The Canary Report

Chemical sensitivities in the workplace

Posted on Jan 27, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS

The Job Accommodation Network is a great resource for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity who need to know about their disability rights in the workplace.

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is a service provided by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. JAN’s mission is to facilitate the employment and retention of workers with disabilities by providing employers, people with disabilities, their family members and other interested parties with information on job accommodations and related subjects. JAN represents the most comprehensive resource for job accommodations available.

If you have chemical sensitivities and are having a difficult time with exposure to toxic chemicals at work, including toxic perfumes and fragrance, JAN is the resource for you.

You can start with a presentation by Tracie D. Saab, M.S., who shares a wealth of information on Chemical Sensitivities in the Workplace. It’s an hour long presentation and cover topics such as your rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), how to seek a diagnosis from a physician to present to your employer, how to inform your employer about your rights to a safe environment, and much more. Saab also covers information to help your employer create a safer environment for you and all employees, choose non-toxic cleaning supplies, maintain proper air systems, and create no-fragrance policies.

The JAN website is full of information about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, which you can print out and share with your physician, employer, human resource officer and others who need an education about MCS. Here’s a sample:

MCS Research and Definition

The medical community has long questioned the etiology of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) or Environmental Illness (EI). According to Cynthia Wilson of the Chemical Injury Information Network, as long ago as the 1950′s physician’s recognized that people were becoming sick due to their environment (http://www.ciin.org). There have been many theories regarding the cause of MCS but due to the lack of reliable scientific research, the medical community and the general public have failed to recognize the physiological effects of chemicals on the body.

In an article providing an overview of MCS, Cynthia Wilson states, “The latest research strongly suggests that chemical sensitivity is most probably some combination of central nervous system damage and enzyme deficiencies that can also cause problems with the endocrine and immune systems. Chemical sensitivity is more often than not characterized by real, verifiable damage to the body, though the implications of these anomalies are poorly understood and need additional research.” (http://www.ciin.org). A researcher by the name of Dr. M.B. Lax of the Central New York Occupational Health Clinic offered his assessment of the current struggle in understanding MCS. In an article entitled, Multiple chemical sensitivities: The social construction of an illness, he wrote, “Multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) has emerged as an important and highly controversial issue in occupational health. Debate centers on whether the illness is “physical” or “psychological.” A strong corporate-backed campaign has framed the debate and has pushed MCS advocates into a strategy of “proving the physical” nature of MCS.”

An article published in the Archives of Environmental Health (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: A 1999 Concensus. 1999. Vol. 54, 147-149) provides information regarding a consensus reached by medical professionals who have agreed upon specific criteria to be used in determining a diagnosis of MCS based upon a study by Nethercott et al. published in the Archives of Environmental Health (Multiple Chemical Sensitivities Syndrome: Toward a working case definition. 1993. Vol. 48, 19-26). The criteria, in brief, require that symptoms are reproducible with repeated chemical exposure, the condition is chronic, symptoms result from low level exposure, symptoms improve or resolve when the irritant is removed, response occurs to multiple chemically unrelated substances and symptoms involve multiple organ systems.

Symptoms and Limitations

MCS or EI may develop from exposure to substances in the environment and may result in intolerance to even very low level exposure to chemicals. Symptoms can occur in more than one organ system in the body, such as the nervous system, the lungs and the vascular system. An individual may be exposed through contact with, ingestion of or inhalation of a specific or multiple irritants.

Limitations experienced due to MCS or EI are experienced by each person individually so it is important to evaluate each situation independently. Some of the more common symptoms that develop from exposure to problematic environmental substances may include one or many of the following: headache, nausea, respiratory difficulties, fatigue, dizziness, tightening of the throat, chronic laryngitis, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, rash or hives, arthritis-like sensations or muscle pain. Problematic environmental substances may include: fragrance chemicals used in perfumes, colognes, cleaning products and deodorizers; pesticides; fumes from building products, new furniture and carpet; and tobacco smoke among other irritants.

Accommodations for someone with MCS, should be considered on a case-by-case basis. The following pages provide accommodation ideas and product referrals based upon a non-inclusive list of functional limitations. The material is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered absolute solutions to all accommodation situations. In addition, you can find more information at JAN’s A to Z Web page at: http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/atoz.htm.

Please select the limitation that corresponds with the individual needing an accommodation below.

Individual has difficulty working with or around irritants.

Questions to Consider

Accommodation Examples

Organizations

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Tags: ADA, Chemicals, Disability Rights, Environmental Health, Fragrance, Health, Indoor Pollution, Law, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Perfume, Pesticides, Policy, Sick Building, Support, Toxic, Work