The Canary Report

Letter to neighbors about toxic fumes

Posted on May 20, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Keith Carlson, MCS, Susie Collins

A template for a letter you may use when asking your neighbors to stop using toxic products.

Editor’s Note: Here’s a template for a letter you may use when asking your neighbors to stop using toxic products that drift fumes onto your property and into your home. This letter was written by The Canary Report contributor Keith Carlson, aka Nurse Keith, who blogs at Digital Doorway. Keith and his wife Mary have graciously allowed it to be shared. Thanks, Keith and Mary!

Dear Neighbors,

March greetings! As we look toward the weather finally warming up and Spring settling over New England (yes, Spring is more than just a rumor, folks!), most of us turn our attention to spending more time outdoors, opening our windows, airing out our homes, and preparing for the long-awaited Summer!

For the two of us, the coming of Spring is ever so welcome, but it also brings with it certain health challenges. Some of you may recall a letter that we sent around to some of our abutting neighbors about a year ago. In that letter, we described how we both have developed Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)– also known as Environmental Illness (EI) and Chemical Injury– and how it has impacted our lives.

For the uninitiated, MCS is a syndrome that causes the affected individual to be extra sensitive to chemicals, fragrances and other toxins in the environment. While people with MCS are sometimes affected by different substances, the most commonly used chemicals that can severely impact the health of a person with MCS are dryer sheets, laundry detergents, car exhaust, smoke, petroleum products, perfumes, and fragranced personal products of various kinds. Symptoms can range from headache, fatigue and sore throat to respiratory distress, nausea, and neurological disturbances like memory loss, confusion, and emotional distress.

While we are both under treatment for our condition by a medical doctor, the best way to treat MCS is with avoidance of the offending substances, and you can imagine how very difficult that can be in this fragrance- and chemical-saturated world.

You may be wondering why we are writing to you, our neighbors, about this issue. The reason we are writing is that we have found that the fumes emitted from dryer vents can actually cause both of us rather severe symptoms, and those fumes, of course, carry the vaporized and heated fragrances and chemicals that are part and parcel of the dryer sheets that most Americans use when they dry their clothes.

Here is where the science speaks for itself. Unbeknownst to most Americans, the chemical and fragrance industries (which, by the way, are basically the same entity) have been wholly unregulated since World War II. The FDA does not regulate the ingredients in dryer sheets, laundry detergent and other household cleaners and personal care products.

Also, the companies that produce these products are not required to disclose their chemical contents. Next time you pick up a bottle of Tide, see if the ingredients are listed on the bottle. Chances are, the ingredients in Tide that are known carcinogens and neurotoxins have been conveniently left off of the list!

For your information, here are just some of the undisclosed ingredients in most commercial dryer sheets: formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, benzyl acetate, methyl benzoate, and many others, almost all of which cause neurological or other symptoms.

So, again, why should we be writing to you about this issue, aside from warning you of the potential health risks to you and your family when you use these products? Well, the fact is that we are in the very difficult position wherein we must inhale the fumes from our immediate neighbors’ dryer vents, and those fumes have a very unfortunate impact on our health. And as Spring comes and we open the windows of our home to let in the fresh air, our home is then filled with the chemical fumes that make us feel sick. How do we enjoy the benefit of opening our windows to the fresh air when we are then subject to fumes that make us sick?

Adding to the conundrum, we are often unable to spend time in our yard or on our porch due to the chemical fragrances wafting into our yard from nearby homes, including fresh lighter fluid being used to light charcoal. Sometimes we are made ill just by getting out of our car and walking to our homes due to dryer exhaust. It is a sad reality that we have been dealing with for some time now in “the Fields.”

So, dear neighbors , we are not expressly asking that you cease the use of your favorite fragranced laundry products, since it is indeed your right and choice to use them or not. We are, however, asking as your neighbors to please consider the possibility of switching to fragrance-free dryer sheets or even Trader Joes’ lavender dryer sheets, certainly a lesser evil as far as we’re concerned.

We do not wish to infringe on your individual or collective privacy, but we do ask that you consider that a ubiquitously used product is causing two of your physical symptoms and illness that we simply cannot control (and, of course, wish we could make disappear altogether!)

Also, if you use charcoal lighter fluid, we beg you to call us and notify us before you light up so we can close up our home, otherwise those toxic fumes cause a red alert for us, the results of which can zap our health for days.

Thank you for your attention and your patience in reading this long letter, and please feel free to contact us with questions or comments. We also attach recent research regarding the dangers of air fresheners that may be silently impacting your own family’s health. We’ve included additional information that we hope will be educational.

Yours Sincerely,

Keith and Mary

Dryer vent photo credit.

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Tags: Air, Asthma, Chemicals, Children's Health, Fragrance, Health, Healthy Living, Home, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Perfume, Personal Care, Sick Building, Stink, Support, Toxic