Opportunity to participate in Multiple Chemical Sensitivity research

The Multiple Chemical Sensitivity research team at James Madison University is currently looking for people to participate in current studies.

Experiencing Environmental Sensitivities

We are interested in interviewing people who have had environmental sensitivities for 5 years or more. The interview will last approximately 30 minutes and will explore the phenomenology of what it is like to experience sensitivities and to interact with others in a chemical culture.

If you are interested in participating, please click here to open the consent form and to complete the short demographic questionnaire. If you do not have computer access or cannot use a computer, please contact our lab for a hard copy of the short demographic survey. You can call us at 540-568-6195.

Client’s Perceptions of Services from Mental Health Providers for Persons with Environmental Sensitivities

In this study we will examine people’s perceptions of any services they have received from psychological providers. People with sensitivities end up in the offices of mental health providers for a variety of reasons: for counseling, for evaluations in regard to disability applications or as requested by Vocational Rehabilitation, or when referred by a physician who perceives the problem to be psychological. There may be other reasons as well. We are interested in the treatment that people receive, whether they are accommodated by these providers, and their perceptions of how knowledgeable mental health providers are regarding sensitivities.

In addition, as part of this study we invite anyone who has received a psychological evaluation from a psychologist to submit it so we can examine how people with sensitivities are being construed by psychologists. There has been an ongoing movement to frame MCS/ES as a psychological illness. We believe it is physical and would like to attempt to begin discussion of the ways that persons with MCS are framed in evaluations.

Click here to take our survey of psychological services on Qualtrics: http://jmu.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_6DpHHiwHSysPFgE&SVID=Prod

If you are unable to take the survey online or know of someone who would like to participate without taking the survey online, we can be contacted for either an e-mail copy or a hard copy of the survey. Phone 540-568-6195 or e-mail gibsonpr@jmu.edu.

Link

Thanks, Linda!

Obama on green energy and affordable health care

Here’s President-Elect Obama’s first YouTube weekly address, just released. He includes as part of his agenda, “to build an American green energy economy… while freeing our country from the tyranny of foreign oil and saving our planet for our children.” He also includes, “making health care affordable for anyone who has it, [and] accessible for anyone who wants it.” This is music to the ears of anyone suffering from Environmental Illness: the hemorrhage of policy protecting the health, safety and welfare of the American people, the bad policy that perpetuated a filthy environment coupled with a broken health insurance system, will be stemmed.

Panel confirms Gulf War Illness caused by toxic chemicals

A congressionally mandated report on Gulf War Illness is released.

Findings of a study just released on Gulf War Illness directly correlate the chemical exposure experienced by soldiers, notably pesticide exposure, to memory and concentration problems, persistent headaches, unexplained fatigue, widespread pain, chronic digestive problems, respiratory symptoms, and skin rashes.

How many of us with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity have stories of being similarly exposed to toxic chemicals resulting in the same chronic symptoms? Do you think anyone will ever mandate a study about us?

WASHINGTON - At least one in four U.S. veterans of the 1991 Gulf War suffers from a multi-symptom illness caused by exposure to toxic chemicals during the conflict, a congressionally mandated report being released Monday found.

For much of the past 17 years, government officials have maintained that these veterans — more than 175,000 out of about 697,000 deployed — are merely suffering the effects of wartime stress, even as more have come forward recently with severe ailments.

“The extensive body of scientific research now available consistently indicates that ‘Gulf War illness’ is real, that it is the result of neurotoxic exposures during Gulf War deployment, and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time,” said the report, being released Monday by a panel of scientists and veterans. A copy was obtained by Cox Newspapers.

Gulf War illness is typically characterized by a combination of memory and concentration problems, persistent headaches, unexplained fatigue and widespread pain. It may also include chronic digestive problems, respiratory symptoms and skin rashes.

Two things the military provided to troops in large quantities to protect them — pesticides and pyridostigmine bromide (PB), aimed at thwarting the effects of nerve gas — are the most likely culprits, the panel found.

[...]

It found that in terms of brain function, exposure to pesticides and the PB pills hurts people’s memory, attention and mood. Some people, it notes, are genetically more susceptible to exposures than others.

[...]

To ward off swarms of sand flies in Kuwait City and the eastern Saudi province of Dhahran, Hardie said trucks would come through at 3 a.m. and spray “clouds” of pesticides.

Fly strips that smelled toxic hung “everywhere,” especially near food. “The pesticide use was far and away (more) than what you’d see in daily life,” he said.

Several soldiers interviewed said they were ordered to dunk their uniforms in the pesticide DEET and to spray pesticide routinely on exposed skin and in their boots to ward off scorpions. Others wore pet flea collars around their ankles.

The federal panel added that it also could not rule out an association between Gulf War illness and the prolonged exposure to oil fires, as well as low-level exposures to nerve agents, injections of many vaccines and combinations of neurotoxic exposures.

Link to full story at Rome News-Tribune, well worth the read.

Photo by Lietmotiv: Oil well fires rage outside Kuwait City in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm. The wells were set on fire by Iraqi forces before they were ousted from the region by coalition force.

Who’s chirping about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity today?

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!

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and truly clean energy

The development of truly clean, green energy is an important issue for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. While those of us with MCS are forced to eliminate the toxicity of our immediate surroundings and of our basic consumer products as best we can in order to function and be productive, there are people out in the big bad world who are just as dedicated to eliminating toxicity of the larger environment. While the environmental activity of previous decades was more focused on the direct polluting of our air, waterways and soil (and therefore our bodies), the threat of climate change has shifted the focus to a much larger problem. And that larger problem is triggering greener critical mass thinking, finally.

It’s important for those of us with MCS to understand and support the efforts of people like Al Gore, because the environmental trends that are taking root in response to climate change are going to help us in our cause of MCS awareness. As more people become educated and aware of the differences between dirty, polluting energy (the “drill-baby-drill” mind set) vs truly clean, green energy (wind, solar, geothermal), I believe more people will also begin to take a look at the toxicity in their own immediate environment: their homes and places of work, and the food, air, and water they consume. This is all good news for those of us with MCS.

People usually do not change habits without a strong motivation. In the case of those of us with MCS, myself included, we are motivated by health issues to turn toward an organic, nontoxic lifestyle. We have no choice.  Because of our health issue, most of us were way ahead of the greenie curve. We all have adjusted our lifestyle, which has by default lessened our foot print, and we have heralded the call for others to do the same. Of course, those at the front edge of a movement are often seen as the “fringe” element, kooky people not in step with the norm. Well, guess what? The world is catching up with us. Why? Because the toxic paradigm has hit critical mass and is now hitting everyone where it counts: in the pocketbook.

So, what I see happening is the perfect storm, the convergence of several strong micro and macro environmental and social movements, all of which just culminated in the election of a U.S. president who promises Change. Environmentalists, scientists, consumers (especially parents), politicians, and the global marketplace are now pretty much all on the same page, even if for different reasons. And they, along with a growing consensus in the general population, are demanding truly clean, green energy, and along with it, I believe, the elimination of toxic products in the marketplace and thus in our environment and in our bodies.

For those of you who are not already, I’d like to get you in the mood for fully participating in the discussion on alternative energy. To start us off here on The Canary Report, I’d like to share with you a publication from Environment America, a federation of state-based, citizen-funded environmental advocacy organizations. It’s called “Renewing America: A Blueprint for Economic Recovery.” Here’s the Executive Summary below, and here’s where you wonky types can download the full report.

Across the country, Americans are hurting. From the big cities of the coasts to the industrial heartland to our rural communities, the slumping economy is taking its toll in shuttered businesses, disappearing jobs, bankruptcies, foreclosures and an increased sense of anxiety about our collective future.

To revive the American dream, we need to rebuild our economy on a sound foundation—one that puts people back to work, contributes to long-term prosperity, rebuilds our communities, and protects our environment.

There is one path to a renewed economy that achieves all of those goals—one that is increasingly recognized by opinion leaders, politicians, investors and workers as our best chance to work our way out of our current economic troubles, while building a stronger, more self-reliant and environmentally responsible America.

It is the path to a clean energy future.

Clean energy in America is not some distant dream. We have the technology, the tools and the know-how to use energy more wisely and to get more of our energy from clean, renewable sources. What’s more, clean energy can be produced right here at home, creating new jobs in all sectors of the nation’s economy—including many jobs that can never be outsourced.

Americans are already beginning to see the benefits of clean energy in their local economies. Laid-off workers in the nation’s “Rust Belt” are getting back to work building wind turbines and solar cells; farmers in the Midwest are supplementing their incomes with royalties from wind farms; residents of economically distressed inner cities are learning how to install solar panels and weatherize homes for greater energy efficiency. Every part of the country has the opportunity to benefit from a transition to a new energy future.

But to turn this trickle of green jobs into a torrent of new economic opportunities, we need to act boldly—and fast. With a strong policy commitment to clean energy and the investment to match, we can:

• Embrace a future of clean power by making our economy more energy-efficient and getting 100 percent of our electricity from clean, renewable sources.

• Achieve energy independence, by cutting our consumption of oil in half—nearly as much as we currently import from all other nations.

• Speed economic recovery and create millions of new jobs in dozens of different occupations in every part of the country.

This report lays out a blueprint for how we can repower America for the 21st century, cleaning our environment while revitalizing our economy. A new president and a new Congress create a golden opportunity to chart a new future for America. The time to begin is now.

We’re on Alltop.com!

The Canary Report is now listed on the online news aggragator Alltop.com! In the world of blogs, this is huge and wonderful. But it’s not just The Canary Report that’s listed in Alltop’s new Environmental Health topic, some of our flock have their blogs listed, too! “The Oko Box Blog,” “I Learned Something Today,” and “Living W/Multiple Chemical Sensitivity” are listed! And organization blogs like “MCS America” and “Enviroblog” can celebrate, too.

I’m thrilled!!

Let me tell you how this all came about.

I recently received a request from Neenz Faleafine at Alltop.com to help her develop an Environmental Health category. The request stemmed from a friend I’d made on Twitter, Burt Lum, who lives on Oahu. Burt tweeted one day about the beautiful rain on a sunny day, and I responded that not only is it beautiful but it makes rainbows! Next thing you know, Burt is visiting The Canary Report, loves it, and contacts Neenz at Alltop suggesting that we be listed.

When Neenz contacted me, she asked what category might work best for The Canary Report, and I told her that Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is an Environmental Health issue. Well, Alltop didn’t have an Environmental Health topic yet, so she asked if I would be interested in gathering together some feeds to launch the topic. I jumped at the chance! I was so excited to help develop this very important topic.

I submitted a bunch of feeds that I thought would work for Environmental Health– some did, some didn’t– and Neenz added some feeds that I had never seen before: she knows her stuff! For those of us bloggers hunting for topic inspiration, or for anyone doing the rounds to stay up-to-date on news and information about MCS and Environmental Health in general, you can’t beat this group of links on Alltop.com!

Mahalo to Burt for his matchmaking and mahalo to Neenz for putting together a great Environmental Health topic on Alltop! I really appreciate all your support not just for The Canary Report, but for all the sites promoting education and awareness about Environemntal Health. Aloha!

Who’s chirping about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity today?

Glenda at Writing Stories About Real People, an eclectic blog chock full of interesting topics, writes about a tough week with her chemical sensitivity. In her post entitled “Indoor pollution is killing me!” she says:

This week, although I’ve gone as green as possible in my house, we are having a renovation done and after the plumber had come to put in the pipes for the washing machine, I had the worst attack I’ve had in many years. Turns out it was the glue used on the PVC piping. The harsh chemicals took my breath and I had to go outside to breath[e]. We closed off the new laundry room, placed an air filter machine in the living area but I had to retire to my little cubby hole of a room with my own air cleaner which runs day and night, close my door and hibernate.

The Windsor Star talks to Susan Jasper, vice-president of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Fibromyalgia Society of Alberta (ME/FM), who has fibromyalgia.

Q: How are ME/CFS [Chronic Fatigue Syndrome], fibromyalgia and multiple chemical sensitivity related?

A: They are all distinct, but the reason we lump them together is we think they’re environmentally linked, in the sense that people are affected by their environments more than (with) other conditions. Usually ME/CFS is post-viral, while fibromyalgia is more commonly related to physical trauma, like a motor vehicle accident or a multiple head and neck trauma, and then the pain spreads. Multiple chemical sensitivity can start on its own, for example if you have a history of being in a sick building, where there’s little ventilation and chemicals from the office such as toner or paint. It starts as an exposure problem that generalizes.

MCS America posts an informational flyer on the Quick Environmental Exposure and Assessment Inventory, a standardized questionnaire developed by Dr. Claudia Miller that assists researchers and clinicians when evaluating patients for chemical sensitivity.  It measures exposure levels and symptom severity and estimates the life impact of a chemical injury.

Erin Brockovich investigates brain tumor cluster

Erin Brockovich, the environmental activist portrayed by Julia Roberts in an Oscar-winning movie, met with people in Cameron Monday night. KMBC-News clip:

Report at MyCameronNews.com:

Brockovich speaks to Cameron residents concerned about brain tumors

Approximately 200 Residents of Cameron, Mo. gathered in the gymnasium of the Cameron High School in the hopes that community activist Erin Brockovich would lead them to answers. After feeling unsatisfied with answers from government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Missouri Department of Health, the Center for Disease Control and the Department of Natural Resources who stated that the number of brain tumors in the area were below statistical rates, Brockovich was welcomed with open arms in hopes of finding a reason for the community’s recent health scare.

Brockovich opened her town hall meeting by stating, “I won’t have all of the answers you are looking for tonight. It will take a long time to find out what is causing the problem here. But I can say that I am very uncomfortable with what I am learning.”

Link to full story at MyCameronNews.

Who’s chirping about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity today?

At Zona pellucida… blinded by the light, Dana writes about developing a chemical sensitivity to disposable menstural pads and pantyliners when she was a teenager. Her solution? All-natural reusable cotton or flannel menstrual pads. “The story has a happy ending: Lunapads saved my life!” Dana says. “I highly recommend them.” Lunapads has a great blog, too!

Organic Authority picked up the story of Elizabeth Feudale-Bowes, who was diagnosed several years ago with environmental illness and has been ordered by a judge to remove the non-toxic back yard structure in which she spends most of her life. The Canary Report has been following this story, link here for background.

The World, out of Coos Bay, Oregon, reports on a couple that wants to buy and transplant a condemned house about ready to fall off a cliff so that the husband, who has Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, can live in an old, chemical-free house. It’s a pretty creative proposal and if city officials can figure out how to make it work, it’s a win-win for everyone involved.

Author Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore at NOBODY PASSES, darling, blogs in a post called “Thoughts on the vocabulary of disability” about the interconnections between MCS, fibromyalgia, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. She does a great riff on acronyms, but also speaks to the more serious topic of living with multiple disabilities.

Couple ordered to remove safe room may get reprieve

Town council reconsiders judges’s ruling to remove “bubble,” a safe place for a woman with MCS that she and her husband installed in their back yard.

Good Morning America picked up the story about Elizabeth Feudale-Bowes’s fight to live inside a steel-and-porcelain shed outside her house that serves as a haven for the 52-year-old diagnosed with environmental illness several years ago.

(My problem with the report is the heavy emphasis on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity being an allergy, which it is not. While people with MCS can have allergies, the actual condition of MCS is a reaction to low level poisoning by toxic products. For more information on the difference between allergies and reactions to toxic chemicals, MCS America provides an excellent explanation by Grace Ziem, MD.)

The good news about Feudale-Bowes’s situation with her safe room is that it sounds like the town council is reconsidering the judge’s ruling that Feudale-Bowes must remove the structure because it lacks the proper permits. Click on the video above for more details.

Background and links to previous posts on this story:

AP picked up the story of Elizabeth Feudale-Bowes, the woman with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Pensylvania who’s neighbors complained about the porcelain “bubble” room she and her husband installed in their back yard. The Canary Report has been following this story here, here, and here. Neighbors complained that Feudale-Bowes did not follow building permit laws, and a judge agreed, ordering the couple to dismantle the safe room by the end of the month. Says Feudale-Bowes, “If I don’t live like this [in the safe structure], my pain level is so severe that I can’t function, I can’t live, I can’t survive. It’s excruciating.”

Thanks, Ruth!

UPDATE: Good critique on Good Morning America’s coverage at Fibrocop: Striving to Put FACES on Fibromyalgia.

Canary’s Cry for Tuesday, Oct 21

Telegraph.co.uk has an EXCELLENT article about a family with an autistic child who’s health was dramatically improved by detoxing their house into an eco-home. The first change they made was buying an organic wool mattress, which greatly improved their son’s sleep and inspired them to make other changes: they ripped out the carpet, bought organic sheets, removed fabrics with flame retardent. The article is full of tips on creating a healthy home.

AP picked up the story of Elizabeth Feudale-Bowes, the woman with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Pensylvania who’s neighbors complained about the porcelain “bubble” room she and her husband installed in their back yard. The Canary Report has been following this story here, here, and here. Neighbors complained that Feudale-Bowes did not follow building permit laws, and a judge agreed, ordering the couple to dismantle the safe room by the end of the month. Says Feudale-Bowes, “If I don’t live like this [in the safe structure], my pain level is so severe that I can’t function, I can’t live, I can’t survive. It’s excruciating.”

MailOnline reports a study showing a vaccination given to babies has been linked to asthma. Experts believe the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough jabs might provoke an immune system response which predisposes the body to the lung condition. But delaying the vaccines by two months from the recommended age dramatically reduces the risk, doctors found.

Canada’s Timmons Daily Press says not only is raw sewage flowing into the Ottawa River, so are toxic chemicals. In a memo sent to city councillors last week, deputy manager for infrastructure services Nancy Schepers stated that recent testing found at least 10 chemicals, some of them toxic, in the river that serves as the city’s main source of drinking water. At least one chemical, perfluorobutane sulfonate, can result in birth or developmental effects, affect the brain and nervous system, cause cancer and affect reproduction and fertility.

Experts say everyone is affected by chemical sensitivity

Some people are on the severe end, with their sensitivities so extreme that they can’t function in many public places where they can’t control their environment.

Cleveland Living and Lifestyles News has an interesting and well-written article about Environmental Illness and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity entitled “Environmental Illnesses are gaining attention, thanks to the green movement.” It’s one of the most balanced reports I’ve read in a mainstream paper about MCS and worth reading all the way through.

…environmental medicine is the study of how the reactions we have when we’re exposed to certain toxins affect our immune and neuroendocrine (nervous system and hormones) systems.

Still, the field is often misunderstood as “alternative” medicine. But with the growing popularity for “green” lifestyles and all things organic, and with illnesses that Louisiana residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina got after living in Federal Emergency Management Agency-provided trailers, environmental medicine is getting more attention.

“People just make such a quick judgment about those who are really, really sick,” said Dr. Lisa Lavine Nagy, who has been championing for heightened awareness since her own series of misdiagnoses several years ago for what turned out to be severe multiple chemical sensitivity.

Often, those quick judgments happen because the people more likely to report their chemical sensitivities are women over age 40, she said. Most “normal” women of that age have mild symptoms that are hard to explain, and thus easier to dismiss, she said.

Experts say that everyone is affected in some way by chemical sensitivity. No one quite knows why, but some think genetics may play a large role.

Some people are on the severe end, with their sensitivities so extreme that they can’t function in many public places where they can’t control their environment.

Others may have relatively mild symptoms — or none at all…. (Link to full story, go read it!)

[And some great tips in the side bar]

Possible signs of an environmental illness:

• Headaches while talking on your cell or cordless phone.

• Increased sense of smell, especially to items such as perfume, laundry detergents, cats, etc.

• Increased sensitivity to fluorescent light.

• A diagnosis of adrenal fatigue, or thyroid deficiency or overactivity.

Tips from Dr. Michael Roizen, Cleveland Clinic:

• One of the keys — especially here in Cleveland — is to air one’s house out. Over the course of a winter, the quality of inside air becomes worse than outside air, he said. It doesn’t hurt to open the windows periodically on good days during the winter.

• Avoid materials — household cleaners, rugs, air fresheners, even some furniture — that emit lots of volatile hydrocarbons. As Roizen put it, “You want to use cleaning fluids that are, in fact, safe enough to drink.”

Possible treatments to discuss with your doctor (from Dr. Lisa Nagy):

• Remove yourself from possible causes, i.e. a “sick” house or office. The culprit may be mold, or as unsuspecting as carpeting or fabric softener. A July study from the University of Washington revealed that six top-selling laundry products and air fresheners gave off toxic chemicals — none of which was listed on product labels.

• Decrease your total chemical load. Switch to organic food, filtered air and water.

• Detoxify with the help of intravenous and oral vitamins and supplements, under a doctor’s supervision.

• Investigate whether you have specific food or chemical allergies or hormone imbalances and/or insufficiencies.

• Consider treatment in a low-temperature (140 degrees) sauna, under a doctor’s supervision.

Link

Canary’s Cry for Sunday, Oct. 12

A new feature on The Canary Report: Recent news worthy of a Canary’s Cry.

Here’s the alarm call for Sunday, Oct 12:

The Standard Speaker reports on “A body at war,” the story of a veteran of Desert Storm and Desert Shield who now suffers from multiple sclerosis or MS. My heart breaks when I hear stories about chemically injured veterans.

Local10.com finds “Mold Forces Hundreds of Students Out of Dorms” at Florida Memorial University. Gross out warning.

RedOrbit says South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday: “South Korea is the Largest User of Farm Chemicals Among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Members.”

AP reports that “Mexican marijuana cartels sully US forests, parks.” Seems herbicides and pesticides are being used to grow pot in National Forests, resulting in horrendous damage.

In other forest news, Eonline blares the headline “Britney Sees the Forest for the Perfume.” The pop star’s new perfume Hidden Fantasy has the tagline “What do you have to hide?” and is being marketed as a “seductive scent that is all about expressing the many mysterious sides of a woman.” I have no idea what this has to do with forests, although the promo photo has her looking like a tree hugger, literally.

FT.com, out of the UK, reports in “Making scents of the male market” that more than 40 new men’s scents are being launched in the US market alone this year. Oh goodie, I can hardly wait.

Link to photo by emingus

Short film to document housing for people with MCS

Here’s the trailer to a short film, not yet finished, called Homesick: Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

The upcoming hour long documentary is produced and written by Susan Abod. You might recognize the name from a post I did yesterday on Abod’s short film Funny You Don’t Look Sick.

The quality of the preview is poor; I look forward to the finished work!

Homesick: Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities is an hour long video documentary produced and written by Susan Abod that is now in the process of completion. In Homesick, Susan goes on the road to find out how other people around the country are coping with MCS and dealing with the difficult problem of finding safe housing. She visits their homes and witnesses their daily struggles. They come from all walks of life and live in diverse dwellings that include tents, a house on stilts and a teepee.

Susan’s own journey as a person with MCS traveling from home to home is the connecting thread between these stories. These poignant portraits and her narrative provide a unique, compassionate and even at times humorous perspective on this growing crisis.

[...]

Update

It’s been seven years since the footage [in the clip above] was first taken. Susan’s own health and housing crises interrupted her work on Homesick. Susan recently moved to the Santa Fe area to see if it would improve her own failing health. Yet, finding safe housing still eludes her. In the meantime, she has reconnected with many of the people she originally interviewed and has learned how they have been managing over the years. Susan will be weaving these updated stories along with her own to complete Homesick.

Link to learn more about the film

Link to YouTube clip

Thanks, Linda!

Funny you don’t look sick

Trailer for Funny You Don’t Look Sick, a documentary about a woman living with Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS).

This intimate documentary self-portrait is told with humor and compassion. Susan Abod is a woman living with Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) or Environmental Illness. Filmed over a period of 18 months in 1994-95, Susan describes in detail the nature of her illness, illustrates her daily routine, and gives us a guided tour of her environmentally “safe” apartment. Comments from Susan’s numerous doctors and a visit with her CFIDS support group offer further insights in this illuminating, firsthand report on a baffling, twenty-first century disease.

Link

Jury awards homeowners $903,000 for mold in new house

BARTOW | A Lakeland woman who contracted pneumonia six times in 18 months because of mold in her newly built house won a $903,000 jury verdict late Thursday against the home builder.

Jurors deliberated about five hours before deciding that Lakeland builder Rudy Brown was responsible for the problems in the house.

They awarded $718,000 to Janice Martin Arnett so she could repair her house in Eagle Lake, and another $185,000 to compensate for the time she couldn’t use the house.

Bartow lawyer Tom Saunders, speaking on behalf of Arnett, said they were pleased with the verdict.

“It’s been a difficult time, but we are pleased with the outcome,” he said.

Brown did not return telephone calls for comment Friday.

During the two-week trial, Saunders told jurors that Arnett and her husband, Mike, moved into the $1.4 million, 8,500-square-foot lakefront house in July 2002.

“There were problems with the windows leaking and cracks in the stucco,” he said. “The builder tried to fix it, but by August 2004, he said there was nothing else he could do.”

By January 2005, Arnett had to move from the house because the mold was making her sick, Saunders said.

Link to full story at theledger.com.

Mac Pro emitting toxic benzene?

Mac Pro owners, listen up.

Nothing is confirmed on this, but I just wanted to red flag it. I’ll try to track for you as things progress.

A french newspaper Liberation.fr has published a report (English translation) stating that Mac Pro owners run the risk of getting diseases as dangerous as leukemia (blood cancer) simply by using their computer. The newspaper was warned by a national agency scientist that the smell (already detected by many Mac Pro users on Apple forums) is actually toxic, composed of several toxins, including benzene.

An Apple Core reader requesting anonymity, sends the following details:

Here’s a proof that the smell problem was previously known, check this page.

The real news here is that the smell is toxic… but still no official answer from Apple. I’ve submitted this piece of news to let english-speaking Mac Pro users know about it (since it was published in french). Libération is a very well known newspaper in France, it’s not a blog or anything like that, so normally you should be able to trust this article.

I just called AppleCare (in France). They confirmed the problem but they told me it only concerned Mac Pros built before 2008 (without mentioning if being built in China was a condition, as suspected by users on the Apple forums). Mine is early 2008 so I should not worry they said.

When I asked them to send me this answer in written form, even by e-mail, they refused. They put me on hold for 40 minutes to forward me to the customer relations service, but apparently they didn’t want to talk to me so I got instead a level 2 technical agent who told me the exact same thing: don’t worry, we guess your Mac Pro is safe, but we can’t confirm in written form which Mac Pro have toxicity problems until Apple decides to communicate about it. Apple did nothing since they knew of this problem, which may be in the beginning of 2007, so we can still wait very long for any change in their policy…

Link

Environmental health book causes controversy

Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on Our Children, by Philip Shabecoff and Alice Shabecoff, links toxic products to a rise in childhood disease and death.

Dick Clapp, an environmental health professor at Boston University’ School of the Public Health (BUSPH), explores the controversy surrounding a book that links environmental problems to disease.

The journalist authors highlight polluted communities where children have high rates of health problems and industries that produce toxic substances. BUSPH’s Insider interviewed Clapp about the reactions to the book:

Insider: What is Poisoned Profits about and why does it strike a chord with environmentalists?

Richard Clapp: Poisoned Profits chronicles tragedies of child health caused by environmental toxicants. It covers cases of cancer, autism, and other illnesses and disorders, and it offers possible links to these hazards. It also follows the money - it reveals the names of businesses that are responsible and talks about what they’ve done to avoid accountability for children’s suffering. It is a hard-hitting book written by smart and capable journalists.

I: Some reviewers have criticized the authors for showing many specific examples of illness but not enough evidence to link the illnesses to specific exposures. Are they hyping the evidence?

RC: Well, it is true that epidemiological studies don’t provide definitive answers to specific cases of disease. Epidemiologists look at groups of people, and how disease moves in a population, rather than at individuals. It can be very difficult to prove unequivocally that a child’s birth defect was caused by a specific chemical from a specific company. But epidemiology offers the best science to understand how diseases occur in populations by looking at patterns. The Shabecoffs make the case that the epidemiological evidence is strong in linking some child illnesses to toxic exposures.

I: So, is Poisoned Profits sensationalism or fair comment?

The reason that I think Poisoned Profits is so controversial is because the book names names and the polluters are afraid that this information could be used against them in court. However, I would say this information is accurate background to the larger picture. It’s well-researched and well-vetted - so it’s controversial, but sound.

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Overwhelmed by mold

Costs top $19M, more Board of Equalization workers being moved

At left, state employee Wendy Schroeder, now homebound, keeps a plastic film over her eyes to keep out debris.

I’m amazed at how many stories there are about people getting sick from toxic mold. We’ve been following Missy Gluckman’s story since early summer about her nightmare working in an old building at a community college in New York.

Now here’s a story from the west coast about a woman who got sick from toxic mold at her workplace in a California State building.

As I’m sure you know, toxic mold exposure often triggers chemical sensitivity; in fact, I have yet to hear of a case where someone who’s been made sick from mold hasn’t developed hyper sensitivity to synthetic chemicals.

Wendy Schroeder began working at the California State Board of Equalization headquarters on April 1, 1996 - April Fool’s Day. It was no laughing matter.

She’s been on disability leave since March. Now, recovering from sinus and tear-duct surgery, she says toxic mold and other hazardous substances in the building made her sick. Even working on files that have been stored in the building makes her break out in a rash.

Although state officials took steps last month to relocate dozens more workers to new offices, more than 2,300 people still work at BOE headquarters at 450 N St. in downtown Sacramento, despite overcrowded conditions and ongoing problems with water damage and mold. The problems raise questions about whether staying in the building over the long term is viable as costs climb.

“(That’s) my question daily,” said Bill Leonard, a Republican who served in the state Legislature for 24 years before he was first elected to the board in 2002. “If we weren’t in a budget crisis, I’d be looking for a legislative sponsor to buy us a new campus.”

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Photo: Noel Neuburger | Sacramento Business Journal

And also in the news today:

Sudden Rise in Allergies and Asthma After Hurricane Ike
PR Web (press release) - Ferndale, WA, USA
“Storms in general can worsen allergies and asthma because increased winds mobilize mold spores and pollens and send them flying through the air. …

Shandoka Residents Alerted to Potential of Mold Growth
Telluride Watch - Telluride, CO, USA
by Karen James TELLURIDE – While the appearance of major mold infestations in two Mountain Village rental apartment complexes earlier this year has led some …

Winfield school replaces ceiling after mold found
Charleston Gazette - WV, USA
Maintenance crews at Winfield Elementary School replaced the ceiling in one of the school’s portable classrooms Thursday, after inspectors found mold in the …

Students report mold in Logan Hall
Chanticleer (subscription) - Jacksonville, AL, USA
Students at Logan Hall have reported many cases of mold growing in rooms and hallways. According to students the fungus can very easily be seen in several …

Damage, mold push St. Charles Manor residents from apartments
Houma Courier - Houma, Louisiana, USA
Now residents of the St. Charles Manor apartment complex share a collective dread, facing the prospect of becoming homeless because of a mold infestation …

Experts say: Act quickly to minimize mold’s damaging effects in …
By media-newswire.com
COLLEGE STATION – People returning to homes flooded during Hurricane Ike or other disasters should act quickly to combat mold, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service expert. “If you don’t it could ruin your home, possessions and …

Katrina survivors remain ill; children at highest risk

Survey endorsed by Sierra Club Delta Chapter, The Chemical Sensitivity Foundation, and The National Coalition for the Homeless finds many Katrina survivors still very ill, with children suffering the most. Toxic FEMA trailers are a major cause.

Newly released data from a grassroots Katrina and Rita health survey reveals that over 70% of the 277 survey respondents remain ill from hurricane exposures, regardless of race, gender, or source of exposure.

Respondents reported having had either no change in their conditions or reported that their symptoms have slightly or dramatically worsened. A higher number-over 75% -of children remain ill.

“Children are a higher risk group than adults because their immune systems, brains, and lungs are still developing,” according to Jack Thrasher, PhD, who is an immunotoxicologist assisting with the health survey.

Although the survey responses for children are somewhat low as of yet, the survey team is concerned that the initial findings may reflect a larger scale pattern. Children need to be looked at in greater numbers because if these high percentage rates of children remaining ill are reflected on a larger scale, there is reason to be alarmed.

Dr. Thrasher states “I am deeply concerned about the children and we must find ways to reach out into the community to further assess this situation.”

Initial findings indicate that 48.4% of respondents reported becoming sick from the FEMA trailers, mobile homes or park models in which they lived while 68.4% of respondents attributed their ill health to other exposures such as sewage, sediment, flood waters, mold, etc., regardless of whether or not they lived in FEMA-provided housing.

The Katrina and Rita health survey will remain open for an extended period of time to give schools, parent organizations (such as the PTA), community groups, and special-needs groups ample time to input data into the online health survey, which is available in both English and Spanish at www.partnerspublishing.org.

The survey is a grassroots effort led by Katrina survivors Kurt and Lee Ann Billings with the assistance of Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN). It is endorsed by the following organizations: Sierra Club Delta Chapter, The Chemical Sensitivity Foundation, and The National Coalition for the Homeless.

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Link to photo by jpeepz at flickr

Link to more info on The Canary Report: Following hurricane Katrina, 300,000 people under the care of FEMA were housed in toxic trailers purchased on the fly by the overwhelmed federal agency.

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