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Anatomy of a toxic chemical spill

Posted on Feb 25, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Government Regulation, Guest Bloggers

On February 17, 2010, in Alameda, CA, a garbage or recycle truck owned by Alameda County Industries blew its hydraulic line at the corner of Oak Street and San Jose Avenue, spewing hydraulic fluid all over the street. I had to walk through it to get to my house.

By guestblogger Steph.

~~~

02-17-10

February 17, 2010 - Alameda, CA. That's not snow - it's 57F outside. Alameda County Industries garbage or recycle truck blew its hydraulic hose earlier in the day, and their crew came out with an absorbent material to pick up the spill. That material was like fine grain sand and immediately went airborne. Now it's on the cars and everything, and likely in my house since I had to open the front door to go inside.

~~~

02/18/10

On February 17, 2010 in Alameda, CA, a garbage or recycle truck owned by Alameda County Industries (ACI) blew its hydraulic line at the corner of Oak Street and San Jose Avenue, spewing hydraulic fluid all over the street.

Cars continued driving, as San Jose Ave is a thoroughfare, and the oil spread all up and down both streets. ACI sent a cleaning crew, who applied a thin sandy ‘absorbent’ material all over the road, which got picked up by passing cars and went airborne immediately, with the oil particles on the sand.

The scene above is what I had to walk through to get to my house.

Please google hydraulic fluid toxicity to learn more, and also check out a news story about a woman who died after a similar accident.

I have also uploaded photos here. My lips were stinging when I got back into the house last night after taking pictures. I should have worn a mask of course. Of course. I shed all my clothes in the kitchen and put them in a garbage bag. I took a shower immediately.

Last night I filed complaint with the Alameda Department of Public Works and the City Clerk’s office for Boards and Commissions. This morning, following Susie Collins’ advice, I phoned up the police department to make sure they’d been notified. They said they had, and seemed indifferent to me. They routed me over to the fire department, where I was told I’d get a call back. I got a voicemail saying they’d send someone over to check out the street, but I didn’t see anyone come by in a Fire Department uniform or vehicle.

At 3pm today, I received the following email:

Good afternoon Steph,

I am responding back to your e-mail that was sent to ACI this morning, at approximately 2:30pm on February 17,2010 one of our fully automated trucks had a hydraulic hose rupture and leaked fluid onto the street, our driver immediately contacted our dispatch center and a field supervisor.

Upon notification of the spill we immediately contacted the City of Alameda, Public works department. Both the City of Alameda Fire and Police department were called and responded to the scene to assist us with the cleaning of the street and traffic control.

After meeting with the fire department and the urban run-off group they released the scene back to us for our cleanup process. We responded with 7 ACI employees to put dry sweep on the on the fluid and swept up all the areas effected. The hydraulic fluid can become slippery and that’s why we reacted to get it cleaned up immediately. The fluid that was on the ground is a premium hydraulic oil that is commonly used in hydraulic systems. The absorbent that was used is called select sorb professional multi purpose spill aid (MSDS_SelectSorbProfessional.pdf).

We are keeping in contact with the city of Alameda and the urban run-off Manager, today we had street sweepergo thru the areas that were effected and he will be returning again tonight after cars have left the street. As far as the City of Alameda and ACI is concerned there are no direct health hazards as a result of the spill.

I apologize for any inconvenience this matter may have caused you, please feel free to contact me should you have any further questions or concerns.

Best Regards,

Guy Martinez

Safety Manger

I sent an email back to Mr. Martinez, asking for specifics on the hydraulic fluid; “Thank you for your response. Can you tell me what type of hydraulic fluid had spilled, aside from it being ‘premium’? Was it mineral oil, organophosphate ester, or polyalphaolefin?”

And now I wait.

[...]

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Tags: Air, Children's Health, Environment, EPA, Law, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Pollution, Products, Toxic

Metamorphosis inside Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Posted on Feb 16, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, MCS, Media/Videos

My most radical metamorphosis was when I fell ill with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

By guestblogger Eva Caballé, Spain.

Originally published in Spanish at Delirio, No 5.

As originally published at Delirio online magazine.

During our lives we suffer several metamorphoses, some are painful, others are positive, chosen or not. The experience, the life itself, makes us change and evolve.

My story is not different, although my most radical metamorphosis was when I fell ill with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. But although I got sick suddenly, the process itself happened slowly. I was preparing for MCS for many years before I was aware of it. My body was warning me repeatedly without my understanding what it wanted to tell me. But how could I know that everything happening to me was the prelude to MCS? It’s almost impossible to know since information about MCS is kept secret from the public and when anyone dares to raise a voice, they are automatically silenced by those who say MCS is all in the minds of the patients.

It’s not easy to understand what happens to you as you search for a diagnosis, all the while trying not to fail during the long journey while you are riddled with attempts to damage your self-esteem as you struggle with a more diminished health status every day. The last stage of this particular metamorphosis happens when you finally know what it is happening: you have MCS. And then you start to reconsider the life you have known before in order to adapt yourself and to survive into the future.

[...]

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Tags: Books, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

The risk of developing Multiple Chemical Sensitivity from exposure to photocopiers and laser printers

Posted on Feb 13, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, MCS, Worker's Rights

Some persons suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity may have developed their conditions or worsened them due to exposures to the toxic chemicals given off by photocopiers and laser printers in their office jobs.

By guestblogger M.R.E.

The following is information for the readers of The Canary Report concerning potential risks of exposure to photocopiers and laser printers. I have suffered a devastating respiratory condition from exposure to these types of machines, and so I am trying to raise awareness about this health hazard to hopefully receive feedback and get in touch with other persons who suffer the same.

Due to exposure to photocopiers and laser printers, I have suffered a devastating respiratory condition which produces in an extreme degree: difficulty for breathing, chest pain and oppression, fatigue, cough, mucosal dryness, inability to sneeze and plenty of disturbances in the throat, nose, mouth, eyes, skin, stomach and other systems plus an extreme, lasting intolerance to all chemicals in the air. After a lot of troubles it was diagnosed in two university hospitals as non-specific bronchial hyper-reactivity and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). The syndrome was caused by the irritant vapors released by a photocopier and a laser printer in my jobs and this appears very obvious from the full details of my story, too long for this page. Although my illness was initiated within 24 hours of intense exposure to these gases, it has not been officially recognized as occupational for any purpose. As many other sufferers with MCS, I have lived a nightmare of sickness and social neglect, but thanks to my family, who financially and psychologically supported me, I did not fall into marginality and eventual tragedy.

From my own experience of nearly three decades with this problem I see that the following points should be carefully taken into account:

[...]

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Tags: Air, Asthma, Chemicals, Environmental Illness, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Products, Research, Sick Building, Toxic, Work

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity associations in Spain meet with Ministry of Health officials

Posted on Feb 05, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Disability Rights, Government Regulation, Guest Bloggers, MCS, Social Justice

Eva Caballé reports on the meeting between Multiple Chemical Sensitivity associations and Ministry of Health officals in Spain, Feb. 4, 2010

Translated from Spanish by Eva Caballé

On February 4th 2010 at 12:00h has been held the meeting with Ministry of Health to state the situation of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity sufferers in Spain.

Mr José Martínez Olmos, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, Mr Alberto Infante Campos, General Director of Professional Planning, Cohesion of SNS and High Inspection and Mr Francisco Valero Bonilla have attended to the meeting representing the Ministry of Health. One person by almost each MCS association has attended to the meeting and also Jaume Cortés, lawyer of Colectivo Ronda, and Dr. Pablo Arnold, immunologist specialized in MCS.

• ACAF: Cristina Montané
• AFCISQUIM: María Roldán
• Alas de Mariposa- SQM: Tránsito Rodríguez
• ALTEA – SQM: Cristobalina Bejarano
• APQUIRA: Mª Carmen Gómez de Bonilla
• AQUA: Mario Arias
• ASQUIFYDE: Francisca Gutiérrez
• AVASFASEM-AVASQ: Francisca García
• ENA: Laura Domínguez
• MERCURIADOS: Mª Carmen Miravete
• Plataforma Estatal Contra la Contaminación Ambiental: Minerva Palomar
• PLATAFORMA PARA LA FM ,SFC, SQM, reivindicación de derechos, Asociación Nacional: Elena Navarro

A petitions document done by MCS associations under David Palma coordination has been submitted. This document has been signed by:

• ABAF: Margarita Pascual
• ACAF: Maite Ribera
• AFCISQUIM: María Roldán
• Alas de Mariposa- SQM: Irene Escudero
• ALTEA – SQM: Cristobalina Bejarano
• APQUIRA: Mª Carmen Gómez de Bonilla
• AQUA: Mario Arias
• ASQUIFYDE: Francisca Gutiérrez
• AVASFASEM-AVASQ: Francisca García
• ENA: Rosa de Gabriel
• MERCURIADOS: Servando Pérez
• Plataforma Estatal Contra la Contaminación Ambiental: Minerva Palomar
• PLATAFORMA PARA LA FM ,SFC, SQM, reivindicación de derechos, Asociación Nacional: Elena Navarro
• Eva Caballé

Also a copy of Desaparecida: Una vida rota por la Sensibilidad Química Múltiple (Missing: A life broken by Multiple Chemical Sensitivities) has been hand delivered on behalf of Eva Caballé, who couldn’t attend to the meeting, as an example of what MCS sufferers have to go through in Spain.

The meeting with Ministry of Health has meant an agreement on minimum standards by the Ministry, but a big hope for all MCS sufferers.

Representatives of Ministry of Health have committed to contact MCS associations within 2 weeks to jointly agree on experts to form a Scientific Committee to create a document of consensus on the MCS. They have stated that this is the first step to make possible the inclusion of the MCS in ICD-10, i.e. its official recognition as disease in Spain. They have demonstrated that later there would be necessary to start creating the protocols.

All people who have been part of this process are thrilled by the result of the meeting, because doors have opened us to obtain the recognition of the Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Spain and to achieve that MCS sufferers have the same rights as the other chronically ill people.

Link

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Tags: Children's Health, Environmental Health, Environmental Illness, Law, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Policy, Research, Work

Chemically-safe building practices: what we did when we renovated our bathroom

Posted on Jan 29, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, Products

Many of the resources used were environmentally-friendly, but it should be noted that “green” does not always mean “chemically safe.”

By Guest Blogger Catherine Ockey

Background

In the spring of 2009 we discovered a leak in a shower faucet in our home. Upon further investigation it was determined that water had been leaking down an inside wall for some time and had caused damage to the bathroom walls and subflooring. The process of repair and reconstruction occurred over a three-week period in the fall of 2009. Before the actual work began, however, I did a lot of research into chemically-safe (or safer) building products and found a contractor willing to follow my instructions explicitly. I am happy to share more details of my experience with anyone by phone or through email. Following is a summary of what we did.

Contractor

We found a contractor with experience in environmentally friendly building practices. He had previously built an entire house for a person with MCS, so he had some familiarity with the issues. However, every person with MCS has slightly different issues, so I micro-managed the entire project myself from start to finish. I let the contractor know upfront that this is how it would be done and also had this written into our contract with him.

Resources

Books

Prescriptions for a Healthy House, 3rd edition: A Practical Guide for Architects, Builders & Homeowners by Paula Baker-Laporte, Erica Elliott and John Banta. (Both my contractor and I had a copy of this book. It was our most valuable resource.)

The Healthy House by John Bower. (I have an older edition of this, but I believe it has been updated.)

Magazines

Fine Home Building
Green@Home
Mother Earth News

Web sites

Care2 Green Living
Safer Building

Various manufacturer’s Web sites

Lassen Technologies
Ecohaus
Healthy House Institute
Guide to Less Toxic Products
Safe Shopper’s Directory: Building Materials

[...]

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Tags: Healthy Living, Home, Mold, Products

Mary Canary shares life on the road

Posted on Jan 09, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, Keith Carlson, MCS, Media/Videos

The good, the bad, and the ugly side of life in an RV while coping with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

Post by guest blogger Mary Rives.

(Editor’s Note: Mary is the wife of Canary Report contributor Keith Carlson. Mary and Keith are currently living full-time in their new RV, traveling the highways and byways of America, visiting intentional communities, and bringing Laughter Yoga and the benefits of health and wellness coaching to new and old friends along the way. Read more about their trip at Mary and Keith’s Excellent Adventure.)

On Wednesday, I blogged about how to travel with a little help from your friends, and shared with you a template for a letter you might like to give friends and family before you visit. The letter was written by a friend on our behalf, and has some tips about how to prepare for a visit from loved ones with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

While it’s true we are having a wonderful adventure on the road, today I’d like to share with you a video that reflects the darker side of our journey, but of course I am being a pretty good sport! We are looking to switch from this diesel rig to a gas powered one in Texas, just two states away now. The veggie oil thing did not pan out and diesel is worsening my Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, but all this nature is healing it too!

We are 14 intentional communities and 12 states on down the road from Amherst, where we began our journey. We’re hitting our stride with the new lifestyle and feel very blessed and grateful (even though it is as cold here in SE Alabama and NW Florida as it is in New England, for now anyway).

Happy New Year to all–and if you feel like it and haven’t yet, read our New Year’s letter to all on our blog: A New Year’s Missive from Keith and Mary.

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Tags: Chemicals, Environmental Illness, Featured Post, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Toxic, Video

How to travel with a little help from your friends

Posted on Jan 06, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, Keith Carlson, MCS

Advance work when traveling: A letter to friends and family about how to prepare for a visit from loved ones with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

By guest blogger Mary Rives.

This is a letter my friend kindly wrote for me. I edited it and then sent it to my parents yesterday. I am offering it to anyone as a prep tool should you go visiting with “chem people.” I plan to follow the letter up with an email and call. I suggest you find a friend who would agree to sign off on the letter. Here ya go:

Dear friends of Mary Rives, Keith Carlson, (and dog Tina),

Hi! My name is A.L., a longtime friend of Mary and Keith from Washington, D.C. I was at their wedding 20 years ago on July 2, 1989, and I have traveled and vacationed with them, visited each other long distances, met each others’ families and have been there for each other through many of life’s twists and turns.

As you know, our dear friends/family members are traveling the country in their RV (affectionately known as “Rigatina”) after simplifying their lives, including selling their home and letting go of most of their belongings. They will be experiencing the relief of permanently leaving the long, cold winters of New England that worsened Keith’s pain syndrome and increased Mary’s intermittent low back pain. They’re now living more simply in their radically downsized and carefully prepared non-toxic environment of their rig and have already visited more than a dozen intentional communities, perhaps to find one to live in near like-minded people in 2010. I know that visiting friends and family is an important part of their journey as they make a huge horseshoe trek, now completing the East Coast and soon to travel westward across the Gulf Coast. They will be in touch when they are nearer to your home.

I am writing to you because I’m concerned for Mary and Keith’s health. In addition to Keith’s Myofascial Pain Syndrome and Mary’s intermittent back pain, Mary and Keith have been chemically injured from a severe mold infestation in the attic of their previous home which has predisposed their bodies to being intolerant of many basic products designed for every day personal, home and office use. They have both been diagnosed, and are in treatment by environmental health specialist doctors, for what is known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) or Environmental Illness (EI).

[...]

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Tags: Chemicals, Healthy Living, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Support

What is the value of a name?

Posted on Jan 04, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, MCS

Poem by guest blogger Amy Pratt.

What is the value of a name?

~1~

Just ask any survivor
with numbers tattooed on their arm
what it means to have their name remembered.

This entry is dedicated to Judy C. Miner,
one of the few who has bothered
to remember my name all these years
and who is still willing to at least make eye contact
and speak with me.

I am so tired of being a ghost in a community where I once belonged.

I had no idea I could lose more
than my health and my job of nine years.
I am unable to work,
labeled as “a liability.”

I have cognitive issues
and often rely on pre-written scripts.
Ironically,
I cannot read or write on a consistent and reliable basis.

I used to be a Library Technician for a community college.

Education you never lose,
but the ability to use it,
that’s a different story.

Acknowledgement is a basic need
for support and understanding.

“In order to communicate with
and show respect to others,
a name is a basic need.”

[...]

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Tags: Art, Featured Post, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Photography, Support

The false promise of miracle cures, Part 2

Posted on Dec 30, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, MCS

By guest contributor Lourdes Salvador, MCS America.

This post was originally published at MCS America.

Part 2: Preying on the desperate

Last month in Part 1, Miracle Cures Hold False Promise (1) [titled "The false promise of miracle cures for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity" when reprinted at The Canary Report], the ten warning signs of a potential medical scam were introduced with an illustration of a popular treatment for which cure claims have been made. Since that publication, at least one of the websites promoting the example treatment has discontinued the use of the word cure in favor of more pertinent terminology. A product has more credibility when unsubstantiated cure claims are avoided.

It is crucial that people with chronic illnesses are able to make rational judgments on treatment possibilities which protect their financial interests, health, and overall well-being. With that in mind, we will examine the ways emotion can be used to manipulate thinking and provide tips to ensure rational decision making.

Emotional Appeals

According to San Jose State University (2) , emotional appeals all have two things in common:

1. They attempt to elicit an emotional response that will serve as the basis of any decision made, instead of presenting an argument and relying on its soundness.
2. As a result, they are never acceptable in an argument, though they can be quite effective in suppressing rational responses.

A fallacy is a mistake, misstep, or deliberate deceit (3). Hence, logical fallacies are false beliefs caused by errors in reasoning (3). Finally, emotional fallacies are arguments designed to appeal to feelings and override rational thinking and logical judgment (3).

San Jose State University asserts, “Fallacious appeals to emotions are effective because it’s easier for most people not to think critically, but to rely on their gut reaction; and it’s easier for the person making the appeal to excite his listeners’ emotions than to construct a persuasive argument. As a result, those who try to persuade us most often–politicians and advertisers– tend to rely on emotional appeals in order to motivate us to do things that we might not for purely rational reasons” (2).

There are seven common emotional fallacies according to Southern Utah University (3):

Argumentum ad Hominem: An argument irrationally attacking a person’s character through personal assaults in the form of name-calling, mudslinging, and smear tactics instead of presenting a counter-argument and relying on soundness and validity of position.

Bandwagon: An argument of common practice in which a person is urged to do something because “everyone else is doing it” and, hence, the reader should jump on the bandwagon.

Ad Populum/Plain Folk: The argument stressing of a bond between the arguer and the average citizen; a claim that relies on the false notion of sincerity.

Status Appeal: An argument that emphasizes the cause and effect relationship between adopting a position and bettering oneself because of it.

Scare Tactics: An argument that a position must be taken in order to avoid problems, often threats and exaggerations.

Testimonial/Appeal to Authority: An argument that a claim is superior because a well-known person without any expertise on the topics says so.

Glittering Generality: An argument involving vague generalizations that sound good, but actually lack evidence and substance.

This month we will take an in-depth look at the trouble with testimonials, which are commonly used by advertisers of health products making cure claims.

[...]

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Tags: MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Love in a blue moon

Posted on Dec 28, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, Healthy Living, MCS

On Thursday, I will wed under the full blue moon.

Post by guest blogger Jacki.

Here is our story:

At around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 31, JB and I will be married by my friend Coleen, an organic non fu fu great lady friend. She got her license to perform weddings in March of this year just for me, knowing I could not go into a public building or church setting. She is so excited that she will now be able to use her license.

My sister Laurie will be my witness. She is just starting to learn to be fu fu free. She loves using vinegar and baking soda on her clothes and Dr Bronners on her skin, and coconut oil on her food and body. She has come a long way, baby. Out of three sisters, she is the only one that has “made adjustments to her life” to accommodate my Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and to live a healthier lifestyle herself. She loves the change.

Laurie is now noticing dryer sheets in the neighborhoods, and automatic air fresheners in public restrooms. It is cute ‘cause now she calls me “complaining” about toxic items people use. It makes me feel so much more connected with her. I am so lucky after 10 years she finally “gets it.” Now if only the other two sisters would.

Today, JB and I went to the city to get our marriage license. JB did all the work, went into the public building, 6th floor, and filled out all the paper work. I’d called and begged the licensing officials to let me sign the papers outside due to my MCS, but they didn’t seem very cooperative so I brought my big respirator mask with me.

Sitting in the car waiting for JB to call me up to the 6th floor, I was so pleasantly surprised to see him walking a woman out to the car, in a blizzard snow storm! She was kind enough and compassionate enough to come outside in the blizzard to let me sign all the paper work outside. I was willing to meet her at the door but she said the building is full of scented air fresheners and sanitizers.

She recognized my name and remembered me from the old neighborhood where she lived two doors down from my sister. She said she wanted to help me out and not get me ill, so she came out with JB in a blizzard and let me sign all the papers from the safety of our car. I had tears of joy and gratitude streaming down my face to think she was so compassionate to let me sign my marriage papers from my car instead of the 6th floor of a toxic public building… wow. There is such a thing as compassion and kindness left in this world, and JB and I witnessed it today.

So on Dec 31st, at around 7:30 p.m., at the very spot where we met, JB and I will wed under the full blue moon. Snow, rain, sleet, clouds, or a clear night, we will be in the woods in the fresh air, with the heavens above and the wild creatures as our witnesses. But mostly we will be in love’s light and God’s light to start the new year, the new decade, 2010, as one in unity
as Mr. and Mrs.

Fifty-two years old and I am a blushing bride-to-be, amazing.

This is the lesson:

To write your own happy story even when all the odds are against you and all the challenges seem too big to take.

To take a deep breath and believe that all things happen for a reason to learn, to grow, to become better and more spiritual and more simple and more LOVE.

To re-write your story to have a HAPPY ending.

To remember it is your story and you are the creature of the illusion; some things we cannot change, but we can always change our attitude and our eyes about how we see things.

To make sure your glass is always half full, and the sky mostly sunny.

And to be grateful for every breath on this earth, no matter what.

Love,
jj

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Tags: Healthy Living, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Support

Old MacSilver

Posted on Dec 22, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, Media/Videos

Parody by guest blogger Susan M. Silver.

Old MacSilver or Multi-Person Sick Home Blues

(to the tune of “Old MacDonald”)

Old MacSilver had a sick home
EI, EI woe!
Her landlord was a toxic cyclone
EI, EI, woe!
With formaldehyde here and fresh paint there
Here a sneeze, there a wheeze
Everywhere a brain freeze
Old MacSilver had a sick home
EI, EI woe!

~~~

Photo credit.

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Tags: Humor

The false promise of miracle cures for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Posted on Nov 30, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, Linda Sepp, MCS

All ten warning signs of a medical scam are present when it comes to curing MCS, CFS, and FM with amygdala retraining.

Op-ed by contributor Linda Sepp and guest contributor Lourdes Salvador, MCS America.

This post was originally published at MCS America.

The History of Health Scams

People with incurable illnesses are often the target of miracle cure scams. These promises usually involve the marketing of unproven cures for a fee. Often the cure is easy and painless and the aggressive marketing is loaded with lucrative testimonials and success stories in bold fonts and bright colors with flashing text and lots of exclamation points.

They come in the form of websites, word-of-mouth, multi level marketing, email marketing, printed ads, mail, telemarketing, and the backs of traveling wagons.

The danger is not merely the wasting of time and precious money to purchase these cures. In addition, these miracle cures often delay appropriate medical care. Some may even be harmful or interact with prescription medications in a negative way.

These scams are often widely touted by the chronically ill because they offer false hope. When one is sick, scared, in pain, and desperate for relief, the promise of being cured is easy to grasp onto. However, the pain of being duped and realizing it was only false hope can be devastating.

Ten Warning Signs of a Scam

1. The Promise Of A Quick And Easy Cure

2. Presents Unproven Patient Testimonials & Emotional Appeals Instead Of Science

3. Claims To Cure Many Ailments Which Have No Cure In Medical Science

4. It’s Not Sold In Stores

5. It Has Undisclosed Ingredients Or Content

6. You Have To Keep At It To Get Results

7. It Doesn’t Work Because You Did It Wrong

8. Science Hasn’t Even Bothered To Discredit It (No Threat To Pharmaceutical Sales)

9. The Seller Lacks A Medical Degree Or Similar Qualification

10. It’s Too Good To Be True

Targeted For A Scam

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) are debilitating illnesses which have no cure and leave sufferers lives in ruins. Even those with the best ability to adapt and cope often suffer from the abuse of other well-meaning people who think the ill somehow brought these illnesses upon themselves or that the illnesses don’t really exist. This can create a situation of desperation in which a patient is willing to try anything to get better.

[...]

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Tags: Chemicals, Environmental Health, Healthy Living, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Products

The Twelve Days of Toxics

Posted on Nov 27, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, MCS, Media/Videos

Poem by guest blogger Susan M. Silver.

The Twelve Days of Toxics

In the first year of MCS
The toxins gave to me:
Twelve guts a-leaking
Eleven migraines peaking
Ten fibro achings
Nine bones a-breaking
Eight gluten-free shoppings
Seven brains a-popping
Six immune failings
Five molars ailing
Glutathone!…
Forty IV drips
Chinese herbalists
Thirty supplements
And a pesticiding in a pear tree

~~~

Photo credit.

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Tags: Art, Chemicals, Environmental Health, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

A story about discrimination and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Posted on Nov 03, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Disability Rights, Guest Bloggers, MCS, Social Justice

I have learned not to apologize for asking for the simple right to raise my health issue when looking for safe housing.

By Guest Blogger Missy Gluckmann.

Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity can be a challenge, sometimes more so than others. We know that it can also be incredibly inconvenient– having to duck and weave like Muhammad Ali when you are presented with a chemical that wants to take you down. MCS can send you to bed, even to the hospital. But this past weekend, MCS hurt the most when I realized that I was being discriminated against because of it.

While in the process of selling my house, my boyfriend Tony (who is incredibly supportive and sensitive of my MCS) and I have been diligently looking for an apartment in a new community. Which community was not the issue; we found a lovely town north of the city that would meet both of our needs beautifully. The apartment, however, is a bit more tricky. We all know the list: wood floors, good ventilation, no signs of water damage, more recent construction, no basements, not recently painted, away from parking lots/auto repair shops/dry cleaners– anything that can spew an obvious toxic chemical our way. Tony and I found what we thought was a perfect place: a 1st floor apartment with wood floors in a beautifully renovated building. We began negotiations for the rent and lease terms, determined an amount and were told that the lease would be drafted this week. We were even willing to pay a significant finder’s fee for this place as it appeared to be “MCS friendly.”

While packing on Saturday and preparing to move to a temporary apartment for one month while the owners of the co-op we’d be renting found their new apartment, we received a call from the agent. I heard Tony on the phone exclaim loudly, “What?!? You’re kidding me!” It was Halloween after all– perhaps whatever she said was some sort of ghoulish joke. It wasn’t. We were not going to be able to take the apartment after all. Why? Apparently because I had asked the agent to have the owner consider giving us a three month escape clause in the event that something in the apartment seriously threatened my health– and, unfortunately, I could not know if that would be the case until I lived there. I had thought about it the previous week– one possible issue with this apartment is that there was a common laundry room in the basement and we were on the first floor. Would I be smelling those evil dryer sheets daily? Would I be feeling the laundry room chemicals as I slept? Would I be sick again, possibly for weeks, because I didn’t ask a hard question?

Now, having been a landlord, I realize that owners have a mortgage obligation. I was not asking these people to consider my request as a last minute deal breaker– we would have taken the apartment because we had generally done our homework and we thought it would be fine. Other apartments that we have taken have been fine, and I told them this with my written request. I explained MCS and stated that obviously I would not want to have to move because of my illness– and that while I didn’t anticipate anything happening with the apartment, I did have an obligation to pose the question because health comes before a mortgage payment. I indicated that if I did feel unwell that we would give three months notice and provide a detailed letter from an environmental medicine MD to confirm that I was not just being difficult. I emphasized that Tony and I had carefully selected the apartment based on my MCS needs and that we did not anticipate any issues and certainly wouldn’t take a request to move lightly as it would result in stress on my health, loss of a significant agent finder’s fee, moving costs, etc.

When the agent called us yesterday, she essentially said they don’t want to take a risk on me because of my health. They did not say, “No, we cannot commit to an escape clause.” We would have signed a lease regardless as we really believed the apartment would be fine– and as you know, if you live with MCS, you learn to live dodging bullets all day long. Yesterday was the first time that someone directly told me that my health was going to be cause for denying me access to an apartment. I felt like I was slapped in the face, hard. Tony and I told them, as politely as possible, what to do with their apartment and quickly scrambled to cancel our mover the next day, find a new apartment, cancel our temporary housing (which we had just paid in cash that morning!), sell furniture that we thought we would need and now no longer do need for the newer, but smaller space. It was a very good exercise in going with the flow and responding to the challenges of MCS.

Now, could I get a lawyer and make a big MCS stink about it? Yes, sure I could. Will I? No. I took the high road and quickly decided two things that would reflect how I want to live this life. I chose to send an email to educate the agent (and hopefully, therefore, the owners) about how their decision impacted many people and how their lack of communication about any concern caused incredible stress and financial burden to us. But most importantly, I thought of sharing this story with The Canary Report. Why? Because in my email to the agent I reiterated the following: “I have learned not to apologize for asking for the simple right to raise my health issue and that remains the case.” And today I got a lovely email back from the agent, thanking me for my note and apologizing for her client’s poor decision. I was true to myself and stayed an educator, which MCS cannot take away from me.

Canaries, I hope you all remember that you should NEVER EVER apologize for asking hard questions. If the world isn’t ready for them, too bad. Our health and our needs come first, and we will not be silenced. KEEP CHIRPING whether the world is ready for us or not!

A message from Missy Gluckmann: The fox is watching the hen house

Missy kicks ass, forces former employer to fix sick building

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Tags: Home, Law, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Genetic evidence and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Posted on Sep 20, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, MCS, Research

Studies show chemicals act as toxicants in causing cases of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity; genes that metabolize these chemicals into other forms influence, therefore, susceptibility to getting MCS.

Guest post by Martin L. Pall, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences, Washington State University and Research Director, the Tenth Paradigm Research Group.

I have emailed the following as an open letter to the Denver Post in response to the article on multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) that was published this weekend. I think the published article was generally a step forward in terms of public understanding of MCS. But the article left out a number of important things and this letter is an attempt to deal with some of those. I have asked them to consider publishing this as an Op-Ed piece, but wanted to make it available regardless of whether or not they opt to do so.

Thank you for writing this article on multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), the term that is used in most of the scientific literature on this disease. There are vast numbers of people who have been afflicted in this epidemic of chemical sensitivity and I am sure that they are all thanking you. I also thank you for mentioning a bit of my work on this disease.

Some of your readers have already made quite a number of important points about MCS so I can focus here on just a few remaining issues. How do chemicals act in MCS? We know now that the seven classes of chemicals implicated in MCS all produce a common toxic response in the body, excessive activity of a receptor in the body called the NMDA receptor. So even though we have a vast array of such chemicals, we know how they can produce similar responses in people.

There is compelling genetic evidence that these chemicals act as toxic agents (toxicants) in the body. Four such studies have been published by three research groups in three countries. Collectively they implicate six genes as influencing susceptibility to MCS, such that people carrying some forms of each of these genes are more susceptible to becoming chemically sensitive than are people carrying other forms of the same genes. All of these genes control the activity of enzymes that metabolize these chemicals into other forms. Most of these studies show a high level of what is called statistical significance. In the Schakenberg and colleagues studies, the chances of getting their results by chance are less than one in a million billion. So obviously, these are not chance results. What these studies show is that chemicals are acting as toxicants in causing cases of MCS and that genes that metabolize these chemicals into other forms influence, therefore, susceptibility to getting MCS. These studies, then, provide compelling evidence that cases of MCS are caused by toxic chemical exposure. Clearly they also show that MCS is a real disease, otherwise one would not be able to do such studies clearly linking the chance of becoming ill with MCS to the action of chemicals acting as toxicants.

Dr. Herman Staudenmayer has, for some 20 years claimed just the opposite. He claims that MCS is psychogenic, caused by psychological responses and according to him, is not a toxicological phenomenon. He has maintained this claim by ignoring contrary data wherever it occurs. He has ignored all of the evidence that chemicals implicated in MCS produce a common response in the body; he has ignored the roughly two dozen studies showing that MCS patients show objectively measurable responses to low level chemical exposures, responses that differ from those of normals. He has ignored all of the evidence implicating excessive NMDA activity in MCS; he has ignored the dozens of animal model studies on MCS; he has ignored over 50 studies that show that cases of MCS typically occur following chemical exposures; he has ignored the various other measurable physiological changes reported to occur in MCS. This has all been documented in my book “Explaining ‘Unexplained Illnesses’” and in my article on the toxicology of MCS that is coming out next month in a prestigious reference work for professional toxicologists “General and Applied Toxicology, 3rd Edition”. It is also documented on the MCS web page of my web site: thetenthparadigm.org/mcs09.htm

Clearly you cannot do science by simply ignoring the existence of vast arrays of contrary data. However, Staudenmayer provides us with a couple of other tests of his views in his book, predictions that allow us to test his theory. He predicts that psychological factors are necessary and sufficient to account for the properties of MCS. This, of course, is contradicted by all of the evidence I referred to earlier. Therefore we should reject his hypothesis based on his own prediction. He provides a second prediction as well (the exact quotes from his book on these predictions are provided on my MCS web page). He predicts that the variation of susceptibility to MCS is not caused by variable responses to toxic chemicals. Clearly the genetic studies discussed above have shown that this is false and therefore, his hypothesis should be rejected for that reason, as well.

It is clear, from the above, that Staudenmayer’s construct was basically a house of cards. Now that it has collapsed, where does that leave us?

Firstly it leaves us with reversing the errors of the past. We need to start treating MCS sufferers as victims of unsafe chemical exposure. Many of them have previously been used, abused and discarded. If we live in a society where people are not disposable items we need to “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

We obviously need to start regulating chemical usage much more carefully, to avoid initiating new cases of MCS. It is imperative to develop tests for chemical activity in MCS, just as we have developed tests for chemical activity as carcinogens. Then we need to use these tests to effectively regulate the use of toxic chemicals.

We need to develop specific biomarker tests for MCS, tests that can be used to objectively confirm diagnoses initially based on subjective symptoms. I think we already have several very promising approaches to doing this in the scientific literature and a minimal amount of further study may be all that is needed to develop such tests.

We need to confirm that chemical avoidance is key to therapy and to develop other therapeutic approaches to work along with avoidance. The environmental medicine physicians and others have already made very important progress in this direction and I am optimistic that further progress can be made quickly. Such progress is relevant not only to the treatment of MCS patients but also to the treatment of clearly related diseases including chronic fatigue syndrome/mylagic encephalomyelitis and fibromyalgia. All of these diseases are caused by what I have called the NO/ONOO- cycle and the way to treat them, in my judgment, is to lower the activity of that vicious cycle mechanism.

Martin L. Pall
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences, Washington State University and Research Director, the Tenth Paradigm Research Group

Reprinted with permission from the author. Dr. Pall cautions the reader that he is a PhD, not an MD, and none of this should be viewed as medical advice.

Link to Martin Pall’s website.

Link to an extended excerpt from Pall’s book Explaining “Unexplained Illnesses.”

Interview with Martin Pall

Research shows toxic chemicals initiate Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity now recognized as a toxicological phenomenon

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity researcher launches website