Great news!
Pamela Reed Gibson’s groundbreaking and information filled book “Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: A Survival Guide” (2nd Edition) is now available to read online, or as a download, for FREE!
It’s still very relevant and extremely useful even though it came out in 2006.
There are also a lot of other excellent resources, including research papers, available on the new website: Continue reading
The ARCH Disability Law Centre and the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) announced in September of 2016 that they were working on a report about the challenges faced by people with multiple chemical and/or environmental sensitivities.
ARCH Alert September 2016
“ARCH, in collaboration with the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA), has been working on a report about the challenges faced by people with multiple chemical and/or environmental sensitivities. Our report was informed by consultations with persons who experience these disabilities.
One of our major findings is the significant extent of attitudinal barriers faced by this group of people. Often, they find that they are not believed when they ask that scents, fragrances or other products not be worn in the workplace, educational settings, health care settings or places where services are received. We believe that a large awareness campaign is needed to educate the public about the impact of these disabilities on all aspects of a person’s life.”
The release of their report has been delayed because they want to respond to the Ontario Task Force on Environmental Health’s Interim Report, which came out just when their own report was intended for release.
In the November 2017 issue of Arch Alert, both ARCH and CELA urge the Task Force to do more consultations with those of us who are living the experience:
Posted in Accessibility, Environment, Environmental Health, Human Rights, Policy
Tagged ARCH, autism, CELA, CFS, CFS/ME, chemical sensitivity, children, EHS, environmental sensitivities, FM, Housing, invisible disabilities, MCS, MCS/ES, multiple chemical sensitivities, Ontario, Research, wireless
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
It’s hard to get anyone to take the time to read (let alone understand) scientific research, but it’s so important that we educate ourselves when the opportunity arises. People have short attention spans these days, probably from all the neurotoxins and wireless radiation we’re all being exposed to on a daily basis, so it’s great when we find information that is short and to the point.
Here is a great short video series from
the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment.
Please watch and share!
Posted in Child Health, Education, Environmental Health, Health, Pollution, Public Health, Toxic Trespass
Tagged allergies, asthma, autism, cancer, Chemicals, hazardous air pollutants, IAQ, neurotoxins, petrochemicals, phthalates, Research, science, toxic, toxic chemicals, toxic trespass, video
From Dr Anne Steinemann’s latest research
“Fragranced consumer products: exposures and effects from emissions”
“Basically, if it contained a fragrance, it posed problems for people”
“This is a huge problem; it’s an epidemic”
says Professor Steinemann.
She is especially concerned with involuntary exposure to fragranced products, or what she calls “secondhand scents.“
“Over 22% of Americans surveyed can’t go somewhere because exposure to a fragranced product would make them sick.”
“These findings have enormous implications for businesses, workplaces, care facilities, schools, homes, and other private and public places,” said Professor Steinemann. For instance, a growing number of lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act concern involuntary and disabling exposure to fragranced products.”
Posted in Accessibility, Air Quality, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Human Rights, Policy, Public Health
Tagged allergies, Anne Steinemann, asthma, chemical sensitivity, environmental sensitivities, epidemic, fragrance-free, hazardous air pollutants, health, IAQ, invisible disabilities, MCS, MCS/ES, petrochemicals, Research
MCS/ES is not new. Over 30 years ago, the Province of Ontario created the “Committee on Environmental Hypersensitivity” and appointed George Thomson, a former provincial court judge, as chairman, with a mandate to study and “advise the Ministry of Health on the occurrence of environmental hypersensitivity in Ontario and on current methods of diagnosis and treatment. Further, the committee was to make recommendations to the ministry concerning future approaches to treatment and research that should be taken”
From the the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Official Records for 17 December 1985:
Hon. Mr. Elston: Members of this House may also recall a six-member committee which was appointed in November 1984 to study a disorder which is known as environmental hypersensitivity, or 20th-century disease. The condition has been described as multiple sensitivities or allergies to a wide range of foods, chemicals and environmental substances.
Living with MCS/ES creates challenges that seem unimaginable to most people. Despite some progress (more awareness), due in large part to so many more people being affected, the barriers and obstacles to living in the world as it currently is, can be never-ending when there is industry generated denial that everyday chemicals (or wireless) exposures are hurting and disabling people.
“Remember, don’t talk or breathe when you take your masks off to eat”
It is exhausting to have to constantly ask for accommodations just to be able to exist in a world where safe solutions are often hard to find, or when they do exist, they are not affordable. It can be like living in a world that wishes we’d just go away and leave them all alone, yet… there is no safe place to go away to…
Is it any wonder then, that people develop mental health problems?
When health problems (mental or otherwise) related to circumstances and experiences arise, one is (usually) only truly helped by people who have an understanding of the issues related to the circumstances that are connected to the problems. When that understanding doesn’t exist, appearances can create erroneous assumptions that perpetuate the kinds of harms that caused the problems in the first place.
For people with MCS/ES, exposures can trigger temporary or long term brain and behavior issues that look like mental health problems to people who don’t know how toxic chemicals, molds, food sensitivities, or wireless exposures can affect our brains and bodies. And sometimes we are capable of doing some things, yet completely incapable of doing others, as exposures can affect different parts of our bodies and brains, and for varying amounts of time.
What people also don’t understand, is that when we are able to live free of those exposures, we can be free of the brain or behavior problems the exposures cause.
Finding ways to access goods and services without being subjected to disabling levels of exposures can take 10 to 100 times more effort than people normally have to extend for the same goods and services. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we cannot safely access the goods and services everyone else takes for granted. These challenges can mean we may need to turn to others for help with survival and coping , yet not only is it difficult to receive practical support,
new research also proves that access to knowledgeable mental health care providers is rare for people with MCS/ES!
“When asked to evaluate their provider’s knowledge of MCS on a scale of “not knowledgeable”, “somewhat knowledgeable”, or “highly knowledgeable”,
Posted in Accessibility, Disability, Environmental Health, Health, Human Rights, Mental Health, Public Health, Support
Tagged autism, brain, environmental sensitivities, Gibson, health care access for people with MCS/ES, MCS, MCS/ES, mental health, Mold, multiple chemical sensitivities, neurotoxicity, Research
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.”
∴
In other words, pollution prevents people from being smart!
∴
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
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MyExposome has designed silicone wristbands (such as the ones worn in support of various causes) that are specially prepared to act as a sponge to absorb hundreds of different chemicals in our environment—the air, water, and even personal care products.
The possibilities!
With all the toxic VOCs in everyday products, the carcinogenic activity of the chemical cocktails we are exposed to on a daily basis, this is a great idea that can show people just how prevalent toxic chemicals have become, and how difficult it is to avoid them.
It would be really interesting to have a group of people with MCS/ES participate in some exposure measuring research, as those of us who have to practice extreme chemical avoidance for our health and well-being have some experiences that researchers will eventually find quite interesting.
Now, they would be able to see how difficult it is to avoid these chemicals, even when making great efforts due to necessity (of course, different levels of MCS/ES dictate different levels of avoidance requirements and efforts too).
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Seriously "Sensitive" to Pollution 