Who’s chirping about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity?

Green Living has a article in the Winter 2008 issue called “Wake Up and Smell the Chemicals,” with a section on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. The link will take you to the online version of the issue, go to pages 46-47 for the story, it’s chock full of good information.

Articles like this validate claims made by those of us with MCS, who say chemicals found in many everyday personal care products are toxic not only to us but to everyone. Further, as the article explores, scientists are starting to understand the ways in which low levels of toxic chemicals, such as those found in perfumes and other fragrance, adversely affect the body. Take heart, Canaries, because eventually, science will catch up with us and our claims of exquisite sensitivity.

Glenda at Writing Life Stories tells a story about getting assaulted by fragrance from fellow patrons at a fast food restaurant. She writes:

As soon as I sat down, the smell hit me again. I looked up and saw the guy who had been standing in line near me. He had plopped down fifteen feet away from my table. The odor emanating from him smelled worse to me than a skunk’s spray, the chemicals in that fragrance he wore poisoned me. By the time I got out of there, hoarse and coughing, I gasped, sucked in the fresh outside air like it was my final breath.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. More and more of my friends are experiencing the same symptoms — spending tons of money on doctors who run tests and tell them they have asthma and to stay away from chemicals. Duh!! The asthma is caused by the chemicals we breathe every day, the chemicals all around us, the chemicals we can’t escape.

Thanks, Linda!

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in a hospital setting

Photo: Rodger Norris, who has multiple chemical sensitivity lives in a remote home in Timberon, New Mexico. The nearest neighbor lives about a mile away, and the nearest small town (where he lived for seven years until an increase in traffic caused his symptoms to worsen) is 35 miles over winding mountain roads. In the photo, Norris, 56, displays the sign he posts at the doors of his house and his driveway, describing his condition and warning away visitors who are smokers or who are wearing products that contain artificial fragrances. Courtesy of Rodger Norris.

A registered nurse, Carolyn Cooper, MPH, RN, wrote an article in 2007 about how to care for patients in hospital who have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. (Roger Norris pictured above was a subject of Cooper’s report.)

Given that the article was written two years ago, it gives us some perspective about how far we’ve come with the current literature on toxic chemicals in our environment. You will see better what I mean if you read Cooper’s full article. For example, all the male reproductive studies have come out since this article was published, as have most of the BPA and melamine and FEMA formaldehyde reports - so the public and the medical profession knows a lot more now than it did then.

Here’s an excerpt:

Overview: Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a condition in which people experience a broad array of symptoms in reaction to exposure to trace amounts of common chemicals. Symptoms are most often triggered by odors, typically affect many systems, and can range from a runny nose to difficulty breathing and heart palpitations. The cause of this condition is unclear and there is no universal consensus on how to diagnose or treat it. MCS afflicts millions of Americans, although its prevalence is difficult to establish reliably. Theories of causation include both the physical and the psychogenic. This article begins with a case study, describes the current research on MCS, and offers recommendations to guide nurses when treating these patients in the hospital.

[...]

The definition of MCS has also changed over time and may continue to evolve. Its essential feature remains, however, the patient’s assertion of a link between a variety of symptoms and low-level chemical exposures that act as triggers.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t recognize a diagnosis of MCS, it does acknowledge the existence of “chronic multisystem illnesses,” including chronic fatigue syndrome, the symptoms of which often resemble those of MCS.

A 1999 consensus statement published in the Archives of Environmental Health offered the following six criteria for a diagnosis of MCS:

* Very low levels of exposure to chemicals and other irritants, well below toxicity thresholds, produce symptoms.

* Symptoms are reproducible with repeated exposure to the chemical or irritant.

* The condition is chronic.

* Symptoms lessen or resolve when the chemical triggers are removed.

* Similar symptoms may be caused by several chemically unrelated substances.

* Symptoms occur in multiple organ systems.

But clinicians may find these open-ended criteria difficult to apply, especially without laboratory analysis and other physical findings to link specific exposures to specific symptoms.

There’s also no accepted definition of what constitutes a “mild” or “severe” case of MCS, nor is there a consensus on whether the condition is always caused by a precipitating environmental exposure (as may be the case for certain industrial workers or for those exposed during an accident to a single high dose of a toxic chemical). And while research is ongoing, diagnosis is further complicated by the fact that many of the most common symptoms, such as fatigue, heart palpitations, sweating, and difficulty concentrating, are the same as those necessary for the diagnosis of various psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders, including depression, somatoform disorders, panic disorder, and agoraphobia.

All staff members should at the very least take the following precautions when working with people who have MCS.

* Don’t use perfume, aftershave, or scented lotion.

* Keep free of the odor of cigarette smoke.

* Wear a long-sleeved cotton surgical gown (and cap if necessary) to mask odors if you know you smell of a potential irritant and no other caregiver is available.

* Knock first and wait to be admitted to the patient’s room.

Surgery. When a patient with MCS is scheduled for surgery, notify perioperative areas well in advance. It is particularly important that the anesthesiologist confer with the patient before a surgical procedure so that medication sensitivities can be considered. Perioperative clinicians must be prepared to carefully reassure patients that safety measures will be taken on their behalf. Other recommendations for surgery include the following:

* Schedule the procedure as the first case of the day to minimize exposure to environmental irritants that will be stirred up during the day.

* A ceramic or porcelain oxygen mask may be indicated to deliver anesthesia.

* Povidone iodine is generally a safe antiseptic solution, but isopropyl alcohol should be used sparingly.

* Use paper tape for surgical dressings (or assess the patient’s reactions to other adhesives 24 to 48 hours in advance by using patch tests).

* Use only latex-free gloves.

Link to full article

PDF of full article: mcs-in-a-clinical-setting

Carolyn Cooper’s blog

Thanks, Linda, for link and added insight!

Canary manners: Wedding invitations

Kerry from Lemon-Aide, who has Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and a host of other chronic health issues, wrote me and asked if The Canary Report flock has any ideas to help solve this problem:

My son’s getting married this summer and I’m starting to think about how we communicate via the invitations for guests to refrain from perfumes, clothes with dryer sheets etc. Would it be possible to put a question out there on your blog to get your MCS readers input?

Kerry is a wonderfully sweet woman with a blog to match. I know she wants to make this a very special day for her son and new daughter-in-law, but also wants to stay safe so she can enjoy the day, too. Any ideas for her?

Photo by Cherry

Dear President-Elect Obama: Health care is a right

Yesterday’s post on President-Elect Obama’s request for input on Health Care inspired many of you to write him about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Bravo! Like true canaries, you are out front sending your messages of warning and need.

I’d like to post the letters if you would like to share. If you’ve saved a copy, send to me via email to susie(at)thecanaryreport(dot)org.

Missy Gluckman (at left) wrote me this morning with a copy of her remarks. The Canary Report has been following Missy’s struggle with severe illness and MCS brought on by toxic mold exposure at her place of work. Here are Missy’s remarks to President-Elect Obama:

Dear President Elect Obama,

Thank you for asking for our input!

I would like to see ND (Natural Doctors - licensed by many states) included more regularly in health care plans. In addition, natural supplements that are prescribed by NDs are not covered by health insurance and I would like to see this change.

Why do I care about this? Well, let me clarify: I tried traditional medicine for 39 years of my 40 and switched recently to an ND after 3 years of treatment for a variety of illnesses caused by mold/toxic exposure that nearly killed me at 37.  My ND, thankfully, is covered by my insurance plan (Anthem - state of CT), but this is RARE. The ND has been the only person in 3 years who has given me ANY relief from toxic poisoning and the related illnesses (thyroid, liver and lung damage, multiple chemical sensitivity, etc). Without her unique approach to healing, I would likely be pushing for Full Disability which costs the govt a lot more than me being healthy and working (i’m categorized as Partially disabled by NY State worker’s compensation - but I choose to push through it and work bc I WANT to be productive and could not afford to live on $400 a week as granted by worker’s comp).

The natural approach would potentially improve the health and quality of life for thousands who suffer from toxic exposure, yet 99% of people will not go to this type of Dr bc of lack of insurance. An avg appt is $200 and supplements (which change each time I go  - can be as little as $12 or as much as $800).   The pharma companies are driving policy and are not always the best solution (in my case, the traditional pharma solutions resulted in a 30 pound weight gain which caused a whole new host of issues and simply did not work on any above stated conditions).

So, please help people who are suffering by giving them the option of licensed NDs and not allowing health insurance companies the right to deny a licensed dr into the network if they meet the criteria (i.e. licensed, etc - my ND was denied access into the Aetna network.)  Natural plant supplements have been used for CENTURIES in countries such as India, Brazil, etc with extremely positive effects - please fund the study and use of supplements so that they can be covered under insurance plans.

Secondly, I would like to ask for a law that requires manufacturers to state the contents of “fragrance” in their items sold (such as candles, lotions, Fabreze, etc). As a person who suffers from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), fragrances (which are toxic and some are carcinogens) are like kryptonite to me - within minutes I’m forced to go to bed due to the crippling ear pain, respiratory struggles, etc), all so someone can “smell nice”. If people and the govt understood what was actually in “Fragrance” as a category and how it can cause brain fog and behavioral issues in certain children, they would craft some meaningful laws to protect them and people like me who suffer MCS.

PREVENTION of illness is a big part of the need to restructure our health system. If daily toxins weren’t permitted - and certainly not encouraged - less people would suffer from illness and less children from asthma.

I got ill working at SUNY Rockland Cmty College - at a desk (I was a college administrator.) I was exposed to mold mycotoxins such as stachybotris and penicillium. These cause short term memory loss (brain damage) and hemorrhaging in babies. The school knew about the mold for at least a decade and did nothing to rectify it …WHY? Because our govt (unlike most industrialized countries in the world) has ZERO laws about mold.

Did you know that African American children in urban areas suffer from the HIGHEST rate of asthma in the country - why? Reports indicate that mold in public housing is one major factor - again, no one dictates that you must be permitted to live in a place that is safe from health issues.  Mold is a major cause of permanent illness which drains the economy and feed the pharma system.  This needs to change.

THANK YOU President Elect Obama for asking and for giving us a voice in our lives.  Without my health, I am nothing. Simple as that. Thankfully I am employed by the State of CT and have options - MOST DO NOT and as you said, health care is a RIGHT, not a luxury.

Good health to you all.

How to use the Skin Deep database

The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database is a simple and easy way to check if your cosmetics are safe. Here’s a vid that explains how to use the site.

Link

The hunt for truly nontoxic fabrics

Linda, one of our flock, who has an exquisite sensitivity to most fabrics, even organic cottons, needs help finding safe fabrics and knits. She lives in a very cold climate and needs to bundle up for the winter. Who has ideas and sources for her?

Linda says:

I need beyond “just” organic. For now I need completely non-toxic clothing to simply cover my body/keep me warm. No one else will see them, for the most part, so they can be simple. Stacey and Clinton should try a severely MCS version of What not to Wear…

I’ve been trying to detox a MEC and Cotton Ginny organic cotton bag full of clothing, mostly undyed, with no sucess for over 2 years. There are still traditional chemical finishes or contamination issues. I don’t have a dryer or outside line in the sun, both of which I think help in a detox process, so that may be part of the problem. I line dry indoors.

I’ve discovered that US (Texan) or Peruvian organic cotton has been ok for me, because I did find a couple of pairs of underwear that only took 20-30 washings to be wearable, and the peruvian cotton on some of my bedding/comforters is ok even tho not washed… as long as it didn’t pick up contamination in transit, or from warehouse fragrances, like happened with the last pillows I ordered from a store instead of direct from the company. The store did not follow my instructions about douple wrapping and not storing them in the warehouse, and sent them to me in fragrance contaminated cardboard, so I returned the organic pillows - couldn’t go near them even tho I tried to air them out. The place sells fragranced soaps, and some have non-organic essential oils, as well as stuff like patchouli, which is a killer.

Nothing organic from overseas has detoxed for me. Maybe partially the seeds, but I think all the colours/dyes are problems now, as are the sizing and finishing chemicals. Less toxic processes are fine for less sensitized folk, but not for those of us in clothing/laundry purgatories.

[There are] hazards with shipping containers, how they are fumigated, contaminating everything inside. That is another real problem.

I can’t afford to buy all kinds of clothes/textiles, run them thru the washing machine a hundred times, and still have them unsafe when they’re starting to fall apart. No-one takes returns, or believes I’ve never worn them by that stage (LOL). Whatever is being used these days is just not [washing] out and continues to be irritating and has a neurological impact. I need no chemical/fragrance contact clothing, as pure as it can be made, and stored/transported.

Buying from a lot of the so-called eco-conscious places doesn’t work because they like incense and scented soaps. Even some organic essential oils can be sensitizers. And they are all volatile. You would think it would be possible to find completely fragrance-free / chemical-free clothing and textiles somewhere in North America. Someone needs to start up this business.

Does anybody have ideas for fabrics and sources for Linda? (You guys know you have to click on the title of the post to get to the comment section, right? Go on, click, leave some ideas for Linda! She needs our help.)

Photo by Rachel Lake: Fingerless mitts of Blue Sky Alpacas un-dyed Organic Cotton.

Be a smart cosmetic shopper

Yesterday’s post in Enviroblog entitled “Tips from the make-up artist” makes a good point about the importance of paying attention to the ingredients in our personal care products. Those of us with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity are probably more concientious than the average shopper, but I have to admit that up until very recently, I relied more on what my nose and body told me than what was on the label.

But now, I not only do the sniff test for all my cosmetics and personal care products, I also check labels and consult the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, the bible of concientious shoppers. I do this because it’s not just the toxic chemicals that trigger MCS symptoms that I need to eliminate from my life, it’s all toxic chemicals and products.

Here are some practical shopping tips from Skin Deep, most of which I’m sure you are already following, but it never hurts to review, especially for those of you who do not have MCS but are interested in living a healthier lifestyle:

Use our What Not To Buy list to avoid especially problematic ingredients - like mercury, lead, and placenta - and the products that contain them.

Use fewer products. Is there something you can cut from your daily routine, or a product you can use less often? By cutting down on the number of chemicals contacting your skin every day, you will reduce any potential health risks associated with your products.

Use the “Advanced Search” feature of Skin Deep to find products that have fewer potential health issues. Choose a product category and exclude the hazardous ingredients - carcinogens and neurotoxins, for instance - and Skin Deep will generate a custom shopping list for you.

Read labels. Marketing claims on personal care products are not defined under the law, and can mean anything or nothing at all, including claims like organic, natural, hypoallergenic, animal cruelty free, and fragrance free. Read the ingredient label carefully to find evidence that the claims are true.

Use milder soaps. Soap removes dirt and grease from the surface of your skin, but also strips away your body’s own natural skin oils. Choosing a milder soap may reduce skin dryness and your need for moisturizers to replace oils your skin can provide naturally.

Minimize your use of dark hair dyes. Many contain coal tar ingredients that have been linked to cancer in some studies.

Cut down on your use of powders; avoid the use of baby powder on newborns and infants. A number of ingredients common in powder have been linked to cancer and other lung problems when they are inhaled. FDA warns that powders may cause lung damage if inhaled regularly.

Choose products that are “fragrance”-free. Fragrances can cause allergic reactions. Products that claim to be “fragrance free” on the packaging may not be. They could contain masking fragrances that give off a neutral odor. Read the ingredient label - in products truly free of fragrance, the word “fragrance” will not appear there. Find “fragrance”-free products with our advanced search.

Reduce your use of nail polish. It’s one of the few types of products that routinely contains ingredients linked to birth defects. Paint your toenails and skip the fingernails. Paint nails in a well-ventilated room, or outside, or avoid using nail polish altogether, particularly when you are pregnant. Browse our custom shopping guide for advice on nail polishes that contain fewer ingredients of concern.

Link

Photo by smcgee

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.

Who’s chirping about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity today?

Bancroft This Week reports on Peter Haynes who’s been living in a tent since mid September due to a severe case of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. He’s saved only by a surgical mask that filters the air he breathes. Haynes was diagnosed and treated at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto.

Lee at Health Advice for Women talks about the ways in which her diet affects her Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in “MCS: Gluten & Dairy Free.”

Leif Grunseth, certified neuromuscular therapist, re-posts “Personal Care Products: Picking the Safe Ones,” snitched from sixwise.com.

CFS Warrior blogs about “Interesting Research Updates on CFS/CFIDS” and the role of infections in causing or perpetuating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as well as carbon monoxide sensitivity being a cause in those with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity combined with light, sound and taste sensitivity.

Poverty and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty

Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters to post about the same issue on the same day. The aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion. Blog Action Day 08’s topic is POVERTY. Here is my contribution.

Coping with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is a challenge on every front in a person’s life. It impacts employment, housing, social activity, personal relationships, personal care, eating habits, exercise, recreation, and leisure. Health care becomes confusing and disorienting because medical doctors do not recognize MCS and therefore do not know how to help. To add insult to injury, some MDs believe MCS is psychosomatic, and either dismiss complaints or send the patient off to the shrink.

And when people with MCS are forced to seek out alternative health practitioners, it’s a crap shoot. While most practitioners– acupuncturists, nutritionists, dentists, and others– have good hearts and surely want to help, chances are pretty good that the patient will be led on a wild goose chase, and waste precious financial resources on alternative therapies and supplements, hoping for that magical cure.

But a cure for MCS is most likely going to be elusive. After all, MCS is not a disease or allergy, it’s a reaction to low level poisoning from toxic chemicals. So the more practical course of action might be for the sufferer to find safe housing and employment, stay away from toxic friends and family, dump toxic clothing and replace with natural fabrics, eat organic foods, buy a HEPA air filter and vacuum, find a good water filter, move to a place with cleaner air. But how easy is that course of action for anyone let alone someone who is sick with depleted resources?

So you can see how MCS can catapult a person into poverty. When forced to leave employment because the air is too toxic to breathe, there is no paycheck. When there is no social or familial support system and no safe housing, a person is out on the street. If there’s not sufficient money for fresh organic food, nutritional supplements, air and water filters, and a HEPA vacuum, then a person’s health further deteriorates. And a life on that edge can very quickly spiral into poverty.

This is why too many people with MCS are sleeping in cars or in aluminum trailers in a friend’s back yard. Many who can’t find safe housing or employment hunker down, strip down, go zen, go without, and struggle to adapt to the newfound state of limited resources. This is the world of poverty, and if anyone with MCS thinks this scenario isn’t a heartbeat away, they are fooling themselves. There is no safety net for people with a health condition not recognized by the government or mainstream medical community.

Such is the life of canaries. It’s not just sensitivity to toxic chemicals that people with MCS live with, it’s acute sensitivity to the social injustice of a negligent health care and governmental system that refuses to even acknowledge there’s a problem.

###

If you’d like to learn more about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and poverty, Grist: Environmental News and Commentary covered the topic in 2006.

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Meet Jessica, she won over the governator

In 2005, Jessica Assaf built a campaign to lobby senators and the California governor’s office to pass SB484, a bill that requires cosmetics manufacturers to inform the Department of Health Services if their products contain carcinogens or other toxic substances.

Jessica was shocked to learn that many personal care products contain chemicals that have been linked to cancer and reproductive ailments. Working with the Teens for Safe Cosmetics Campaign, Jessica created “Operation Beauty Drop” during which large bins were placed in public malls for teenagers to drop off their toxic beauty products. The collected products were sent back to the manufacturers with a petition signed by the teens demanding the reformulation of products without toxic chemicals.

As support for Jessica’s program grew, so did her belief that she could institute change on a larger scale and in individuals’ lives. With four of her friends, Jessica lobbied senators and the California governor’s office to pass SB484, a bill that requires cosmetics manufacturers to inform the Department of Health Services if their products contain carcinogens or other toxic substances. After the successful and unexpected passage of SB484 on October 7, 2005, she organized a Teens for Safe Cosmetics Summit educating teens from around the country on how to conduct their own safe cosmetic campaigns. Over thirty students took part in the workshops and began their own projects in their communities.

Link

Botanie organic soap recommended for canaries

Catherine, one of our canary flock, who blogs over at Breathez, posted some timely info about an organic soap she recommends for peeps with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. I was just thinking that I need to find some soap, so I’m going to put in an order and try some (unscented). I’ll let you know how it goes. Here’s what Catherine has to say about it:

I just have to pass on a little tidbit of information about the “greatest soap on earth.” Well, I think it’s the greatest anyway, and I’ve converted a good friend here too, who splits a wholesale order with me every six months or so. Botanie Soap is made by a small company in Missoula, Montana, and is available in several natural fragrances as well as no-fragrance-added. It has an olive oil base and just feels yummy on your skin. And it actually cleans, even my four-year-old grandson’s grimy fingers after he’s been digging in the dirt. Best of all, even Randl likes it, so we don’t have to have two separate bars of soap in the shower.

Here’s some info from Botanie:

I have sensitive skin and can’t use soap. Can I use Botanie’s organic herbal soap?

Although we cannot guarantee it, chances are, yes. Most skin sensitivities are aggravated by the synthetic ingredients in lotions, creams, make-up, and soaps. Without these ingredients, however, there is nothing left to irritate your skin. Many people who have had trouble with dermatologist recommended soap or “sensitive skin” soap have found success with Botanie’s Herbal Soap. This is because even doctor recommended sensitive skin soaps contain many unnecessary chemicals that can, and do, irritate your skin. Again, always read the list of ingredients in your soap. Although many people with sensitive skin enjoy using our scented herbal soap varities, we recommend our Unscented Soap for people with extreme sensitivities.

What does Botanie mean by “all natural soap”?

To us, natural soap means a soap whose ingredients are plant based, and we further define our product as an herbal soap. We oppose the body care industry’s use of the word “natural” to include synthetic fragrances, colorants, and preservatives. We add no artificial substances to our soaps, such as synthetic fragrances, dyes, and preservatives, and where possible, we use organically grown products. Our purely herbal soap is scented with essential oils only and colored with organic herbs and plant extracts only. The soap base recipe is made from 100% certified organic oils. Our products contain no parabens. Read through our ingredient list to see what we mean by “natural soap.” Then, to really see what we mean, take a copy of our ingredients with you next time you go to the store and compare them to the ingredients of soaps on the shelves. Your skin will know the difference.

How organic is your soap?

We make every bar with a minimum of 85% organic ingredients. Due to the chemistry of soap, it is almost impossible to go much higher than that. Within the natural products industry, there is a conversation taking place about whether soap can be technically defined as “organic” (since soap is the result of a chemical reaction and most of the original organic materials have been transformed). For our part, we commit to making soap using ONLY organic base oils and keeping our soap’s ingredients above 85% organic. A soap’s raw ingredients are either organic or they’re not, regardless of the definitions, and Botanie commits to using certified organic oils.

Link to Botanie home page

Link to more about Botanie natural soap

Link to Botanie organic soap page

Hormone-altering cosmetics chemicals found in teenage girls

Many chemicals detected linked to serious health problems

Here’s a new report from the Environmental Working Group about hormone-altering chemicals found in cosmetics and body care products. Isn’t it interesting that the products that trigger a bad reaction in people with Mulitple Chemical Sensitivity are proving out through scientific study to be toxic and damaging even at low levels?

OAKLAND, CA - Teenage girls across America are contaminated with hormone-altering chemicals found in cosmetics and body care products, confirms a new study released today by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

The first-of-its kind study found 16 toxic chemicals in blood and urine samples from 20 teenage girls from eight states and the District of Columbia, aged 14-19, including preservatives, fragrance and antimicrobial compounds. Many of these are linked to serious health risks in lab animals, even at low-dose levels.

“Hormone-altering chemicals shouldn’t be in cosmetics, especially in products used by millions of teenage girls,” said Rebecca Sutton, Ph.D, author of the report and Staff Scientist at EWG. “Their bodies are still developing and may be especially vulnerable to risks from these exposures,” added Sutton.

The young women participating in this study were recruited from locations across the U.S. and represent diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.  They used an average of nearly 17 personal care products per day that contain a total of 174 unique cosmetic ingredients.

The study provides the first data available from teens on levels of synthetic chemical musks, common fragrance ingredients that accumulate in people and act like estrogen in the body, and preservatives called parabens that also mimic estrogen.

“The Teen Body Burden Study is proof that something needs to be done. My results serve as permanent motivation to fight the chemical battle and win,” said Jessica Assaf, one of the teens tested.

Federal health statutes do not require companies to test products or ingredients for safety before they are sold. As a result, nearly all body care products contain ingredients that have not been assessed for safety by any federal agency, and are not required to meet any uniform safety standards.

“Most parents don’t know that the eyeliner, lipstick or shampoo they allow their daughters to use probably contains at least one chemical linked to a number of serious health concerns,” said Sutton. “Teenage girls are at a particularly vulnerable age and these exposures could trigger a subtle sequence of damaging effects that leads to health problems later in life.”

Teenagers and their parents can consult EWG’s Skin Deep online database to help them make informed decisions about their products.

EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment.

Link to full EWG release

Link to full EWG Report: Teen Girls’ Body Burden of Hormone-Altering Cosmetics Chemicals

Link to Greenwire release

Dryer Balls to the rescue!

One of the most problematic products for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is scented dryer sheets. If I am anywhere near one or someone who is wearing clothes that have been dried with one, I’m a goner: my brain is off in lala land, my eyes burn, and I lose all energy. You, too?

Several canaries have written me about the horrors of dryer sheets. So I was delighted when Missy Gluckman, whose mold exposure story we have followed on The Canary Report, wrote to tell me about a completely different type of product she uses that gives her the same result as dryer sheets but without toxic chemicals: Dryer Balls!

Here’s what Missy wrote to me:

Friends,

I stumbled across this product and want to share it with you. For those of you who don’t know, the dryer sheets that you put into the dryer with your clothes have toxins in them. For people like me who have multiple chemical sensitivity (in my case, from mold exposure, but others may simply have an allergic reaction to the smell they emit), the smell of your clothes impacts the quality of my day. I can smell your laundry detergent…your hairspray…your scented lotion…but most of all, I can smell your dryer sheet! Walking anywhere near your dryer vent does the same. (I have to dodge across the street, cover my nose/mouth, try not to inhale while I escape the smell.)

This product is a non toxic way to keep your clothes from static cling without spreading toxins. (Especially important if you have children - you work so hard to have them and then don’t realize that what the market positions as “putting soft and nicely smelling clothes on your kid” is actually potentially poisoning him/her!)  Tony and I used the 2 dryer balls last week and they work wonderfully! We aren’t spending money on dryer sheets that will end up in a landfill somewhere now also.

Here is the link. They offer a deal if you buy 2 sets …. so pick one up for a friend! (Note: I have no financial benefit if you do or don’t buy this).

Missy

Here’s the Dryer Ball description:

Designed to reduce drying time and soften fabrics without the use of chemical fabric softeners, Dryer Balls are an eco-friendly solution to landfill-clogging dryer sheets and chemical-laden liquid softeners. As your wet laundry tumbles in the dryer, these bumpy balls lift and separate fabric to make it soft and fluffy, and allow air to flow more efficiently.

Link

Thanks, Missy!

How to find and use safer cosmetics

Here are some basic tips for finding and using safer cosmetics, from the Environmental Working Group:

Use our What Not To Buy list to avoid especially problematic ingredients — like mercury, lead, and placenta — and the products that contain them.

Use fewer products. Is there something you can cut from your daily routine, or a product you can use less often? By cutting down on the number of chemicals contacting your skin every day, you will reduce any potential health risks associated with your products.

Use the “Advanced Search” feature of Skin Deep to find products that have fewer potential health issues. Choose a product category and exclude the hazardous ingredients — carcinogens and neurotoxins, for instance — and Skin Deep will generate a custom shopping list for you.

Read labels. Marketing claims on personal care products are not defined under the law, and can mean anything or nothing at all, including claims like organic, natural, hypoallergenic, animal cruelty free, and fragrance free. Read the ingredient label carefully to find evidence that the claims are true.

Use milder soaps. Soap removes dirt and grease from the surface of your skin, but also strips away your body’s own natural skin oils. Choosing a milder soap may reduce skin dryness and your need for moisturizers to replace oils your skin can provide naturally.

Minimize your use of dark hair dyes. Many contain coal tar ingredients that have been linked to cancer in some studies.

Cut down on your use of powders; avoid the use of baby powder on newborns and infants. A number of ingredients common in powder have been linked to cancer and other lung problems when they are inhaled. FDA warns that powders may cause lung damage if inhaled regularly.

Choose products that are “fragrance”-free. Fragrances can cause allergic reactions. Products that claim to be “fragrance free” on the packaging may not be. They could contain masking fragrances that give off a neutral odor. Read the ingredient label — in products truly free of fragrance, the word “fragrance” will not appear there. Find “fragrance”-free products with our advanced search.

Reduce your use of nail polish. It’s one of the few types of products that routinely contains ingredients linked to birth defects. Paint your toenails and skip the fingernails. Paint nails in a well-ventilated room, or outside, or avoid using nail polish altogether, particularly when you are pregnant. Browse our custom shopping guide for advice on nail polishes that contain fewer ingredients of concern.

Link

Photo by incurable_hippie at flickr

Book review: The Body Toxic

Lisa at the Environmental Working Group’s Enviroblog posted a book review today of interest to us with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. What caught my attention is that the list of products the book’s author focuses on– those that contain endocrine disruptors– are some of the products that trigger adverse reactions in people with MCS. What a coincidence, huh?

Like many parents of young children, I don’t read books cover-to-cover much anymore. So it was with great pleasure that I read even the appendices in Nena Baker’s new book, The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our health’s and Well-being.

Baker spent four years researching this book and you can tell. It’s chock full of chemical history and the politics that surround it, including tidbits like Teflon’s beginnings as a coating for the valves and gaskets in the atom bomb. Her emphasis is endocrine disruptors and she digs deep into five problem areas: the common pesticide atrazine, cosmetics, flame retardants, plastics and perfluorinated chemicals. In each case she not only confronts the major issues head-on, she tells a readable story and even throws in some manageable chemistry. No easy task.

She also wraps her arms around the reason we are all afraid to buy most anything:

The vast majority of [the 10,000 widely used chemicals] have not been tested for potential  toxic effects because the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 does not require it. And the news gets shockingly worse: the EPA cannot take any regulatory action regarding a suspected harmful substance until it has evidence that it poses an “unreasonable” risk of injury to human health or the environment.

The barriers to action are so high that, according to a 2005 report by the Government Accounting Office, the EPA has given up trying to regulate chemicals and instead relies on the chemical industry to act voluntarily when concerns arise.

Link to full review

Link to The Canary Report post on the hazards of Teflon

Your baby’s shampoo may be toxic

I always have to read reports like this over and over because I just can’t believe it. I think, “This can’t be right, I must be misreading it.” But nope, it’s true: manufacturers put toxic chemicals in baby products. Here’s some good info on baby shampoo from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

Baby shampoo should be safe. Not toxic.

In January 2007, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics released product tests that found the chemical 1,4-dioxane in nearly two dozen popular baby soaps, bubble baths and shampoos, including Sesame Street character brands and even the iconic “pure and gentle” Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo. None of the products listed 1,4-dioxane on the label.

Why do products contain this nasty chemical? 1,4-dioxane is a byproduct of a dirty petrochemical process called “ethyoxylation,” which involves adding ethylene oxide (a known breast carcinogen) to other chemicals in order to make them less harsh. For example, sodium laurel sulfate - notoriously harsh on the skin - is often converted to the gentler chemical sodium laureth sulfate by adding ethylene oxide (the “eth” denotes ethoxylation), which causes 1,4-dioxane contamination.

Sodium laureth sulfate is just one common example. More than 56 cosmetics ingredients are associated with the contaminant 1,4-dioxane.

Even many natural brands contain 1,4-dioxane. Product tests released in March 2008 found the synthetic carcinogen in 46 out of 100 “natural” or “organic” products tested, including Jason, Kiss My Face and other leading natural brands.

The good news: many companies in the natural products industry are quitting the ethoxylation habit. New standards such as the Whole Foods Premium Body Care Seal do not allow ethoxylation, and many companies have been quietly reformulating to replace chemicals such as sodium laureth sulfate that are associated with 1,4-dioxane.

Health Concerns

1,4-dioxane is a known animal carcinogen and probable human carcinogen, according to the EPA. As with many chemicals of concern used in cosmetics, the companies do not disagree that the chemical is toxic. However, they argue that it’s “just a little bit” of 1,4-dioxane in the baby shampoo. Unfortunately, the same baby may be exposed to 1,4-dioxane from the bubble bath, the shampoo, the body wash and many other sources in the same day.

What You Can Do

Avoid using products that list ingredients that may be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, including sodium myreth sulfate, PEG compounds and chemicals that include the clauses “xynol,” “ceteareth” and “oleth.”

Sign up for e-mail updates from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. We’ll e-mail you once or twice each month about products, ingredients and what you can do to protect yourself. Sign up!

More Information

Press release, Feb. 2007: Cancer-causing Chemical Found in Children’s Bath Products

Press statement, June 2008: California Attorney General Files Prop. 65 Lawsuit on 1,4-dioxane Contamination

Products potentially containing 1,4-dioxane

Link

Link to Whole Foods Premium Body Care Seal information

Researchers: Perfume is “risk to unborn babies”

Pregnant women are told that using perfumes or scented creams may increase the risk of unborn boys developing infertility in later life

Anyone with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity knows that perfume and other synthetic fragrances are toxic. Effects of exposure can range from dizziness and coughing to total loss of cognitive ability (sometimes called “brain fade”) and serious trouble breathing. These overt physical effects alarm us and make us question what else the poison is doing to our bodies. We people with MCS are the “canaries” of the public, sounding the alarm that synthetic fragrance is hazardous to health– not just to people with MCS, but to everybody.

Slowly, peer reviewed research is catching up with us. Here’s a report at the BBC today about researchers at Edinburgh University who believe exposure to chemicals found in cosmetics between eight and 12 weeks of pregnancy may affect later sperm production in male children. Their recommendation: Do not use personal care products with synthetic fragrance while pregnant. Canaries’ recommendation: Do not use personal care products with synthetic fragrance EVER.

Testicular cancer

During tests on rats, [the researchers] blocked the action of androgens, which include male sex hormones such as testosterone.

The experiments confirmed that if the hormones are blocked, the animals suffered fertility problems.

Some of the chemicals which can block the hormones are widely used in the production of items such as cosmetics, household fabrics and plastics.

Prof Sharpe said the chemicals may also increase the risk of baby boys developing other reproductive conditions in later life, including testicular cancer.

He added that women planning on becoming pregnant should avoid putting any cosmetic products on their skin which could then be absorbed into their bodies.

He told BBC Scotland’s news website: “There are lots of compounds in perfumes that we know in higher concentrations have the potential to have biological effects, so it is just being ultra safe to say that by avoiding using them your baby isn’t at risk.

“If you are planning to become pregnant you should change your lifestyle. Those lifestyle things don’t necessarily mean that you are going to cause terrible harm to your baby, but by avoiding them you are going to have a positive effect.

“We would recommend you avoid exposure to chemicals that are present in cosmetics, anything that you put on your body that might then get through your body into your developing baby. [...]

Link

How to make a detox bath

I’ve taken my share of detox baths. A detox bath is a little different from a plain everyday bath because you need to make the water hotter than usual and rather than using froo-froo additives like essential oils (if you can tolerate them) you use salts that draw out toxins.

I close up all the doors and windows in the bathroom to keep in the heat. I like to use a generous amount of Epsom salts in the water: I buy it in half-gallon milk carton type containers and use half a carton for one bath. It’s good idea to use filtered water (my water is double filtered at the main pipe before it comes in the house).

The key is to get the bath water as hot as you can without getting burned. I make a kettle full of boiling water, wrap it in a towel and add it to the bath water periodically to keep it really hot. I keep a large towel draped over my whole body to hold in the heat. The goal is to sweat and sweat and sweat for about a half hour.

After drying off, I take a special body brush and brush my limbs in an invigorating sweeping motion from the tips toward my heart to get the lymphatic system stimulated– it feels great! You can get a dry body brush at your local health food store (it’s different than the type of brush for washing yourself).

More on Epsom salts with some history and recipes.

Photo and more good stuff on Epsom salts and detoxing.

Bath best way to smell good

Here’s the cutest letter to the editor ever, in response to an op/ed piece on perfume at YumaSun.com.

Thanks, Natacha Dannenberg, for writing about perfume. I am allergic to perfume and after shave lotion. I pass out from it. Besides it being a chemical, there are so many additives in it. It causes cancer. I’ve been told that by a doctor.

I have been around people who get asthma attacks from perfume and people who lost their voice from it. And yes, if people have trouble concentrating, they should try doing without perfume and after shave lotion.

I am wondering why they don’t have “hazard to your health” on the bottles. It is worse than second-hand cigarette smoke.

The best fragrance is a bath - you can smell if you are dirty or clean.

AGI MONTGOMERY
Yuma

Link

Photo by Daniel KJ at flickr.

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