Guest Blog: Preparing for MCS Awareness Month, May 2010: MCS America offers info materials, t-shirts, event planning kits and more!

Apr 302010

Spread the word! May is MCS Awareness Month!

By guest blogger Lourdes Salvador, MCS America.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Ask Me About It! T-shirt is available at Cafe Press.

Each May, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Awareness and Education Month is observed in the United States.

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) affects over 48 million men, women, and children of all races. Even though MCS is of widespread epidemic prevalence, public awareness of the toxicity of common environmental insults and ways to manage and accommodate MCS remain limited.

Activities are organized around the month of May and continue throughout the year. MCS America and I play a special role during this time and are committed to promoting awareness of toxic chemicals which may cause MCS and trigger reactions in those already injured by toxic chemicals. This year, we have done several things to prepare for this important event.

One of the greatest ways to generate awareness is to wear clothing and accessories which mention and promote MCS. There is an effort to make yellow the official color of MCS Awareness Month and we need yellow clothes. MCS America has provided several designs to Cafe Press on a volunteer basis to further the awareness of MCS and to support the mission of MCS America. All the designs are available in yellow shirts and bags. Cafe Press prints these designs and sells the items from their website. Our Cafe Press mark-up is 0%, so we take no income from this project and buyers pay Café Press’s whole cost only.

For people want to get involved, but may not know how, we have created an event planning kit for MCS Awareness month that provides ideas and preformatted materials to request governor proclamations, generate awareness at school and work, target health providers, create library displays, and reach the public through radio, television, media, and other events.

Our MCS Fact Sheet is a great one page summary to mail to health providers and stores; post at school, work, and other bulletin boards; and distribute to neighbors and others we encounter throughout the day. It is also available in Spanish. Please pass these out freely!

We also have a Fragrance Fact Sheet in both English and Spanish and an Electromagnetic Radiation Fact Sheet in both English and Spanish.

Some of us may feel we are too ill or time constrained to do anything worthwhile to promote awareness. The truth is that every single one of us can do something to spread awareness. It takes very little effort. There are simple things that can be done which take a mere five minutes each day.

One idea is to make a phone call to a hospital or store and ask if they have a fragrance free policy. This simple call brings awareness to the issue and if these establishments hear from more than one person, it eventually begins to sink in that they need to do something. Make it all about them, their health, and the safety of their customers and they begin to listen. In advertising they say it takes hearing something seven times before it sinks in, so every person’s call counts!

Alternately, if talking on the phone takes too much energy, print one of the above fact sheets and put it in an envelope addressed to the establishment of your choice. Things like this can be done without even leaving home, so please get involved with us!

We’ve worked hard to make as much information about MCS readily available in a central location on our website. Please use, share, and take advantage of the key news, newsletter, news feeds, proclamations, brochures, pre-designed letters, public service announcements, scientific studies, and resources and referrals.

Thank you for any and all efforts toward increased awareness! As citizens, we CAN take control of toxic chemicals and eradicate multiple chemical sensitivity. All we have to do is take the first step!

Have a great Awareness Month!

Lourdes Salvador is the founder of MCS America, a science writer, and a social advocate for the greater awareness of environmental contamination and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).