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Telling
a person with MCS that there is "only a little fragrance" is like telling
someone in a wheel chair that "there are only a few steps." Any
barrier that prevents access - or precludes the ability to choose to access -
is a barrier. Forcibly
exposing a chemically sensitive person to the fragrances and chemicals they
are reactive to is no different than physically assaulting them. Chemical
sensitivities is also known as multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), chemical
injury or illness (CI) and environmental illness (EI). "...Agents
whose exposures are associated with symptoms and suspected of causing onset of
chemical sensitivity with chronic illness include gasoline, kerosene, natural
gas, pesticides (especially chlordane and chlorpyrifos), solvents, new carpet
and other renovation materials, adhesives/glues, fiberglass, carbonless copy paper,
fabric softener, formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde, carpet shampoos (lauryl sulfate)
and other cleaning agents, isocyanates, combustion products (poorly vented gas
heaters, overheated batteries), and medications (dinitrochlorobenzene for warts,
intranasally packed neosynephrine, prolonged antibiotics, and general anesthesia
with petrochemicals). Multiple mechanisms of chemical injury that magnify response
to exposures in chemically sensitive patients can include neurogenic inflammation
(respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary), kindling and time-dependent sensitization
(neurologic), impaired porphyrin metabolism (multiple organs), and immune activation.
" From
the abstract of Profile
of Patients with Chemical Injury and Sensitivity, Environmental
Health Perspectives, 1997, volume 105 (Suppl 2), pages 417-436. Based on a paper
presented at the Conference on Experimental Approaches to Chemical Sensitivity
held 20-22 September 1995 in Princeton, New Jersey. Grace Ziem MD, Baltimore MD. |
| Page
Index:
Anesthesia
and Surgery
Cosmetics
and Personal Care Products
Fragrances and Health
Latex and Vinyl Allergy
Multiple Chemical
Sensitivity
Occupational and Environmental Illness
Sick Building Syndrome
Federal Agencies
on MCS/SBS
Additional Information
MCS
& Travel
Housing
and Healthy Building Resources In
the News
May
2003: Wife Arrested in Aroma Assault
February
2000: Court barred for allergy evidence
Journal
Articles
"The
conclusion is that symptoms suggesting hyperreactivity of the respiratory tract
and asthma can be provoked by perfume without the presence of bronchial obstruction,
and that using a carbon filter mask has no preventive effect. The symptoms are
not transmitted via the olfactory nerve, since the patients could not smell the
perfume, but they may have been induced by a trigeminal reflex via the respiratory
tract or by the eyes." - excerpt from the Placebo-controlled...
study published in Allergy in 1996
Chloroatranol,
an extremely potent allergen hidden in perfumes: a dose-response elicitation study.
Contact Dermatitis 2003
Occupational
acute anaphylactic reaction to assault by perfume spray in the face. J
Am Board Fam Prac 2001
**Intradermal
testing for food and chemical sensitivities: a double-blind controlled study.
J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999
Placebo-controlled
challenges with perfume in patients with asthma-like symptoms. Allergy
1996
Inhalation
challenge effects of perfume scent strips in patients with asthma. Ann
Allergy Asthma Immunol 1995
Rhinolaryngoscopic
examination of patients with the multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome.
Arch Environ Health 1993
Chemical
sensitivity in physicians. Bol Asoc Med P R. 1991
Confirmation
of chemical sensitivity by means of double-blind inhalant challenge of toxic volatile
chemicals. Bol Asoc Med P R. 1991 **
Note: I had a wheal from the saline control scratch when allergy
tested in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. The latter allergist called his staff
in to see the wheals all over my forearms from all the tests done. He said I was
highly dermatographic - Dermatographia urticaria, afflicting only 3-4% of the
population, results in raised reddened welts in response to the skin being rubbed
even with dull objects. I found my dermatographia lessened considerably after
the first round of treatments for Borrelia (Lyme disease) in 2000. My sensitivity--adverse
reactions to exposures to fragrances and other chemicals--lessened as well, something
reported by most people who have been sick for years with chronic borreliosis
who are finally properly diagnosed and apporpriately treated. Cosmetics
and Personal Care Products
Cosmetic
Labeling
Cosmetic
Products and Ingredients
Products Generally Tolerated
by Most Persons with MCS
Skin
Deep Integrated Cosmetics Database Fragrances
and Health
Chemicals in Air Fresheners
May Reduce Lung Function
Dying For That New
Car Smell?
Essential Oils
Fragrances
and Health
Fragranced Products Information
Network (FPIN)
Is
A Fragrance Free Workplace Right For You?
Is
Your Workplace Fragrance-Free?
Smelling Good
May Cost Too Much
The
following organizations may be useful in finding out more about how to convert
your workplace to fragrance free:
Chemical
Injury Information Network (CIIN)
Human
Ecology Action League (HEAL)
MCS Referral
& Resources (MCSRR)
National
Safety Council Latex
Allergy Articles and Resources
Allergies
To Rubber Affect 12.5 Percent Of Health Care Workers
Every
Office Urged to Prevent Latex Allergy
Latex-Safe
Emergency Cart Products List
MEDLINEplus
Latex Allergy
Perioperative
Management of the Latex-Allergic Patient
Not
Necessarily Latex
Vinyl
Health Without Harm
ComingClean.org:
Phthalates
Phthalates:
Your Soap May Be Hurting You
Common
Pollutant Undermine Masculinity
National Toxicology
Program Confirms Health Care Without Harm's Assertions About Vinyl Medical Products MCS
Chemical Sensitivity: It's a serious problem more often
than you think
Chemical
Sensitivity in Patients with Fibromyalgia
Chemical
Susceptibility, Injury, And Reactivity: Mechanisms and Measurement
Defining
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
Disrupting
the Truth
Environmental
Control Plan for Chemically Sensitive Patients (G. Ziem MD)
Management
of Chemical Sensitivities in CFIDS
MCS:
Center for Emergent Disability
MCS: Journal Abstracts
MCS:
Potential Role for Neural Sensitization
MCS:
What it is, what it is not and how it is manifested
Mold
Neuropsychological
Approaches for the Detection and Evaluation of Toxic Symptoms
Pesticide
Exposures: Symptoms, First Aid, Evidence, Legal
Potential
Biomarker Found For MCS
Profile
of Patients with Chemical Injury and Sensitivity
Sensitization
as a mechanism for multiple chemical sensitivity
Testing
the Neural Sensitization and Kindling Hypothesis for Illness from Low Levels of
Environmental Chemicals
Toxicant-induced
Loss of Tolerance--An Emerging Theory of Disease?
Under Seige Occupational
& Environmental Illness
Carbonless
Copy Paper: A Major Cause of Work-Related Illness
Clinical
and Immunological Responses in Subjects Sensitive to Solvents
Companies
Dump Toxic Goods on U.S. Consumers
Disrupting the Truth
Environmental
Health Perspectives
Heart Rate Variability
Associated with Particulate Air Pollution
Household
Products Database
Indoor
Air Pollution: A Guide for Health Professionals
Pesticide
Exposures: Symptoms, First Aid, Evidence, Legal
Proposed
EPA Air Pollution Index Sends Mixed Message About Health Hazards
Study:
Tiny Components of SoCal Haze Invade Human Cells
The
Indoor Air We Breathe: Health Problem of the 90s (PDF)
Trade Secrets
Wheezing
at Work Woodburning
Burning
Wood is a Stinky Idea
Why
is Woodburning an Air Pollution Problem?
Wood
Burners Could Be Banned (Sebastopol CA)
County
limits new rural fireplaces
NOTICE:
Bay Area Air Quality Management District is holding public hearings
and workshops throughout the region for changes to the regulations regarding wood
burning devices. You can attend in person, or send your comments in writing. Visit
the BAAQMD site for information on dates and locations, report draft, etc., for
November 7-26, 2007 Sick
Building Syndrome
Remember: schools and homes are buildings,
too
A Question of Access...
Aerias.org
Are You a Victim of Sick Building Syndrome?
California
Indoor Air Quality Program Infosheets
Chemical
Translations
Chronic
Neurotoxins: A Primer in Sick Building Syndrome
Companies
Dump Toxic Goods on U.S. Consumers
EPA: Healthy Buildings, Health
People, 21st Century
Housework Could Be Making
Women Sick
Is
your office killing you?
Mold
No
Breathing in the Aisles: School Bus Exhaust
On the
Carpet
Sick Building Syndrome: It's not the building
that gets sick
Sick Building Syndrome: Victims of mysterial
illness suffer from public ignorance
Source of Sick
Buildings
Toxic Carpeting
Toxins in Burning Candles, Candle Wicks, and Incense
Federal
Agencies on MCS and SBS
A
Report on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
CDC
National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals
Crabby
Kathy
EPA Indoor Air Quality Publications
At home, school, and work
MCS:
A 1999 Consensus
MCS:
Addendum to Biological Markers in Immunotoxicology
NIH Environmental Toxicology
Program Additional
Information
American
Bar Association Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law
Chemical
Body Burden (Come-Clean.org)
Chemical
Injury Awareness Ribbon
Chemical Injury
Information Network
Chemicals
That Can Cause Reactions
Chemical
Translations
Dept of Justice/ADA
Ruling on MCS-Related Cases
East
Bay Pesticide Alert
Environmental Health
Center (W. Rea MD)
Environmental
Health Network
Global Recognition
Campaign for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (Great
MCS brochure & signs)
Health
and Environment Resource Center (HERC)
ImmuneWeb.org
Injuries
from Chemicals
Job
Accommodation Network (JAN)
Mary's
MCS Help Site
MCS Survivors
National Coalition for the Chemically Injured
State Codes Related To Wearing Masks
Testing
Labs
Organizations
for MCS MCS
& Travel
Remember
that natural and green do not necessarily mean fragrance free,
so be sure to ask questions before making reservations. The
Safer Directory
Green Hotels Association
Atlanta
HEAL.org's Travel Housing
& Healthy Building Information
Building
Materials
Chemical-Illnet
Message Board
Creating
an Environmentally-Friendly Building
EcoBuilding
Resources
EcoChoices.com
EcoHome
Building
EPA Environmentally
Preferable Purchasing
Healthy Housing
Coalition
Housing Resources for
MCS
Housing (CIIN)
Natural
Home Products
Natural Pest Control
Environmental Scorecard
Tad
Taylor's Healthy Homes
Judy Sanderson, a chemically sensitive biology teacher at Culver High School (Culver
City CA), reported having been the victim of "fragrance assaults" by
some of her students on more than 90 occasions from 1993-1997. In November 1997,
she won some precedent-setting accommodations after a collective bargaining agreement
was issued by arbitrator, Ronald Hoh (California State Mediation and Conciliation
Service Case # 96-3-740). In this landmark decision, student pranksters caught
dousing the teacher or her classroom with fragrance-based products will be punished
as they would be for any other physical assault on an instructor. Further, the
school was directed to install oscillating surveillance cameras both inside and
outside of Ms. Sanderson's classroom to deter students from engaging in further
assaults. - Irene Wilkenfeld, Safe Schools. 
Look
for additional information at Pubmed, MEDLINEplus,
Medscape, Scirus,
and Findarticles.
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