If you are in or near Jasper, Alberta anytime between February 29 and March 7, please check out Marie LeBlanc’s Endangered Human presentation at Jasper Community Habitat for the Arts. I have seen some of it, and it’s very powerful.
My article “Invisible Barriers, Invisible Disabilities, Invisible People” is now available to read in the
Special Issue on Ecopsychology and Environmental Sensitivities:
Chemical, Electrical, and Beyond
All the articles in the entire special issue will be available for free until Sept. 5 2017, which is unprecedented access!
Please check them out and share as widely as possible!
Table of Contents:
Posted in Disability, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Human Rights, Public Health
Tagged chemical sensitivity, ecopsychology, EHS, environment, fibromyalgia, Gibson, health, invisible disabilities, MCS, MCS/ES, multiple chemical sensitivities, Ontario, petrochemicals, Research, systemic discrimination, toxic chemicals, toxic trespass
These images are available on facebook. Feel free to download the appropriate one and use for Awareness Month, or at least for May 12th Awareness Day!
Posted in Accessibility, Action, Education, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Friendship, Images, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Support
Tagged allergies, asthma, chemical sensitivity, EHS, environment, invisible disabilities, masks, MCS, MCS/ES, multiple chemical sensitivities, petrochemicals, sensitive to pollution
Dr Stephen Genuis is someone who has an excellent understanding about environmental and public health.
He now has a new website and has also started an easy to understand video series on environmental health, where he discusses causes, effects, and what can be done to help the growing numbers of us who experience environmentally linked chronic health challenges.
By “those of us” I (and he) mean many more people than conventional medicine considers to be environmentally affected, and he gives excellent examples of this in the videos (as well as in his research papers).
Posted in Education, Environmental Health, Health Promotion, Public Health
Tagged allergies, alzheimer's, asthma, autism, cancer, CFS/ME, chemical sensitivity, Chemicals, deficiencies, dementia, environment, exposures, fibromyalgia, MCS, mental health, mercury poisoning, MS, nutrition, petrochemicals, sensitivities, Stephen J. Genuis
When breathing the air hurts…
When we have to filter and “purify” the air just to breathe…
What options do we have?
The Courageous Canaries of MCS/ES (and mask) Awareness Month 2016
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Having an invisible disability is difficult, especially when many of the adverse effects are delayed and we have to deal with them in isolation. Some people feel self conscious about wearing a mask, especially if we can’t find a “pretty” one that we are able to use, despite how they can reduce adverse effects. If there’s any good that comes from wearing one (in addition to protecting our health a bit) wearing a mask when we have an invisible disability helps make us visible.
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The type of mask we benefit most from will depend on our “sensitivities” and circumstances. Masks will filter the air we breathe in various degrees, but unless we have a full face respirator and wear a hazmat suit, our eyes and skin will still absorb chemicals that can have an adverse effect on our health and well-being. For this reason, they should not be thought of as complete protection from pollution, and are therefore best used only when absolutely necessary.
Information and resources about masks that filter out some of the different types of daily pollutants we are subjected to, and what kinds of filter materials are needed to purify what kinds of pollutants follows.
Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Disability, Environmental Health, Health Care, Pollution, Products
Tagged allergies, asthma, cancer, Chemicals, environment, environmental sensitivities, fragrance chemicals, hazardous air pollutants, indoor air, invisible disabilities, MCS, MCS/ES, multiple chemical sensitivities, petrochemicals, phthalates, sensitive to pollution, toxic chemicals, toxic trespass, VOCs
Amelia Hill shared an eloquent post about enduring and working with loneliness (see below). Amelia and I are both housebound (and have been so for years), but she is currently confined to a much smaller space in her home than I am in mine.
From Heal Amelia’s Life:
Loneliness. I’ve kinda learned to override the often relentless waves of loneliness one feels living an isolated existence like mine.I don’t deny the feelings of loneliness or push them down in an unhealthy way. But it’s more like a repetitive cycle of acknowledging it & letting it go, acknowledging it & letting it go. It’s how I survive.
About a year ago I decided to give away an electronic item of some value that had belonged to my kids as they no longer wanted it and it had some chemical residues that prevented me from enjoying it (more too toxic tech issues). I posted it to a community giving group that is similar to Buy Nothing or Freecycle, where there are a lot of things given and received, for free (mostly clothing, toys, and small items).
As it was permitted to ask questions of respondents, I also decided to ask a question that people had to answer to be considered as a potential recipient.
Along with the description of the item, I posted:
*Please answer one of the following questions
1. Has anyone ever told you a product you use made them sick, and if so, how did you handle it?
or
2. If it hasn’t happened yet, how would you handle it if it did happen?
The responses included:
(This post is for us, not so much for those who’ve made it clear they can’t hear us)
There have been a lot of online arguments lately, where people just aren’t listening to each other. I know this phenomenon isn’t limited to what’s happening online either, especially when it comes to people choosing petroleum based fragrances (or other petrochemical products and materials) over family and friends, or worse, over the health of their children! (yes, it happens, and it’s happening far too often these days)
(naninanipoopoo is something my kids used to say when they wanted me to know they weren’t going to listen to me)
Then, just like the fragrance industry is doing, by creating fragrances for absolutely everything, I too was inspired to come up with a fragrance for that: Continue reading
Posted in Air Quality, Change, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Images, Public Health
Tagged allergies, asthma, be fragrance-free, cancer, children, denial, environment, fragrance chemicals, friendship and fragrance, hazardous air pollutants, headaches, It's good for me, It's good for you, MCS, naninani poopoo, petrochemicals, unexplained health problems