The Canary Report

Scent marketers are manipulating our least-understood sense: smell

Posted on Aug 28, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Guest Bloggers, MCS, Media/Videos

The fragrance industry is subjecting people, often without their knowledge, to chemical fragrances that affect emotions and behaviors.

By guestblogger Marti Wolfe.

Scent marketing delivery machine.

Utne Reader‘s current issue (September-October) reports on a distressing trend about which people with MCS and their advocates should be aware. In “The Sweet Smell of Sales,” Utne reports of articles appearing in Business Week, Good’s and Neuromarketing about “ambient scenting,” the new but growing practice of attempting to “elicit unconscious behavior or emotion” by “pumping a carefully chosen smell into a [commercial] space.”

MCSers have enough challenge with the smells of personal care products without having to deal with deliberately “piped in” synthetic organic compounds in public spaces.

Good’s journalist Siobahn O’Connor acknowledges the potential threat on the magazine blog: “The fragrance industry is secretive and trades largely in toxic chemicals that are known allergens and likely hormone disruptors,” she writes on the magazine’s blog (June 21, 2010). And “subjecting people (often without their knowledge) to fragrances that affect their emotions and behaviors strikes me as a slippery slope.”

I agree. If this is an invasive practice for the general public, it is even more so for the chemically sensitive, allergic, or respiratory-challenged cohorts of the population. Regulators and legislators should hear our dismay.

Cheers,
Marti

Marti Wolfe, PhD, is an environmental toxicologist whose research interests include the effects of methymercury on animals exposed via the aquatic food chain, and also the interaction of methylmercury and selenium when animals are exposed to these contaminants together. She’s worked on developing a non-lethal biomarker using molecular biology techniques to help identify birds that have been exposed to petroleum in their habitat. This biomarker also evaluates birds that have been treated following oil spills.

Link.

Photo credit.

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Tags: Fragrance, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Products

Gulf Coast: Grab your respirators!

Posted on Jul 04, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Media/Videos, Susie Collins

3M #4279 Organic Vapour/Inorganic and Acid Gas/Ammonia/Particulate Respirator

RT America reports on health problems in the Gulf caused by chemical fumes from crude oil and dispersant originating from BP oil well blowout. Don’t miss reference to the Exxon Valdez spill and the analogy to 9/11.

6/30–What can go wrong will go wrong. Such is the case for the Gulf Coast and the unending saga of the BP oil spill that’s now in its eleventh week. What’s wrong now is this: winds from Hurricane Alex are pushing tar balls as large as apples onto Gulf Coast beaches. This has stopped cleanup efforts momentarily and even undone some of the spill control. As one marine scientist put it: “We lost all the progress we made.” But the winds picking up are a giant concern for something else.

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Tags: Air, Children's Health, Environment, Environmental Illness, Pollution, Products, Toxic, Video

A timeline of health horrors caused by the BP oil well blow out

Posted on Jun 28, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, MCS, Susie Collins, Worker's Rights

Clean up workers are already visiting their doctors with symptoms of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

A still from the BP oil well blow out live cam taken June 28.

Have you been as crazed as I’ve been watching the images of people without respirators working on the so-called “clean up” in the Gulf? We all knew it was only a matter of time before cases of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity were reported. Take a look at the timeline: reports of MCS started fairly soon after the blow out.

5/03: MSNBC reports that the oil spill has little impact on human health: gunk spreading across Gulf a disaster for ecosystem, but not the public. Yeah, right.

5/23: Gina Solomon at the Natural Resources Defense Council Staff Blog, called Switchboard, reports Oil Spill Clean-Up Workers Getting Sick.

5/27: The Washington Post reports that illnesses among workers highlight concerns about health risks of oil cleanup.

6/03: CNN reports on a gutsy fisherman’s wife who breaks the silence about her husband’s deteriorating health since he worked on clean up efforts in the Gulf. “After attending a lecture by Rikki Ott [sic], a toxicologist who’s worked with families affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, [fisherman's wife Kindra] Arnesen decided to organize other wives to ask questions about the safety of working near the oil.” (See next entry for more info on Riki Ott.) Here’s the CNN vid about Kindra and her husband:

Here’s a couple of asides from our Timeline– Here’s Riki Ott in the documentary film Black Wave about the Exxon Valdez spill:

Here’s more from Riki Ott on 20 years after the Exxon Valdez spill:

Back to our current disaster:

6/03: The Huffington Post reports Gulf Oil Spill Sickness: Cleanup Workers Experience Health Problems, Complain Of Flulike Symptoms.

6/07: I contacted Alison Johnson, author of Amputated Lives: Coping with Chemical Sensitivity, a book about the development of chemical sensitivity in Exxon Valdez cleanup workers, Gulf War veterans, 9/11 First Responders, and FEMA trailer residents. I spoke to Alison on the phone and she expressed concern for the people in the Gulf region that had lived through the toxic soup of hurricane Katrina, including the toxic FEMA trailers, and were now experiencing the fumes from this BP disaster. Given that MCS can be initiated by repeated exposures to toxic chemicals, people in the region should take note of Alison’s concern.

6/08: Ariel Schwartz at Fast Company warns clean up crews to Read This Before You Volunteer to Clean Up the BP Oil Disaster.

Merle Savage has a wheezy, guttural smoker’s cough. But the 71-year-old former Alaska resident and author of Silence in the Sound never smoked a day in her life. She did, however, spend four months as a general foreman during the Exxon Valdez oil spill recovery project in 1989. And she has a message for anyone working at the BP oil disaster sites: “You’ve got to use your common sense. Breathing crude oil is toxic.”

6/11: The Raw Story reports that a human rights group says BP is discouraging crews from using respirators. “BP’s logic seems to be that if the oil cleanup doesn’t look dangerous then it must not be. The oil company has told workers not to wear respirators because it’s bad for public relations, according to one human rights group.” [Emphasis added.]

AND HERE’S THE REPORT WE KNEW WAS COMING:

6/15: Janet Kwak at WOAI TV reports that a mysterious illness plagues Gulf oil disaster workers. Clean up workers are visiting their doctors with symptoms of Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance or TILT, which is another name for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

“What makes it challenging is that patients show up with non-specific symptoms. Headaches, fatigue, problems with memory and concentration, upset stomach,” lists Dr. Claudia Miller at UT Health Science Center.

The illness is called “TILT,” or Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance. Patients lose tolerance to household products, medication, or even food after being exposed to chemicals, like burning oil, toxic fumes, or dispersants from the spill.

“Things like diesel fuel, exposure to fragrances, cleaning agents that never bothered them before suddenly bother them,” adds Dr. Miller.

6/18: Politics AP reports BP’s records on ill workers tell only part of the story.

This is about the time I discover the Louisiana Environmental Action Network report on the Health Impacts Associated with Dispersants and Louisiana Sweet Crude. I felt from the beginning of the disaster that the dispersant Corexit was going to cause as much if not more damage to people, animals and the environment as the crude oil. Take a look at the lists on that page for health impacts of both the dispersant and the oil.

And yesterday I found a report in the New York Times about how Cleanup Hiring Feeds Frustration in Fishing Town. Don’t you just love how BP has managed to destroy the environment, livelihoods and probably the health of most workers and many others in the affected regions while at the same time remaining the main employer with “clean up” efforts?

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Tags: Air, Environment, EPA, Pollution, Products, Toxic, Video, Work

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Posted on Jun 07, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, News, Susie Collins

Here are some websites and stories I’ve been reading this week.

The National Children’s Study is a multi-year research study that will examine the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21.

I highly recommend everyone become familiar with the National Children’s Study.

Excellent article on Air Filters: Choosing Portable Equipment.

The New York Times reports on Domestic Detox: Extreme Home Cleaning.

Adrien Bledstein’s I Can Breathe! Masks.

Annie Leonard, The Story of Stuff creator, talks about polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

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Tags: Children's Health, Healthy Living, Home, Products, Toxic

CNN investigative report Toxic America with Dr. Sanjay Gupta to rebroadcast tonight and tomorrow

Posted on Jun 05, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Government Regulation, Media/Videos, Products, Susie Collins

The two-part CNN investigation “Toxic America” with Dr. Sanjay Gupta will rebroadcast tonight and tomorrow night, Sat & Sun, June 5 & 6, at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Check listings in your area to confirm times. Don’t miss it!

I was hesitant to recommend the CNN special Toxic America with Dr. Sanjay Gupta until I saw the first airing. It’s pretty good actually, although if you look at it through the lens of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity you may feel that it falls short in many areas. Still, it’s heartening to see this topic and type of investigative reporting on mainstream media. Dr. Gupta does a good job of presenting the problems of toxic chemicals in our environment and our homes, and he shows genuine concern, repeating over and over the fact that out of the 80,000 chemicals put into consumer goods, only 200 have been tested for safety.

Click here for dates and times of ONLINE replays June 7, 8, & 9.

Also, for those of you so inclined, CNN is inviting you to “Share Your Story” through video or photos:

Put yourself on video and document conditions in your area, or take photos of what’s around you. Tell us what industrial or chemical pollution may be contributing to health problems for you and those you love, and be sure not to put yourself in a dangerous situation.

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Tags: Air, Asthma, Children's Health, Environment, EPA, Home, Indoor Pollution, Policy, Products, Research, Sick Building, Toxic, Video

Ask the Canary

Posted on May 29, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Products, Susie Collins

My items stored at a controlled storage unit have been contaminated with mothball fumes! What should I do?

The use of storage units can be difficult for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity because there is no control over the use of toxic chemical products in adjoining units and hallways.

Q:

We’ve had the following stored in a non-climate controlled storage unit for two years, anticipating moving to a safe house: two lazy boys, seven composite wood book shelves, a vinyl covered card table, hundreds of books and some stuff mostly stored in cardboard boxes, some older Rubbermaid bins.

When I stopped to retrieve something a few months ago, I smelled moth balls. After inquiring, the owner refused to check with the “neighbors,” but said she had placed moth balls in a unit two doors down and would remove them.

My question: Can our stuff be saved or should I be calling the insurance agent? I aired a vinyl throw pillow in the sun a few days and the odor dissipated. What do you think?

P.S. I know composite wood is BAD. I’m wondering if painting them with tested/tolerated sealer will let us use them.

Thank you!

Fuming at Mothballs

A:

Aloha Fuming,

It’s not the odor, it’s the chemicals in the mothballs, notably the napthalene which is highly toxic. Personally, I wouldn’t even try to introduce into my house anything porous that’s been exposed to mothballs. Be very careful.

You may be able to seal the composite wood, but I’d chuck the book shelves and replace with a solid wood that I could tolerate, or a nonporous material like thick glass or metal. It’s the formaldehyde in composite wood that makes the trouble. I wouldn’t risk it.

Vinyl is problematic in and of itself, it’s a toxic material that continuously offgasses. Further, it’s often stabilized with lead.

You might be able to wash the Rubbermaid bins if they are contaminated, but that kind of plastic may not be safe either, mothball exposure or no. They may have protected whatever was inside the bin, but you’d need to risk exposure to the mothball fumes to check it out– a canary dilemma. Rubbermaid makes a lot of food grade BPA-free products now, but your products’ safety would depend on the age of your products. Canaries often need food grade safety even if we are not using it for food. Also, not all Rubbermaid products are food grade, such as their trash bins. Further, many people with chem sensitivity can’t tolerate any kind of plastics, food grade or no.

The books are a big dilemma, I know! I used to own a bookshop and had shelves and shelves of books, most of which I couldn’t read once I developed Multiple Chemical Sensitivity because they were either offgassing or musty. I’ve culled my book collection down several times, giving books away to nonprofits and other groups who would appreciate them. You might want to do that and see what you have left as your core book collection. You’d still need to decide if the mothballs have ruined them.

Be very careful about what you introduce into your safe home. Don’t let cost issues or sentimentality rule over risks to your health!

Aloha,
Susie

PS Since you have that option, yes, I think you should seriously consider contacting your insurance agent about claiming the goods you can’t decontaminate a loss.

Photo credit

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Tags: Chemicals, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Products, Toxic

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity again featured on popular TV show in Spain

Posted on May 15, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Eva Caballé, MCS, Media/Videos

Here’s another Multiple Chemical Sensitivity report done by Telecinco, one of the most important national TV channels in Spain. This report includes English subtitles.

By contributor Eva Caballé, Spain.

A few days ago, I shared with you the video of a report about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity featured on Telecinco, one of the most important national TV channels in Spain. The report aired during the news. It was in Spanish and some of you asked me if there would be an English version.

Last weekend, a longer version of this report was aired and will be repeated every day until next Sunday. I decided to add subtitles in English to this longer version because it’s even better than the first one. During the video, you can see Dr. Ramón Orriols explaining his study “Brain dysfunction in Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.”

I want to share with all of you the video in Spanish with English subtitles. And I want to thank Susie Collins for her corrections. I hope you like it!

Hugs,
Eva

Here’s the transcript:

MCS TV REPORT

Telecinco: If we do a blood test, we realize that more than 200 chemical substances are present in our body. It’s impossible to live without toxics in a city. There are chemical substances in our shampoos, cosmetics, perfumes, air fresheners and in the cleaning products that hospitals, public transport and malls use. There are chemicals everywhere threatening the health of people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Here lives a 37-year-old woman who has lived isolated for three years because of her MCS. If she smells a perfume, she suffocates. Living isolated without having contact with anybody is the only choice she has in order to survive. The world is toxic for her.

Eva Caballé: Hello, my name is Eva Caballé. I’m an economist from Barcelona and I’ve lived with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity for four years. My husband, David, is my contact with the outside world.

Telecinco: David has recorded the images because nobody can come into their house because it would be too dangerous for her.

David Palma: This is our main door and it’s sealed to avoid odors. We have several air purifiers in strategic places. For example, this one at the main door and this other that controls the door of Eva’s room.

Eva Caballé: When I’m exposed to any chemical product, my first symptom is that I can’t breathe. After the dyspnea, I have tachycardia, my skin burns and I have extreme fatigue and my legs become paralyzed.

Telecinco: They have already spent 30.000€ to adapt their house to MCS. She has lived with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity for four years and she will suffer it the rest of her life.

David Palma: The furniture is made of stainless steel. We had to throw out our wood furniture because they emitted toxic VOCs (volatile organic compounds).

Telecinco: David has to take a bath when he comes home and he follows the same daily routine for Eva in order not to poison her.

David Palma: This is a water filter. We use these ecological and perfume free products. Our toothbrush is made of natural bristles instead of nylon bristles. Our shower head has a carbon cartridge inside to filter the water. We use these salts to clean our teeth. We had to block the air vent to avoid the chemicals that our neighbors use (shampoos, deodorants, laundry detergent, etc.).

Eva Caballé: I developed MCS because of an air freshener that they started to use in the office where I used to work. One day, when I came into the office, I suffocated. In that moment this nightmare started.

Telecinco: Not only chemicals are a problem for her. She’s also sensitive to sounds, changes of pressure, vibrations and lights.

David Palma: This is the cable of our router. We don’t have WiFi to avoid electromagnetic radiation.

Dr. Ramón Orriols: All their senses are ultrasensitive. MCS sufferers have such an exaggerated response that makes all unbearable for them.

Telecinco: They have converted their home into a bunker to survive. Eva can’t even go to hospital in an emergency or take an ambulance.

David Palma: Doctors can’t make house calls because MCS is not recognized in Spain. There are no hospital protocols for this illness. If she takes an ambulance, she will be exposed to disinfectants and cleaners, perfumes used by other patients or medical staff. All these chemical products could possibly cause a medical crisis and she could even loose her life.

Telecinco: David seals the kitchen door every time he cooks. Eva doesn’t tolerate preservatives and artificial colourings. She can only eat five different foods.

David Palma: Lettuce, carrots, veal, egg and corn. We buy organic corn and we make our own flour. We are waiting until her health improves to reintroduce lentils, which she can no longer tolerate because of food poisoning that she suffered a few months ago.

Telecinco: But most frustrating for them is that MCS is not recognized as an illness. Eva Caballé spent two years and one month to find the right diagnosis after she visited more than 22 doctors who labeled her as delicate.

David Palma: I think that MCS is not recognized because of economic interests. The chemical and pharmaceutical industries don’t want it known that normal everyday chemicals, like shaving foam or nappies, are toxic. They are afraid to have people realize that normal everyday chemicals cause diseases.

Dr. Ramón Orriols: The real truth is that MCS exists. The MCS sufferers exist and we must give them a solution.

Telecinco: Dr. Orriols is a pneumologist who has studied the brain of MCS patients and his study has proved that MCS is a real illness.

Dr. Ramón Orriols: The important thing is that this illuminated part disappears right here. This doesn’t happen with healthy people. MCS suffers have an alteration just in this center which controls the olfactory stimulus.

David Palma: And here is where Eva lives.

Telecinco: Eva is totally disabled because of MCS, CFS, Fibromyalgia and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Her body is broken but her mind is very active. She authors a blog where she spreads information about MCS and she has written a book that she can’t even read.

Eva Caballé: I can’t touch my book because the paper and the ink are toxic for me and they would cause me a crisis. This is the reason why my book is wrapped.

David Palma: She worked, she went daily to the gym, and we used to spend the weekends going to rock concerts and we also had a rock band. We had an active and full life.

Telecinco: Do you feel lonely any time?

David Palma: No, because I’m with her.

Telecinco: They will keep on fighting together until MCS is recognized as an illness.

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Tags: Chemicals, Environment, Fragrance, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Products, Toxic, Video

Analysis shows top-selling fragrance products contain secret chemicals never assessed for safety

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Products, Susie Collins

President’s Cancer Panel Report highlights threat from endocrine-disrupting chemicals; many found in new fragrance study.

A new analysis reveals that top-selling fragrance products contain a dozen or more secret chemicals not listed on labels, multiple chemicals that can trigger allergic reactions or disrupt hormones, and many substances that have not been assessed for safety by the beauty industry’s self-policing review panels.

Environmental Working Group reports secret chemicals are revealed in celebrity perfumes and teen body sprays.

I’m thrilled to see Anne C. Steinemann quoted in the press release. Steinemann is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Washington and has done analysis on fragranced consumer products and undisclosed ingredients in three air fresheners and three laundry products, where she discovered over 100 undisclosed volitale organics compounds (VOCs). She’s also complied a list of over 100 citations for peer-reviewed journal articles that support a physiological basis for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

Here’s the release from EWG about the new fragrance analysis:

San Francisco – A new analysis reveals that top-selling fragrance products—from Britney Spears’ Curious and Hannah Montana Secret Celebrity to Calvin Klein Eternity and Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce — contain a dozen or more secret chemicals not listed on labels, multiple chemicals that can trigger allergic reactions or disrupt hormones, and many substances that have not been assessed for safety by the beauty industry’s self-policing review panels.

The study of hidden toxic chemicals in perfumes comes on the heels of last week’s report by the President’s Cancer Panel, which sounded the alarm over the understudied and largely unregulated toxic chemicals used by millions of Americans in their daily lives. The Cancer Panel report recommends that pregnant women and couples planning to become pregnant avoid exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals due to cancer concerns. Hormone disruptors that may play a role in cancer were found in many of the fragrances analyzed for this study.

“This monumental study reveals the hidden hazards of fragrances,” said Anne C. Steinemann, Ph.D, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor of Public Affairs, University of Washington. “Secondhand scents are also a big concern. One person using a fragranced product can cause health problems for many others.”

For this study, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition of health and environmental groups, commissioned tests of 17 fragranced products at an independent laboratory. Campaign partner Environmental Working Group assessed data from the tests and the product labels. The analysis reveals that the 17 products contained, on average:

• Fourteen secret chemicals not listed on labels due to a loophole in federal law that allows companies to claim fragrances as trade secrets. American Eagle Seventy Seven contained 24 hidden chemicals, the highest number of any product in the study.
• Ten sensitizing chemicals associated with allergic reactions such as asthma, wheezing, headaches and contact dermatitis. Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio contained 19 different sensitizing chemicals, more than any other product in the study
• Four hormone-disrupting chemicals linked to a range of health effects including sperm damage, thyroid disruption and cancer. Halle by Halle Berry, Quicksilver and Jennifer Lopez J. Lo Glow each contained seven different chemicals with the potential to disrupt the hormone system.

The majority of chemicals found in this report have never been assessed for safety by any publically accountable agency, or by the cosmetics industry’s self-policing review panels. Of the 91 ingredients identified in this study, only 19 have been reviewed by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), and 27 have been assessed by International Fragrance Association (IFRA) and the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM), which develop voluntary standards for chemicals used in fragrance.

“Something doesn’t smell right—clearly the system is broken,” said Lisa Archer, national coordinator of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Breast Cancer Fund. “We urgently need updated laws that require full disclosure of cosmetic ingredients so consumers can make informed choices about what they are being exposed to.”

“Fragrance chemicals are inhaled or absorbed through the skin, and many of them end up inside people’s bodies, including pregnant women and newborn babies,” said Jane Houlihan, senior vice president for research at Environmental Working Group.

A recent EWG study found synthetic musk chemicals Galaxolide and Tonalide in the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants. The musk chemicals were found in nearly every fragrance analyzed for this study. Twelve of the 17 products also contained diethyl phthalate (DEP), a chemical linked to sperm damage and behavioral problems that has been found in the bodies of nearly all Americans tested.

TAKE ACTION! Click here to sign the petition for safe celebrity fragrances!

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Tags: Chemicals, Cosmetics, Fragrance, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Perfume, Personal Care, Products, Toxic

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Posted on May 04, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, News, Susie Collins

A few web pages I’ve been reading this week.

Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides. Clip and take with you to the market!

Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides, a guide to take with you when shopping for fruits and veggies.

Writer and disability advocate Sharon Wachsler popped up on my radar in a few places this past week. Here’s her Multiple Chemical Sensitivities Information Page at Massachusetts CFIDS Association. Here’s her website Sick Humor Postcards: cartoons that take a twisted look at life with disability (good laughs). Here’s her Home Page with listings of all her online writing courses and other amazing activities. And of course her blog After Gadget, which she launched following the passing of her longtime service dog Gadget.

Healthy Child, Healthy World is a great resource for information about the toxicity of modern fragrance.

Wendy Standish Unscented Body & Bath Care makes makes soaps and shampoos from scratch, using vegetable oils.

Jody Smith at EmpowerHer gave The Canary Report two shout outs this past week: one on a post about Martin Pall’s research and one on Lourdes Salvador’s guestblog on Electroconvulsive Therapy.

Start Up Nation is a great site for inspiration about starting your own business.

Boston.com has some incredible photos of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption. Makes the vog here look like steam from a tea kettle.

Euroclean HEPA vaccum: This is the vacuum I own.

This is Dr. Grace Ziem‘s explanation about the difference between Allergies and Chemical Reactions; Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is not an allergy!

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Tags: Children's Health, Healthy Living, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Pesticides, Products

Ask the Canary

Posted on Apr 21, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Products, Susie Collins

I don’t have access to a safe, nontoxic washing machine, what do I do?

The Wonderwash is a possible solution for people having a hard time finding a safe, nontoxic washer at an affordable price.

Q:

I live in an apartment building and the common laundry facilities are too toxic for me to use. I also don’t dare go to the neighborhood laundromat because it’s a toxic soup; the use of dryer sheets alone is enough to knock me out for a week. My landlord refuses to provide a safe nontoxic machine for me. Because I am disabled by Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and other illnesses, it’s too exhausting for me to do my laundry in my tub or sink, especially the big items like sheets and towels. Do you have any ideas about how I can do my laundry safely?

Sincerely,
Wash Wishing

A:

Aloha Wash,

This is a common problem for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity who don’t have the resources or the living situation to buy their own washing machine. And peeps living with inconsiderate roomies or family are always in the position of being the Laundry Police; all it takes is one toxic product used in the machine to render it off limits to a canary. Sometimes I think the idea of beating our laundry on rocks in a creek seems a better way to do our laundry.

For people with limited resources and no access to a safe washer, members of our community often recommend the Wonderwash, a countertop unit for under $50. You might like to read a review of the Wonderwash by Leslie at The Oko Box Blog.

Most people say their new Wonderwash needed some time to offgas, which can be expedited by running it through some cycles with lemon, alternating with your nontoxic clothes soap. And I have heard someone say that the unit did not work well at cleaning their clothes, but I’ve only heard that once out of many positive recommendations.

I don’t recommended that you buy a used washer as it can be a nightmare if it arrives contaminated with previously used products.

I hope this gives you a possible solution!

Aloha,
Susie

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Tags: Ask the Canary, Home, Products

KFC and Susan G. Komen launch huge pinkwashing campaign

Posted on Apr 17, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Food, Social Justice, Susie Collins

Kentucky Fried Chicken and Susan G. Komen for the Cure team up for the largest pinkwashing campaign in the history of breast cancer.

This commercial introduces the “Buckets for the Cure(tm)” campaign from KFC. KFC is joining the fight against breast cancer with this national campaign aimed at educating more women about breast health, generating support for the cause and attempting to make the single largest donation in the history of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

I was disgusted to see the KFC commercial above announcing their alliance with the Susan G. Komen Foundation to raise funds for breast cancer “education.” Regular readers of The Canary Report know that I have a pet peeve about pinkwashing. As a breast cancer survivor, I am sickened when companies who produce products containing carcinogens jump on the pink bandwagon, suckering the public into buying unsafe products through the guise of caring about our breast health.

Christina Pirello reports at The Huffington Post on Susan G. and KFC: An Unholy Alliance. Pirello says that “according to Neal Barnard, MD, president and founder of Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine (http://www.pcrm.org), both the grilled and fried chicken served up in these pretty pink buckets contributes to the development of cancer, including breast and prostate cancers.”

Spend some time on the Susan G. Komen for the Cure website and you’ll see lots of resources for women to find information once diagnosed. You’ll also find sections advising women about living a healthy lifestyle by eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight. But how can they really talk about healthy eating when they partner with the very kinds of companies that destroy the health of all people, not just women? How can they accept one penny from companies like KFC whose products create the exact health problems this organization is sworn to defeat? Someone is tilting at the wrong windmill.

Further, as an animal lover and the owner of four precious hens, I hope you think twice about the source of the chicken you eat. KFC practices factory farming, a food production practice so cruel and inhumane that I am unable to even write about it or give you links to learn more. I hope you are being conscious about the sources of your food and thinking twice before eating any factory farmed animals.

Boycott this KFC-Komen campaign!

NOT!

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Tags: Cancer, Children's Health, Environment, Food, Products, Toxic