What is Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS)?

Whether you call it Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), Environmental Illness, 20th century disease, Total Allergy Syndrome, Idiopathic Environmental Illness, or Chemical AIDS, or if you suffer chemical sensitivities along with the devastation of Gulf War Illness (GWI), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), or Fibromyalgia (FMS), those who share my diagnoses are allergic or overly sensitive to many substances most of the world takes for granted.

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's Position and Policies on Multiple Chemical Sensitivities: Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance states that the condition is referred to by more than 20 different names, which in itself is a challenge. Adding to the confusion is the fact that the "terms refer to complaints of patients who report recurrent non-specific symptoms referable to multiple organ systems that the sufferers believe are provoked by exposure to low-levels of chemical, biological, or physical agents" and that "no consistent physical findings or laboratory abnormalities have yet been found to differentiate MCS patients from the remainder of the population."

According to the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration, "Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) is a highly controversial issue" because not everyone accepts that adverse reactions to chemicals "is classifiable as an illness."

Chemicals are everywhere!  In her photo essay No Safe Haven, Rhonda Zwillinger reports that between 1940 and 1980, the production of synthetic organic chemicals increased from less than 10 billion pounds per year to more than 350 billion. (Those figures are much higher than that now; while the United States and most European countries have improved emission standards since that time, the additives used to comply with new environmental regulations often cause problems for those with chemical sensitivities, which makes any exhaust fumes that much more problematic. It's impossible to do away with all such emissions or exhaust in modern society. Therein lies the problem....)

Chemicals are not always a bad thing. Chemicals have improved the quality of life for many because of the resulting increased food production and improved sanitary conditions. However, for a growing segment of the population -- 2% with severe symptoms and as many as 20% with some sensitivity, chemicals in their various forms (preservatives, insecticides, perfumes, etc.) moderately to drastically decrease the quality of life.

Because of sensitivities to synthetic scents and/or preservatives, some perfumes often smell like insecticide to someone with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Perfumes and other chemical agents can trigger the auras that precede a migraine, cause laryngitis, or cause vomiting. Even something as commonly used as chlorine in tap water can cause skin irritation or swollen ankles following every shower, not to mention increased dizziness while in the shower. Forget about drinking the stuff! Contending with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity means that food that others take for granted might trigger a reaction (hives, boils, or a rash or digestive problems) because of a problem preservative, additive, nitrites and nitrates in meats, or artificial flavoring

In the meantime, please take the time to look over the wonderful links I've compiled for this page. Knowledge is power!

Pamela Rice Hahn

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities Personal Stories

Links in the colored boxes below will take you outside of this page to entire Web sites with valuable information on these conditions. The bullet points directly below are to individual articles:

• No Safe Haven: People With Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Are Becoming the New Homeless (E/The Environmental Magazine, September-October 1998)
  Photographs and Interviews by Rhonda Zwillinger
• Multiple Chemical Sensitivity 
  (American Family Physician, Editorial, September 1998)
  ROY L. DEHART, M.D., M.P.H. 
  University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
• Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome
  MICHAEL K. MAGILL, M.D.
  ANTHONY SURUDA, M.D., M.P.H. 
  University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah
  Article that accompanies above American Family Physician Editorial.
• Adverse Effects of "Inactive" Ingredients
  A chart that shows the possible side effects caused by food dyes
• Health Effects of Air Pollution
  NO ROOM TO BREATHE:
  Air Pollution and Primary Care Medicine
  Jefferson H Dickey, MD
• Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS):
  What It Is, What It Is Not, And How It Is Manifested.
  Transcript of a speech given by neuropsychologist
  SHEILA BASTIEN, Ph.D. 
  PSYCHOLOGICAL CORP., Berkley, CA
• Everyday Exposure to Toxic Pollutants
  Environmental regulations have improved the quality of outdoor air. But problems that persist indoors have received too little attention
  by Wayne R. Ott and John W. Roberts
  (Article, Scientific American, February 1998)

Discussion Forum

It's All In Your Head
(article)

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) USA

BetterBasics
Annie Berthold-Bond's how-to site for less toxic living

OXYBUSTERS
A grass roots organization opposed to additives in gasoline that contribute to or intensify MCS symptoms.

Invisible Cripples: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)

MCSurvivors
A wonderful resource site!!!

Natural Gas Health Hazards

Jury Awards $10.6 million to Victim of Perfume Exposure

ASPERTAME
(Nutrasweet, etc.)
Toxicity info
Read about how heat converts this stuff to formaldehyde,...