The Canary Report

Who’s chirping about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity today?

Posted on Nov 11, 2008 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS

Earth911 writes about chemical sensitivity when they address the question: Isn’t it more eco-friendly to buy an artificial Christmas tree? Well, they say, it depends on who you ask.

Real or Fake?

The National Christmas Tree Association annually releases this fact sheet to help educate the public. It compares the pros and cons of fake vs. real trees in everything from origin to production to ingredients.

Take a Deep Breath

Nearly 500,000 acres of Christmas trees in the U.S., with each acre providing the daily oxygen requirements of 18 people. When one tree is cut down, three seedlings are planted the following year to replace it making it the ultimate carbon offset. In 2008 alone, an estimated 40-45 million Christmas trees were planted in North America.

On the flip side, those trees are often sprayed with pesticides. While fake trees are not depleting resources and can be reused year after year. However, artificial trees contain lead to produce the PVC material in the needles. These trees can off-gas, and can create issues for those who have chemical sensitivities.

The Galway Tent Blog, out of Dublin and dedicated to the topic of incinerators, says “No more incinerators should be approved,” citing “recent research, including that relating to fine and ultrafine particulates, the costs of incineration, together with research investigating nonstandard emissions from incinerators, has demonstrated that the hazards of incineration are greater than previously realised. The accumulated evidence on the health risks of incinerators is simply too strong to ignore and their use cannot be justified now that better, cheaper and far less hazardous methods of waste disposal have become available.” An excerpt from the study’s Executive Summary:

Toxic metals accumulate in the body and have been implicated in a range of emotional and behavioural problems in children including autism, dyslexia, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning difficulties, and delinquency, and in problems in adults including violence, dementia, depression and Parkinson’s disease. Increased rates of autism and learning disabilities have been noted to occur around sites that release mercury into the environment. Toxic metals are universally present in incinerator emissions and present in high concentrations in the fly ash.

Susceptibility to chemical pollutants varies, depending on genetic and acquired factors, with the maximum impact being on the foetus. Acute exposure can lead to sensitisation of some individuals, leaving them with lifelong low dose chemical sensitivity.

Rincon Hill San Francisco, a community blog, announces a neighborhood meeting and adds, “Individuals with severe allergies, environmental illness, multiple chemical sensitivity or related disabilities should call the City Accessibility Hotline at 415-554-8925 to discuss meeting accessibility.” Bravo!

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Children's Health, Environmental Illness, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Policy, Pollution