…
Seriously though:
We are not trying to make your life difficult.
We’re just asking you to choose products that don’t disable us.
…
“Really? Products we can buy in every store disable you?”
…
Seriously though:
We are not trying to make your life difficult.
We’re just asking you to choose products that don’t disable us.
…
“Really? Products we can buy in every store disable you?”
Posted in Accessibility, Disability, Environmental Health, Friendship, Health, Human Rights, Pollution, Public Health
Tagged 2nd hand, allergies, asthma, chemical sensitivity, Duty to Accommodate, EHS, environmental sensitivities, essential oils, fibromyalgia, fragrance-free, hazardous air pollutants, IAQ, MCS, pesticides, petrochemicals, smoke, toxic chemicals, VOCs
Toxics Drift
smoke, asphalt, refineries, pesticides, gases, laundry fumes, etc
When pollutants drift, then people (and other living beings) get hurt, especially the many millions who are more ‘sensitive’ to pollution.
Smoke is one form of pollution that is visible, but other types may not be.
Here are a few images that show how different types of visible pollutants move through the air we all depend on to breathe, and how far they can travel:
Posted in Air Quality, Environmental Health, Pollution, Public Health, Toxic Trespass
Tagged allergies, asphalt, asthma, chemical sensitivity, drift, environmental sensitivities, exhaust, fossil fuels, Fragrance, hazardous air pollutants, laundry products, MCS, multiple chemical sensitivities, pesticides, petrochemicals, refineries, smoke, VOCs, wireless
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
Did you know they add fragrance chemicals to fire-starters and logs now???
Dashing through the snow
Coughing all the way
Over fields we go
On a frosty winter’s day
No fresh air to breathe
Chimneys puffing smoke
Pine and fragranced fireplace logs
Are ruining the day Continue reading
Posted in Air Quality, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Pollution
Tagged asthma, carcinogens, fire, fragrance chemicals, Scented Fire Logs, smoke, wood smoke
Smoke and chemicals (such as fragrances, air “fresheners”, laundry products, pesticides, and other VOCs) do not respect property lines as they travel throughout space, often making others quite sick, even disabling them in their own homes. This is especially a problem in multi-unit housing, and where housing units are built close together.
This is also a very serious accessibility issue for people with MCS/ES, as there are few affordable housing options available, and most of these put people at risk of further harm due to indoor air pollution issues, despite HUD and other federal agencies in the US and Canada recognizing MCS/ES as a disability that needs to be accommodated.
The following webinar is about addressing smoke, but the issues are applicable to other forms of indoor air pollutants as well. It should also be available as a podcast later.
For those of you who are interested and able, the webinar is being offered on Wed, Aug 5, 2015 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT by the Asthma Community Network
Breathing Easy at Home: Partnering to Increase Smoke-Free Policies in Federally Assisted Housing
More info: Continue reading
What happens when you walk through a place that has fragrance chemicals in the air?
The chemicals attach to hair, skin, and clothing just like smoke does!
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Some people can pass out after being forced to breathe fragrance chemicals.
Posted in Air Quality, Brain, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Pollution, Toxic Trespass
Tagged 2nd hand, air "fresheners", allergies, asthma, fragrance chemicals, IAQ, MCS, MCS/ES, migraines, neurotoxicity, petrochemicals, sensitive to pollution, smoke
From the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA):
Environmental Sensitivities and Housing
“Every year, CERA receives a significant number of calls from tenants being made ill from the poor indoor air quality in their apartment buildings. Most of these individuals suffer from environmental sensitivities and are particularly sensitive to contaminants in the air. With funding assistance from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, CERA recently launched HomeSafe, an initiative to educate tenants and multi-unit housing providers on strategies to improve indoor air quality and create healthier living environments.”
The resources section has some excellent documents that are designed to “help landlords, property managers, and co-operative and condominium boards of directors reduce the health impacts associated with multi-unit housing and create living environments that are as safe and “green” as possible… and make their properties more attractive…”
For example:
Posted in Disability, Environmental Sensitivities, Healthy Environment, Housing, Human Rights, Indoor Air Quality, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities
Tagged accessibility, allergies, apartment buildings, CERA, condo, Fragrance, healthy materials, indoor air quality, landlord, MCS, MCS/ES, Multi-Unit Housing Providers, property management, renovations, repairs, smoke, tenant
Soot (and ‘by’products) from burning wood, diesel, coal or other fossil fuels are bad enough for the planet, but did you know that those particles attract harmful chemicals (secondary organic molecules) from the air so when we breathe them in, their adverse health effects can be multiplied?
Here’s a must see two and a half minute video from The Allegheny Front, a radio program covering environmental issues in Pennsylvania.
Posted in Air Quality, Chemicals, Environmental Health, Indoor Air Quality, Pollution
Tagged Allegheny Front, candles, diesel, health, lungs, respirators and masks, smoke, soot, video
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Information about the materials most likely to cause adverse health effects, and the kinds of symptoms commonly experienced from exposures, copied from the 2007 Canadian Human Rights Commission’s document “The Medical Perspective on Environmental Sensitivities By: Margaret E. Sears (M.Eng., Ph.D.), and a few other resources and links follow:
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Posted in Disability, Environmental Health, Environmental Sensitivities, Indoor Air Quality, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Pollution, Precaution, Public Health
Tagged allergies, autism, chemical sensitivity, Chemicals, Fragrance, gas, health, Human Rights, images, indoor air quality, MCS symptoms, oil, petrochemicals, pipeline accidents, sensitive to pollution, smoke, symptoms of exposure to petrochemicals, toxicology, volatile organic compounds