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
I was hoping to be able to share some good news with you all, and here it is. We ARE making progress! It is unfortunate that it has taken this long, but I believe we are almost at the point where we will see an “overnight” shift happen.
Here’s what Dr John Molot (the author of “12,000 Canaries Can’t Be Wrong”) has to say:
It’s the end of 2015, a time to celebrate the promise of the coming year but also a time to reflect on the 12 months that have just passed. It was an incredibly exciting year for me professionally. As a physician who advocated for my patients for so many years, I no longer feel that I am paddling upstream against the hardline, medically conservative current that has discredited environmental medicine for decades. The patient groups that I work with have realistic hope for improved care in the near future.
My 2015 :: Science :: Media
Medical Profession :: Insurance Companies :: The Canaries
What’s to come?
This year, I have had several opportunities to effectively represent the people with environmentally linked conditions. I have been actively involved with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care in the development of the promised (2014) Task Force on Environmental…
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Posted in Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Health, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Pollution, Public Health
Tagged canaries, CFS/ME, FM, health care, MCS, MCS/ES, progress
Guest post by Laura Canary
Since I could not sleep, I thought I would bake a gingerbread house for our Christmas party. When I still could not sleep, I got carried away and baked enough to piece together this whole gingerbread village.
(image for inspirational purposes only)
But, what to call it?
Canary City? Sansparfumville? Beneficidale? Healington? MCSville? Magic Canary Sanctuary?
Welcome to our Magic Canary Sanctuary, or MCSville!
See all the houses! They are all built MCS safe, to accommodate all Canaries in need.
If you want to learn more about why so many people are suffering adverse health effects and making a stink about fragrance use, then the recent report from Women’s Voices for the Earth is a great place to get informed
“Unpacking the Fragrance Industry: Policy Failures, the Trade Secret Myth and Public Health“.
It’s must read material if you are at all unfamiliar with the issues surrounding fragrance.
Like this:
And that’s only the ones that have been tested. Many have not been tested for human health effects. Scientists also recently discovered that chemical cocktails can become carcinogenic even when individual chemicals themselves weren’t carcinogenic, but chemicals are tested individually (if at all), and not in the cocktails we get exposed to.
Please read the research and articles from WVE, and then take action.
Not surprisingly, the fragrance industry took issue with the report and shared some standard industry generated marketing responses. You can read about that here:
Posted in Air Quality, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Health, Human Rights, Pollution, Public Health
Tagged allergies, asthma, autism, cancer, child health, drugs, endocrine disruptors, environmental sensitivities, fragrance chemicals, hazardous air pollutants, IAQ, MCS, multiple chemical sensitivities, petrochemicals, phthalates, toxic chemicals, toxic trespass
Some of us find online computer games to be a good way to keep our brains from atrophying when we are disabled by all the toxic chemicals allowed to be used in everyday products and materials.
Here’s a game idea that we’d like developed:
It would have to have an adjustable, variable speed (some of our brains are very slow), as well as an on-off switch for sounds (some of us are also sound “sensitive” when our CNS has been fried from exposures).
The products that pop up can be virtually all regular laundry, cleaning, and personal care products, pesticides, new clothing, shoes, furniture, new electronics, most plastics, in fact, almost anything new. Toxic, health-harming petrochemicals are everywhere now!
The game could be turned into an educational tool too (instead of just a therapeutic tool) by including hyperlinks that inform what the known and suspected to-be-harmful and still-questionable chemicals are in each product, and what health effects they can cause! Scoring could be based on whacking (eliminating) the most toxic products first!
Can someone please make us this game?
In the meantime, here’s an existing way to be active in learning and changing the toxic world we currently live in to a safer one:
Posted in Action, Brain, Chemicals, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Products
Tagged computer, games, ideas, MCS, mind the store, online, programming, toxic products, whack-a-toxic
Guest post by Debbie Clark Seely
Dear friends,
I wanted to take the time to write this letter because we (the “unscented” community) are concerned for you. With it being the holiday season we are seeing multiple reports of friends and family members choosing to cut ties to their unscented loved ones rather than make the effort to visit them unscented. This perplexes us. It makes us feel like you are choosing scent over a human being. Continue reading
“Exposure to these chemicals increases the risk of allergic dermatitis, but more severe health effect for humans as well as the environment could possibly be related to these chemicals. Some of them are suspected or proved carcinogens and some have aquatic toxicity,”
Giovanna Luongo found that there are harmful chemical residues left in clothing even after 10 washes and presents the information in her Doctoral Thesis, Chemicals in textiles A potential source for human exposure and environmental pollution.
This scientifically validates what some of us have been saying for years, that some harmful chemical residues can be extremely difficult if not impossible to remove, (as the rigmarole we have to go through in an attempt to have safe to wear clothing to wear attests), and that normally undetectable trace levels can cause disabling effects.
Many chemicals present in clothing (and bedding) enter the human body via dermal absorption, and can be detected in urine hours later!
This poster shows how chemicals enter our bodies:
Posted in Accessibility, chemicals in clothing, Environmental Health, Fashion, Laundry, Toxic Trespass
Tagged allergies, cancer, chemicals in clothing, detox, environmental sensitivities, fibromyalgia, health, MCS, MCS/ES, multiple chemical sensitivity, petrochemicals, Pollution, sensitive to pollution, toxic chemicals, Water
The May June 2015 issue of Costco’s magazine had an article about scent marketing.
The Economist had an interesting article in 2007 regarding manipulative chemical use.
Women’s Voices For the Earth has several reports about fragrances and the fragrance industry.
Why should you be concerned? Read on:
Posted in Air Quality, Brain, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Health, Human Rights, Neurotoxicity, Pollution, Public Health, Toxic Trespass
Tagged allergies, asthma, autism, cancer, Chemicals, child health, fibromyalgia, fragrance chemicals, hazardous air pollutants, IAQ, manipulation, marketing, MCS, petrochemicals, shopping
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!
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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.”
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In other words, pollution prevents people from being smart!
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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:
 | 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 