragrance-free products are healthier for themselves and others, or unaware how common fragrances are!

It’s not just perfumes and colognes!

I’ve had people tell me they didn’t use any fragrance when they couldn’t name a single product they used for laundry or personal care and cleaning.

I’ve had people tell me they didn’t have any fragrance on when all of their products had fragrance listed in the ingredients.

People have also said “but I don’t smell anything”, or “I only used a little this morning” (or yesterday, or the day before yesterday).

They Said I Wasn’t Fragrance-Free. How Can That Be?

Think about that! Read the labels on all of your products, if you haven’t already.

There are all kinds of undisclosed and toxic ingredients in everyday fragranced products that are  linked to cancer, birth defects, and other chronic illnesses.

And it’s not only the fragrances from the products you washed with or applied to your body, or the residues of laundry products in your clothing that are problematic!

Did you ever walk into a room where people were smoking, or have have smoked in the past?

Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Human Rights, Policy, Public Health

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So You Think We’re Being Difficult When We ask You to Change Products?

Posted on January 14, 2019 | 2 comments

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Seriously though:

We are not trying to make your life difficult.

We’re just asking you to choose products that don’t disable us.

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“Really? Products we can buy in every store disable you?”

Yes! Everyday products and materials can disable us.

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There’s actually a lot of info out there that the things that disable us are harming many other people too, just in different ways.

An info dump of links are included below. Take your time and read through them, as you will learn things that will help you protect yourself and your family in the absence of product and material regulations that should exist to protect us.

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In many places, it’s also the law to accommodate us
to the point of undue hardship.

“inconvenience, morale, and preferences are not valid considerations in assessing whether an accommodation would cause undue hardship”

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Disability, Environmental Health, Friendship, Health, Human Rights, Pollution, Public Health

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What’s it Like to Have MCS/ES? Part 3: Toast Chaos

Posted on January 12, 2019 | 2 comments

MCS/ES (multiple chemical sensitivities / environmental sensitivities)  is a disability recognized by the Canadian and Ontario Human Rights Codes. There are over a million people with doctor diagnosed MCS in Canada, and so many more all around the world.

In the US, the latest prevalence study found that “among the population, 12.8% report medically diagnosed MCS and 25.9% report chemical sensitivity.”

The term ‘sensitivities’ seems to trivialize the condition in many people’s minds.

You may wonder what’s it really like then, if it’s not trivial?

Here’s how Laura J Mac describes it:

Having MCS means never knowing when you can manage something as simple as making toast.

• Can’t stand up due to pain.

• Can’t figure out all the steps involved to make toast. #execfun

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Accessibility, Disability, Environmental Health, Human Rights, Toxic Trespass

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