My name is Zoraida and I live in Spain. I was diagnosed with MCS two years ago, but I had been having reactions for a couple of years before that. Everything escalated suddenly in 2014, and this was when I began to need a mask for everyday life. There have been many other changes in addition to the mask. Among them, moving to a smaller, less polluted town.
My safety kit: Continue reading
I wear my mask when out on my ebike to protect myself from exhaust fumes and chemical sprays on residential lawns. In the warmer months I need to wear it when travelling outside of town in a car to protect myself from agricultural pesticides drift as I live in an area that grows mostly corn and beans, probably mostly GMO and sprayed liberally with pesticides. I also wear it in grocery stores, thrift stores and the mall. Even with the mask I rarely venture into a mall.
~ Brenda
For more about masks, see
When they poisoned the pests,
I didn’t care, because I wasn’t a pest…
When they poisoned the frogs,
I didn’t care, because I was not a frog…
When they poisoned the birds,
I didn’t care, because I wasn’t a bird…
When they poisoned the air,
I didn’t care, because it was on the other side of the planet…
When they poisoned the ocean,
I didn’t care, because I wasn’t a fish…
When they poisoned the lands,
I didn’t care, because it wasn’t near my land…
When they poisoned the people,
I didn’t care, because it wasn’t anyone in my family…
(besides, those people with MCS/ES were acting all crazy, wanting me to change my laundry products, stop using fragrances, and get rid of my wi-fi, among other things)
Yes way…sighs…
Most of us wear underwear all the time. We don’t think much about it.
I remember when I used to be able to find decent 100% cottom undies with enclosed elastic waistbands at the dollar stores! I could throw them in the wash once, and they were good to go. Those were the days!
More recently, I’ve been disabled from a serious fibro flare caused by trace (?) levels of chemical residues from wearing organic undies that cost me $20 a pair. Even after soaking and washing them at least a dozen times, and then boiling them several times after.
Disabled?
Yes, disabled!
My alternate title for this post was Disabled by Underwear… Here’s what happened:
Posted in Chemicals, chemicals in clothing, Disability, Environmental Health, Fashion, Fibromyalgia, Laundry, Products
Tagged #May12, allergies, chemical free, chemicals in clothing, chronic health problems, chronic pain, Clothing, environmental sensitivities, fibromyalgia, furnishings, furniture, MCS, MCS/ES, pesticides, petrochemicals, sensitive to pollution, toxic textiles
People all over the industrialized world have been developing Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and Environmental Sensitivities, or Environmental Illnesses. We are exposed to so many petrochemical pollutants, in our air, water, foods, clothes, furnishings, homes, and elsewhere in daily life, substances which are now known to cause many kinds of adverse health effects, and some of us just have the epigenetic disposition to feel the effects faster and more extremely than others who may develop cancer or some other condition many years later.
Amelia Hill (aka the Amazing Amelia Hill) lives in Australia and developed very severe, or extreme MCS after not being properly diagnosed for too many years. A lack of proper diagnosis and precautionary measures usually results in a debilitating worsening of the condition, which is best addressed with avoidance of the triggering substances, and building up health in very targeted ways. This is much more difficult to do the longer one isn’t able to take the steps to avoid exposures and rebuild life with safe alternatives.
Amelia’s life is probably unlike any you have ever heard of (even mine) although there are many similarities between the experiences those of us who have severe MCS/ES share. Amelia is known as “amazing” because of the ways she handles her life.
You will see why here.
Amelia’s story has been featured as the cover story in what may be South Australia’s most popular newspaper weekend magazine: Continue reading
Posted in Chemicals, Disability, Education, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Food, Health, Healthy Environment, Human Rights, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Public Health
Tagged allergies, Amelia, asthma, Australia, Chemicals, chemicals in clothing, EHS, elecrtosensitive, Food, fragrance-free, health care access for people with MCS/ES, indoor air quality, MCS, MCS housing, pesticides, petrochemicals, sensitive to pollution, wireless
(not just those of us who are adversely affected before others)
“Global experts in this field concluded that infertility and male reproductive dysfunctions, birth defects, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurobehavioral and learning disorders were among the conditions than can be attributed in part to exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs).”
…
New research estimates the cost in Europe alone to be in the billions of dollars. As these endocrine disrupting chemicals have been inflicted on the global population, and are found in countless everyday products and materials, the costs to society are huge (and the profits to the chemical and pharmaceutical companies are equally huge).
“The overwhelming majority of the reported costs were from “lost cognitive potential”
Dr Leonardo Trasande
I’ve posted about EDCs a few times, including here:
Endocrine Disruption… Huh? Why Should We Care?
Many of us have no idea what “those people” are talking about when they mention endocrine disruptors. Sounds like something foreign and insignificant, or at least it did to me, until something caught my attention a few years ago. …
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Here are links to some of the news articles and how you can avoid some EDCs:
Posted in Chemicals, Disability, Environmental Health, Fragrance and Cosmetics, Health, Neurotoxicity, Pesticides, Policy, Public Health
Tagged air "fresheners", avoid endocrine disruptors, endocrine disrupting chemicals, endocrine disruption, fragrance chemicals, Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals, pesticides, phthalates, Research, toxic trespass
No joke!
The world is an exceedingly strange place when products that are designed to kill unwanted and uncared for “pests” have fragrance chemicals added to change the way they smell, and those fragrance chemicals are better regulated than the ones in products we living (wanted and cared for?) humans are sold, for intimate use, on a daily basis.
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-cide
1.indicating a person or thing that kills: insecticide
2.indicating a killing; murder: homicide
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How is it that the fragrances added to pesticides are more regulated than the fragrances we are exposed to 24/7 now, from laundry, personal care, cleaning products, scented candles and air “fresheners” (among others, as everything is fragranced these days)?
Posted in Air Quality, Ecocide, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Pesticides
Tagged Fragrance, fragrance chemicals, fragrance ingredients, hazardous air pollutants, health hazards, laundry products, perfumes, pesticides, petrochemicals, product safety, public health risks, regulations, scented products, toxic chemicals
From the FDA
Drug by definition:
What about fragrances when they target our brains and brain functions, including moods and perceptions?
From the fragrance industry:
To use fragrance technology to transmit feelings directly to the brain
???
That sounds a lot like drugs to me!
∴
From the FDA… Is it a drug?
Posted in Brain, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Policy, Public Health
Tagged addictive, air freshener, allergies, asthma, autism, brains, cancer, Chemicals, children, cognitive, drugs, FDA, Fragrance, fragrance chemicals, future generations, hazardous air pollutants, headaches, manipulation, marketing, MCS, MCS/ES, migraines, neurotoxins, perfumes, pesticides, pets, regulation, scent, toxic, toxic trespass
The ideas and photos I am sharing are not designed specifically for people with MCS/ES, but they can be easily adapted to meet our needs.
The majority of people who celebrate Christmas do it with decorations, parties, and gifts, perhaps with a visit to church, if possible. For people with MCS/ES, all of these traditions, as currently practiced, can be seriously problematic, if not downright impossible.
Please watch this important and very well done new video by Dr. Bruce Lanphear, where he discusses chemicals and other toxins that affect brain development in children (and can cause MCS/ES symptoms in others) and what we need to do about it.
Little Things Matter: The Impact of Toxins on the Developing Brain
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Here’s a longer video presentation by him from Autism Canada
Excavating Environmental Risk Factors for Autism: Suspects and Strategies
Posted in Autism, Brain, Chemicals, Environmental Health, Neurotoxicity, Pollution, Pregnancy, Toxic Trespass
Tagged blood brain barrier, body burden, brain development, Bruce Lanphear, child health, EDCs, environment, exposures, lead, Little Things Matter, MCS, mercury, pesticides, petrochemicals, phthalates, Research, sensitive to pollution, smoke, toxic chemicals, toxins
 | 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 