Central Michigan University Student deals with MCS

Have you ever walked past a building and smelled the fumes from a clothes dryer? A college student, Samuel Connors, worked to stop the dryer in the dormitory laundry room from filling his room with fumes that made it difficult for him to breathe. The fumes were caused by scented detergent and dryer sheets. This young man worked with staff and others to eliminate the problem. 

Like me and one third of the population of our country, he suffers serious health issues from breathing air polluted with chemicals that are used to make scents used in many products on the market today. 

Central Michigan University must be a more advanced college because they have already banned perfumes and other products that bother students. I was overjoyed to hear that!

While some say only close proximity to these chemicals causes serious illness like cancer, those of us who suffer with multiple chemical sensitivity react with debilitating effects when exposed to small doses of fragrance. If I am in a restaurant and someone walks by wearing perfume, I know I must avoid that person or the area where that person is working. I have had to leave restaurants because scented candles were burned or because the waitresses wore scented products.

Although I hate to hear of anyone dealing with the effects of MCS, I am always happy to hear of someone who tries to make people aware of the problems. I hear from people all the time who say they have the same problems I have, but they never say anything about it. I recently left a restaurant because of the scented candles and I told the management why I left. I was told that if I called ahead a day before, they would not burn the candles while I am there. But they don’t understand. Those chemicals linger for a long time and also hang on to surfaces for days after the candle is no longer burning. The same is true with the oil diffusers so popular today.

Tonight I am taking medicine to deal with recent exposure to fragrance. The meds only help me deal with pain and symptoms and will not cure me. I had to cancel appointments for the rest of the week so I can rest, use oxygen, pain pills and other OTC medicine that help the congestion and breathing problems.

Read more here about CMU and the student who is making a difference. 

An expensive air purifier that helps make home a safe place to breathe.

Did you know you were consuming and breathing formaldehyde all the time?

"One such chemical is formaldehyde, which has very many uses & is present to some extent in virtually every modern day built setting ( home, office, hospital, school, etc) – and in the car / motor vehicle. This is because formaldehyde is cheap & has very many uses including – cavity wall insulation, MDF, (medium density fibreboard), plywood, fabric & carpet treatments, bodycare products ( shampoo, toothpaste, etc), glues, paints, plastic mouldings, electrical appliances & components etc."      from:  https://www.multiplechemicalsensitivity.org/

A Visit to Church Made Me Sick

While I have been recovering from back and leg problems, I developed a mean respiratory illness that has sapped my energy. Having multiple chemical sensitivity, I know I can't go to church or any place with tight crowds of people. But I thought I could and should go to a service the Friday before Memorial Day. 

The  fragrances worn by everyone in that church, mostly women, of course, but men also, hit me really hard and by Sunday I was sick. If you are at all familiar with MCS, you know there is no medicine that I can take that will stop the reactions I get from triggers such as perfume. I wore my charcoal lined mask most of the time I was in church, but it only takes a small amount of chemical toxin to set off problems for me and others who have these sensitivities. 

Now I am  taking antibiotics which may be helping a little, but I am not well yet. Over the counter drugs don't help me at all. In fact, the doctor said the nasal spray I used probably worsened my condition. 

I think I get it now. God is telling me to stay out of churches when people are there. 

In a discussion with my niece who is around fifty, we tried to figure who buys perfume and what kind do they use? People my age use the ones they wore when they were young. Young people wear the new fragrances promoted by celebrities, I'm told.  My niece said she nor her friends use perfume on a regular basis. I think my generation was brainwashed to believe they had to layer scents with bath powder, body lotion and  then spray themselves with the same smell so they leave a wave of chemicals in their wake. 

What is amazing to me is how many people I talk with hate the fact that every product we use these days is scented. Have you ever been in a nice restaurant where you are eating a great meal, then pick up your cloth napkin and the smell of laundry detergent or dryer sheets hits you right in the face? Scented Gain or Tide doesn't add to the taste of  your steak, does it? 

My niece said someone she works with insists that before parents come into the day care center where she works, the tables and everything must be wiped down with Clorox. Clorox is a terribly strong chemical that  is not good for anyone, especially children, to breath. The day care worker is not concerned about the germs, but about how the parents will feel about the center. "If they smell Clorox, they immediately think the place is very clean." 

See what the advertisers have done to us? They have brainwashed us into believing that certain smells mean clean. A young man detailed my car and I insisted he only use vinegar and water which will leave no smell in my car. But when he finished he asked, "Do you have anything we can spray in the car to make it smell clean?"

This result of research suggests that over ten million Americans are suffering from MCS. That's a number larger than the population of the state of Michigan in 2010.

We are killing ourselves and especially our children and those with fragile immune systems by dousing our homes and our bodies with petroleum based chemicals. Sadly, the American people think they have to accept it even if they don't like it. But if we quit using those products, we could make a statement. Go to the Environmental Workers Group, a research group that tests the products on the market, EWG.org, and see which products are safe and have the fewest dangerous  chemicals in them.

Save money by using a simple mix of vinegar and water along with plain old baking soda for household cleaning. It cleans as well as anything you purchase in a bottle or box. The odor of the  vinegar dissipates quickly and no harsh chemicals are left on your surfaces. Make  a  cheap but effective laundry detergent with unscented soap, Borax and Washing Soda. I use it  all the time and my clothes are clean with no synthetic odors. Contact me by email, Nightwriter0302@yahoo.com for recipes.

Your Thoughts on Clean Air?

As most of my readers know, I have chemical sensitivity, which is not an allergy, but an extreme sensitivity to most chemicals. Fragranced products are the worst for me. Air Fresheners, perfume, scented laundry products and dryer sheets are common triggers that will throw me into an asthma attack or severe bronchitis.

Many sufferers of chemical sensitivity have toxic homes and must move out. I believe that my home, although much safer than most places for me, is toxic as well. The plastic bags that come in with me when I shop are toxic for me. Cat litter is toxic for me and I have a cat. Odors from other people who enter my house linger after they are gone. Many items in my home and used in my home probably off-gas chemicals.

I use no scented products of any kind. My soap is unscented, my paper goods are unscented, all of my personal products must be unscented. When I checked into my room at the Hampton Inn in Albany, GA this week, I was annoyed at first because the chemically sweet scent of something hit me in the face. I had specifically asked for a room that had not been sprayed with an "air freshener" or anything with a fragrance. I also asked that they use an "ionizer" which is an air purifier most hotels have on hand to clean smoke from a room where someone has broken the no smoking rule.

The first thing I did at the Hampton Inn was to open the door and leave it open while I brought in my luggage. The next thing I did was to bring in my own Holmes air purifier and set it on 4, the highest setting. I noticed the scented air was stronger near the bath. I found the culprit lurking in the soap dishes, still tightly wrapped, but putting out powerful odors and chemicals that polluted the air throughout the room. 

I stayed in that room for three days and nights and slept better than I do at home. Once I rid the room of the soap and cleaned the air, the bed was delightfully comfortable, the sheets crisp and cool, unscented and clean.

Jennifer Parker's Foundation

I read an article from this site today.   Jennifer Parker is one of us, the millions of people who suffer from environmental illness. She has started a non-profit foundation that is helping people, like me, with MCS, find non toxic housing. I hope you will click on her page and see what she has to say about this illness that so many suffer from and many don't even know it.

My brother has been diagnosed with COPD and CHF, two terminal illnesses. He and I can't go down the detergent aisle of the grocery store and breathe. I wear a carbon mask when I enter the store. He just tries to run and get what he needs and get away from the cleaning products.

At home, his son thinks he is breathing in toxic fumes from a gas heater and I can tell his house needs a good air purifier going all the time. 

As we age, our immune system becomes overwhelmed with the toxins we ingest into our bodies, by eating, breathing, and rubbing on our skin. It is the elderly, ill and the youngest of us who suffer most with the chemicals in our every day use of synthetically manufactured products, many made from petroleum. We need to take a stand against putting toxic chemicals into products we buy at the grocery store, the pharmacy, and products we use daily. As Americans we believe that if it is on the shelf and sold to the public it must be safe, right? Wrong! 

Does the smell of an air freshener make a room clean?

We have been convinced by TV ads that air fresheners make a room smell clean. If the room needs air fresheners, it likely is not clean but has been sprayed to make the public think it is clean. 

I noticed the cleaners used by the housekeepers at the Hampton Inn and spied a horrible toxic spray - Fabreeze fabric freshener. Later I saw the manager going door to door and spraying this in each room after the rooms were cleaned. If I had gone into one of those rooms where she had just sprayed, my bronchial tubes would have swollen and shut down. I would have become very hoarse, and if I had stayed in that room, likely I'd end up with serious bronchitis that could incapacitate me. I might have ended up in the hospital.

I will support Jennifer Parker's foundation, and other organizations that are working to give us unpolluted indoor air. Visit www.EWG.org to learn what products are safe.
Thank you all, my friends and readers, for stopping by. Please leave a comment with your thoughts on clean air and safe houses.

Hat's Off to Marriott's Grande Ocean for their Clean Indoor Air

I like to give credit where credit is due. In my travels over the past fifteen years, I've found that most motels and hotels pollute their indoor air with "air fresheners" and room deodorizers. So, to combat that trend, I call ahead. I speak to someone in housekeeping. Usually when I explain the result of my breathing the air in a room that has been "sprayed" or cleaned with products that include strong chemicals or fragrance, the housekeeper is sympathetic to my plight. If possible and if I have called early enough they make every effort to see that my room is safe for me. I reward them as best I can with a tip. That makes my request more lasting in their memory.

Thank the Folks Who do it Right.

I have named places in the past that are understanding of the needs of us who have serious consequences from polluted indoor air. I want to say that the housekeeping staff of the Marriott's Grande Ocean where we stayed in Hilton Head, SC was superb. Bryan promised me he would see that there were no toxic fragrance products used in our villa. And there were none. The soaps were not offensive, the sheets had not been dried with dryer sheets, and no fragrance had been sprayed in the rooms.

I don't know if that is the normal procedure for this resort or if my phone call made a difference, but I will continue to make that call when I travel.

Pulmonologists advise their patients to avoid triggers that cause asthma or respiratory illness. They say it as if it's a simple thing to do. But we encounter triggers everywhere we go. I have to move when a woman wearing perfume comes and sits at a table beside me, but sometimes it takes only a few whiffs to start my throat closing up.

Most of the patients in hospitals are bombarded with triggers that make them sick, from cleaning products to the personal body products used by the staff. Children suffer from the products used in their homes by well-meaning parents. They suffer at school from the cleaning products used to kill germs when there are other gentler products that will suffice.

I hope one day we can travel and stay at motels that automatically use green, fragrance-free products that don't make us sick. Until then I wish that all of my readers would take notice of businesses using safe non-toxic products and would compliment the staff or management. If we don't let them know, they can't learn the importance of safe indoor air. 

Click the links below to read what others say about this problem.

http://allergies.about.com/od/medicationallergies/a/mcssyndrome.htm

 

http://healing.about.com/cs/mcs/a/chemsensitive.htm

 

http://healing.about.com/b/2003/12/05/ill-effects-from-offensive-scents.htm

Coping with Environmental Illness

Most of my friends and my readers know that I have to cope each day with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity   This is also called Environmental Illness, or other names, but the one most used now is MCS. Like fibromyalgia for many, many years, MCS is not recognized yet by most of the mainstream doctors. I suppose the drug companies have to come out with a prescription drug labeled for MCS before most doctors of western medicine will actually own up to telling a patient what is wrong with her. 

While there are hospitals in Canada especially for patients who suffer environmental illnesses, I know of only one place in the United States which tries to treat MCS. That is in Texas. 

If you think the MCS sufferer simply doesn't like your perfume, or can take an allergy pill, that is not true. The fact is the perfume makes her sick. I loved my husband's aftershave which he wore the first ten years we were married. But when I became sensitive to artificial fragrances and became ill from being around them, he was most agreeable to leaving it off. He watched me suffer with asthma like attacks, excruciating headaches, extreme fatigue and depression after being exposed to chemicals we use in our daily lives, petroleum based fragrances which simulate the odor of flowers, and other created fragrances used in almost everything we buy today.

 He became my biggest advocate, especially when he was in the hospital, and the staff came into his room wearing fragrance, or when they tried to clean his room with toxic cleaners. 

We put a sign on his door asking that no one come in the room wearing fragrance. This was at Emory Hospital where people are supposed to know how to care for sick people. The nurses did not wear fragrance, but the others on the staff did not understand and did not seem to care that I had to wear a mask in the hallway or why we insisted on clean air in the room. I was the canary in the coal mine. If the toxic scents closed up my breathing tubes, it was also damaging to my husband whose immune system had been destroyed by chemo and all the other things his body had ingested over the month he was there.

More and more people are speaking out and trying to make this problem known. I hope you will help by sending this blog post to others, by sharing it on social media and talking about it to your friends.

You can read a post by a blogger who tells her story of coping with MCS. 

http://cookingforthechemicallysensitive.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/accepting-life-with-multiple-chemical-sensitivity-mcs/ 

Do you know of anyone who deals with this illness? How do you and others try to help?

Clean Air for Poets at meetings of NC Poetry Society

The most heart-felt appreciation goes out to Terry Collins, and others in the North Carolina Poetry Society for their support of those of us who must deal with chemical fragrances in today’s society. In the most recent issue of Pine Whispers, the jam-packed informational newsletter of the poetry society, a small article titled  “Clearing the Air” requests those who attend meetings of NCPS refrain from using scented products.

Artificial scents in deodorant, aftershave, hair products, cologne, shampoo, laundry detergents or other personal care and cleaning products release chemicals into the air, causing breathing difficulty and other adverse reactions for some people. 

See www.ncpoetrysociety.org for more information on the poetry contests sponsored by the North Carolina Poetry Society. 

Sick Air Makes People Sick

Being a teacher I feel bound to educate anyone who will read or listen to the harmful effects of "room deodorizers" and spray cleaners. 

Not only do they bring on asthma attacks but they cause asthma attacks in those who never had them before.

The minute I walk into a store or office where room deodorizers have been used, my throat begins to close and my breathing becomes difficult. I have to leave as quickly as I can and even then the affects of those chemicals don't go away. Those of us who live with MCS, are often sickened to the point of being bedridden for several days. Sometimes these attacks go into bronchitis and last for weeks. Indoor air is more polluted than outdoor air, especially here in our mountains, where we have less automobile pollution. 

The following is an excerpt from an article by the Environmental Working Group. Read carefully. You might save your children, parents or others from respiratory problems that can't be cured.

Clorox, Fantastik, Febreze, Formula 409, Easy-Off, Lysol, Mr. Clean and Spic and Span. 

Many of the spray cleaners sold under these brand names are laced with quaternary ammonium compounds or ethanolamine, ingredients classified as asthmagens by the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics, a professional association of clinics and health experts. These chemicals can trigger asthma attacks and can cause new cases of the disease in people who are asthma-free. Ingredients classified as asthmagens don't belong in spray products. 

EWG Green Tip:

Skip spray products that contain ethanolamines (MEA, DEA and TEA) and "quats." Beware of ADBAC, benzalkonium chloride or ingredients with "-monium chloride" in the name from the label or the company's website.

 Do not use disinfecting sprays, since most of them contain asthmagens. 


EWG Green Tip:
If a room has an odor problem, track down the source and eliminate it instead of covering it up with fragrances. A bowl of baking soda in the bathroom can absorb odors. 

GCB tip: Mix white vinegar with water in a simple spray bottle and spray to clean the air.

Spiders are prolific this year. We put out some July 4th decorations on the deck. Today when I started to put them away, I was shocked to see hordes of granddaddy long legs scrambling from under the ribbon. In just a few days, the red, white and blue ribbons had become infested. Spider webs wrap my plants every night. I don't spray insecticides because they are more dangerous for me than the spiders, I believe. That is why I was glad to find this article in the Augusta Chronicle. http://chronicle.augusta.com/life/home/2012-07-13/ask-bugman-know-you-spray

Now I can safely deal with spiders without worry of getting sick.

What is MCS and what is all the fuss about it?

Recently I wrote about following your passion. I often write about multiple chemical sensitivity. I am passionate about educating the public about the dangers of chemicals we (our culture) use every day. Even those who don't think they are affected by the synthetic chemicals in all of our products and our food, should take note. Ask yourself why the manufacturers of household and personal care products don't list the chemicals used to make the fragrance in products. They are not required to list anything but "fragrance."Those chemicals in fragrances can send someone to the ER because that person can't breathe, or becomes dizzy, vomits, or becomes mentally confused.

This is an excerpt from a MCS Fact Sheet

Major Public Health Concern

• At least 45 million people in the US report sensitivity to various chemicals.
• About 3 million Americans are diagnosed with MCS.
• MCS affects people of all ages, economic status, race, and both genders.
• Chemicals that people with MCS react to are toxic and affect everyone to some extent.

Medical Findings
• Brain scans show reduced blood flow to the brain when people with MCS are under chemical exposure.
• Physical variances identified in MCS include brain inflammation, oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, cardiac and airway disease, and auto-immune disorders.
• Mast cell activation and disorders of porphyrin metabolism have been linked to MCS.
• Genetic variations relating to detoxification processes have been linked to MCS.

The Cost of Environmental Illnesses
• Annual expenditures for health-care and lost productivity due to MCS are estimated at $71.8 billion dollars per year.

• Indoor and outdoor environmental exposures can trigger reactions: perfumes and fragrances,cleaning solutions, scented laundry products, pesticides, herbicides, paint and building materials,
gasoline and petroleum based products, artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity - Help may be on the way

Clean air - precious clean air -photo by Barry Beall


I have written about the dangers to me and many others who suffer from severe allergic reactions to the chemicals pervasive in our world today. In the past, while EPA knew of the dangers to the public from products made with certain chemicals, they were unable to do anything about it. Therefore I am delighted to read the following:




“In a speech to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco on September 29th, 2009, EPA head Lisa Jackson announced an extraordinary series of new principles to guide the development of new, stronger chemical laws.


These principles call for the EPA to be given the authority to make regulatory decisions based on scientific assessments that reflect the need to protect human and environmental health. Manufacturers should supply the agency with the information necessary to prove that both new and existing chemicals do not endanger the public or the environment. This information should address specific potential risks to sensitive groups like children. When manufacturers do not submit this information, the EPA should be legally permitted to demand it, and it should be allowed to revisit chemicals already approved as needed.


The principles also say the EPA should have authority to take action when chemicals do not meet safety standards and should take into account considerations like children's health, social benefits, and equity concerns. It should be permitted to prioritize chemicals for review and set clear deadlines for compliance. Stricter requirements should be established for manufacturers who wish to hide "trade secrets" from the agency and the public, and health and safety data should always be disclosed."


Recently I read where a manufacturer plans to produce books for children - books with "fragrance" or chemical odors. The immune system of a child, like that of an older person, is not as strong as an average adult. These chemical smells that children will be breathing can compromise their immune systems and bring on the lung problems so many children are experiencing these days.


Those of us, who are extremely sensitive to the overwhelming presence of chemicals in our environment every day, are like the canary in the coal mine. Those who do not yet suffer as we do, should pay attention. What are you breathing into your lungs? Do you have headaches, coughs, and nasal problems you can't explain? Maybe it is the cleaning products used in your home or office. Maybe it is your own hairspray or cologne. Could it be your inside air is polluted by chemicals like "air fresheners"  "carpet deodorizers" or the chemicals in your fabric softener or laundry detergent?


When reading Oprah magazine gave me a blinding headache, it did not take long for me to realize it was the perfume ads with fragrances that exploded when I opened the pages.


If one is not concerned about the dangers to his or her own family from the chemical fragrances and cleaning supplies on the market today, it would be kind and considerate to think about others who might be.
Especially I wish waitresses, nurses, and staff in medical facilities, would leave off the perfume while at work with the public. The patient is trapped in a position where she cannot breath, where she knows that contact with the chemical fragrance will cause days of illness and sometimes major medical bills.
Although I listed my allergies to fragrance on my pre-op form before eye surgery, the nurse who came and took me to the operating room, who read out loud to me my allergies, said, "Oh, I don't have on fragrance, do I?"
"Yes," I said. She then laughed, "I bathe in -------- and I've been told it stays with me. I'll just get behind you and it won't bother you."


I was trapped on a gurney, an IV in my arm, on my way to surgery. I pulled the sheet over my face in an effort to filter the chemicals I was inhaling. Sadly, I've learned that hospitals and medical facilities are the worst places for folks with chemical sensitivity. MCS is a known problem, but no one seems to understand the seriousness until they become sick with it themselves.


To learn more click here.

Educating Cracker Barrel personnel

More than 5,000 different fragrances are in products that are used on a daily basis. These products include health and beauty aids, laundry aids, household cleaners, paper products, oils and solvents, drugs, plastics, industrial greases, and even foods. Since fragrance formulas are considered trade secrets, manufacturers only have to state fragrance on the label and do not need to identify the chemical makeup.

Today we drove down to Metro Atlanta. In Canton, GA we stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant because my husband loves their beef stew and corn muffins.
For those who don't live in the south, this chain restaurant offers a gift shop area where customers browse while waiting for a table. I've bought and received nice gifts from their stores. Checking out the store is one of my favorite parts of stopping at Cracker Barrel.

As soon as I opened the front door, a "fragrance" hit me in the face. Inside I recognized the "Christmasy" smell that had been sprayed inside the store. How sad. The smell of the good food would have been preferred by most of the older folk who were dining there today.

As we were seated, I told the hostess, "I wish you'd tell your manager that the spray fragrance used here today is really bad for people like me who have asthma. In fact, many older people have lung problems and these sprays are extremely bad for us."
"She forgot what you said the minute she walked away, " my husband said.
"I know. But I am going to keep talking. I can't change the world, but I'll make a difference where I can."

Thankfully, inside the restaurant no potpourri odor ruined the meal. The food was delicious.

My husband headed for the counter to pay the bill. I spoke to the hostess as I hurried past. "I'd love to spend time here and shop, but I can't take the smell."
The young woman called after me, "I told our manager what you said, and he said he'd speak to our retail manager about it. I've never thought about those sprays bothering anybody. I just thought they smelled good."

And so, my husband was mistaken. She didn't forget what I said, and perhaps I educated three people today about MCS -- the hostess, her boss, and the retail manager. Maybe that isn't much, but if we all speak up instead of just getting upset and leaving, our voices will make a difference.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity or Why I Had to Flee McDonald's

Once again, today, I was overpowered by a fragrance so harsh I had to escape the area. While waiting for my order at McDonald's, a man and a woman came and stood beside me. At the first whiff, I assumed the young woman wore the smelly spray, perfume, lotion or whatever caused the fumes that began closing my throat and burning my nasal passages.

I left the counter with my hand over my nose and mouth and rushed as far as I could get from the couple without leaving the restaurant. As I watched for my food to be brought out, the woman took her latte and left.

Good, I thought, she won't be sitting near me. I waited by the side door and took my tray when it was ready.

As soon as I sat down, the smell hit me again. I looked up and saw the guy who had been standing in line near me. He had plopped down fifteen feet away from my table. The odor emanating from him smelled worse to me than a skunk's spray, the chemicals in that fragrance he wore poisoned me. By the time I got out of there, hoarse and coughing, I gasped, sucked in the fresh outside air like it was my final breath.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. More and more of my friends are experiencing the same symptoms -- spending tons of money on doctors who run tests and tell them they have asthma and to stay away from chemicals. Duh!! The asthma is caused by the chemicals we breathe every day, the chemicals all around us, the chemicals we can't escape.

In this world we live in there is no place free of VOCs, parabens and pthalates , not even our own homes. Unless we educate ourselves about these chemical dangers we continue to bring them into our safe places. One friend had her carpets cleaned before Christmas, became ill with shortness of breath, and saw her doctor.

What did the doctor do? With this scenerio, doctors only know to give more chemicals (drugs) to counteract the poisoning by the chemicals in the carpet cleaner.

Where will it all end?

Human exposure and VOCs in fragranced consumer products

Human exposure studies, over the past two decades, have revealed widespread U.S. population exposure to VOCs and the largest contributors of VOCs to humans (nearly 90%) are rather small sources, largely unregulated, yet often within our control. In particular, fragrance compounds, used in a wide variety of consumer products, can be primary sources of human exposure toVOCs. (EPA, 1989; Sack et al., 1992; Wallace et al., 1991a; Cooper et al.,1992, 1995).

Visit The Canary Report to learn more about MCS.