The Canary Report

Gas well drilling operation impacts health of an entire neighborhood

Posted on Mar 10, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Government Regulation, MCS, Susie Collins

Woman with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is the first in  her neighborhood to detect toxic emissions from gas well drilling site; her health deteriorates while she fights for clean air.

Drilling at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Sandra DenBraber

Sandra DenBraber, who has Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, sent me an update about the toxic emissions from a natural gas drill site near her home. She wanted me to share with Canary Report readers an update about her health and a report in the Fort Worth Weekly published today.

“I really wanted you to have this story since the reporter did such an excellent job,” she wrote me. “The more people that hear about what happens to chemically sensitive people the more hope for change. I will continue to fight for change in drilling. It is essential since now 25% of children in the drilling area have respiratory problems per a recent news article.”

Here’s an excerpt from the Fort Worth Weekly report:

DenBraber, a former occupational health nurse, moved to her neighborhood more than 24 years ago after developing severe chemical sensitivities that forced her to quit her job. She went to great lengths to make sure her environment was as free of chemicals as possible: Her home has no carpeting, no gas lines, and several heavy-duty air filtration units. She lived there in relative good health, getting by on disability payments supplemented by a small income from making and selling charcoal masks for others who suffer from the same problem.

But in 2008, in the midst of drilling operations near UTA conducted by Houston-based Carrizo Oil and Gas, her health declined rapidly. Both DenBraber and her physician, Dr. Alfred Johnson, began to suspect emissions from the well site might be responsible.

“It got to the point I wasn’t able to leave my home without getting an instant migraine,” DenBraber said. “I have an above-ground pool for exercise [following joint replacement surgeries] that I was unable to use. I couldn’t work in my garden; I couldn’t step out the door.”

The change in her health became so pronounced that both Johnson and Dr. Susan Murphy , a rehabilitation specialist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, sent letters to Carrizo on her behalf in March and April of 2008, asking that the company work with DenBraber to find a mutually agreeable solution to her situation.

“Sandy tends to react more strongly to chemical exposure than most because of her chemical sensitivity,” Johnson said. “In a sense, she’s kind of like the canary in a mineshaft.”

My guess is that no one from Carrizo Oil and Gas lives anywhere near this operation. It shouldn’t be that the people who have been made ill are the ones at the front lines of the battles for clean air, but that is too often the case. Sandra has my respect and admiration for fighting the good fight not just for herself, but for the health, safety and welfare of her entire neighborhood. Brava, Sandra! I hope this is resolved soon so that you and your neighbors, including the students at UTA, are soon protected from this major polluter.

Photo credit of drilling site, Carrizo Oil and Gas.

Photo of Sandra ©2010 Sandra DenBraber

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Tags: Air, Children's Health, Environment, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Nontoxic, Policy, Pollution, Stink, Toxic

$100K awarded to woman with chemical sensitivity denied proper accommodations at work

Posted on Mar 10, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Disability Rights, MCS, Susie Collins, Worker's Rights

Woman with chemical sensitivity awarded $100K for being denied proper accommodations at work; her coworker’s perfume made it difficult for her to breathe.

Modern perfume contains known toxic chemicals that can cause serious cognitive and respiratory problems in people with chemical sensitivity.

On Point reports a Detroit city planner with an allergy to perfume is savoring the sweet smell of legal success after the city agreed to pay her $100,000 and be more sensitive to the chemically sensitive.

The agreement -– obtained by On Point through a public records act request — settled Susan McBride’s lawsuit under the Americans With Disabilities Act which alleged the City of Detroit failed to reasonably accommodate her allergy after she complained that a co-worker’s perfume made it difficult for her to breathe.

Some critics attacked McBride for being overly sensitive and abusing the court system. But many workplaces are now perfume-free and a judge in November 2008 denied the city’s motion to dismiss, ruling McBride could proceed with a disability claim “based on the major life activity of breathing.”

As part of the settlement, which the parties signed last month, the city will post a notice on bulletin boards in its offices announcing that “Our goal is to be sensitive to employees with perfume and chemical sensitivities”

Let’s hope it sets precedent for future cases. If you have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and are having trouble with your employer giving you proper accommodations, you might like to share the agreement with them. This is an access issue, the same as any other disability protected under the ADA.

Photo credit

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Environmental Illness, Fragrance, Law, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Perfume, Personal Care, Policy, Sick Building, Stink, Toxic, Work

Perfume blogger dismisses concerns from a member of our community

Posted on Jan 19, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Susie Collins

I love it when people who have absolutely no medical expertise make flippant comments about allergies and sensitivities to chemicals.

Now Smell This: A Blog About Perfume reports on Perfume is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Art World. Angela writes:

I look forward to the day when saying “perfume stinks” is seen as a sign of ignorance. Maybe, instead, that person will lean toward a friend discreetly wearing scent and say, “Your perfume is — interesting. Tell me about it.”

In the comments she writes:

“I know a few people, too, who claim to be allergic to fragrance, but I think they’ve just had a bad reaction standing next to someone soaked in something particularly loud. All of these people can wander into a Marriott or a Hilton, where fragrance is pumped through the air, without a hitch.”

Excuse me, who’s ignorant? I love it when people who have absolutely no medical expertise make sweeping, flippant comments about allergies and sensitivities to chemicals. The truth is many of us with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity cannot wander into a Marriott or Hilton without risking our health. Neither can we visit malls or casinos or walk through an airport without a mask. Scent marketing blocks our access to banks, office buildings and even hospitals.

Now Smell This is a popular blog, and at about comment #180, a member of our community, Elaine Willis, left a comment for Angela:

People who CLAIM to be allergic to perfume most likely are! [Commenter] Klytaemnestra does not understand that someone can develop the sensitivity over time. Although I can appreciate the discussion here, I hope it can be appreciated that for 3 out of 10 people, perfume is a health hazard; and for a smaller but growing number – perfume and other petro-chemically enhanced products, are life-threatening.

Angela obviously thought Elaine was over exaggerating, and so flippantly replied: “Oh my! 3 out of 10 people! I guess I count myself as one of the lucky ones. I’d sure hate to be allergic to perfume when the world is awash in scent–everything from cleaning products to buses to malls and hotels seems to be scented these days.”

When another commenter recommends “a more judicious approach in putting perfume or scent into everything and everywhere,” Angela pronounces,”I think a lot of people don’t even notice it anymore, yet they squawk when they smell it on a person.”

The truth is that the toxicity of modern fragrance formulations is a serious health issue for everyone, not just people with Environmental Illness and/or Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

Saying “I think a lot of people don’t even notice it anymore” about what is a serious disability rights issue is 15-20 years behind the times. In America, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, which include sensitivity to modern perfume and fragrance, is recognized as a disability by the Social Security Administration, Housing and Urban Development, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, among others. Click here for a list of published peer-reviewed articles documenting the “realness” of MCS.

This chemical sensitivity condition is not rare and the numbers of people who have it are growing. A national survey found 11.2% of respondents reported increased sensitivities to common chemicals and 2.5% had been medically diagnosed with MCS. Perhaps even more relevant to this discussion here is that this same survey found 31.1% of respondents said that sitting next to someone who was wearing a scented product was “irritating.” So going without perfume in schools, hotels, banks, airports and other public places is a good idea because it improves air quality and reduces potential harm to others as well as yourself.

Toxic modern fragrance is a health issue that affects everyone and a disability rights issue that affects people with respiratory illness including people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Clean air is everybody’s business, and seeing this issue as a fundamental health issue is the only way we will ever get consensus on taking the necessary action to protect everyone.

Now Smell This is a blog with a lot of readers, why not go an tell Angela how you feel about a product made from unregulated toxic chemicals choked with phthalates known to cause reproductive harm and petrochemicals known to trigger asthma, migraines, respiratory distress, central nervous system problems and more. Tell her how you feel when your body is exposed to perfumes in public places and your eyes burn and itch, your throat and limbs swell up, your skin burns, or a migraine is triggered.

I would have forgiven Angela her blog topic had she not been so flippant when Elaine told her that perfume can indeed be life threatening. I wish Angela could experience Multiple Chemical Sensitivity for just one day, it might make her have second thoughts about flipping off someone trying to tell her perfume can be extremely dangerous for a large part of the population.

Photo credit

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Tags: Air, Asthma, Cosmetics, Environmental Illness, Fragrance, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Perfume, Personal Care, Products, Sick Building, Stink, Toxic

New website launched on fragrance-free living

Posted on Jan 15, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Products, Susie Collins

New website warns of the dangers of toxic fragrance in personal care products and other consumer goods.

A new website just came up on my radar about Fragrance-Free Living. It’s run by former auto mechanic David Tywoniuk, who now owns an auto body shop in Edmonton, Canada. He and Judy Sterling put the website together.

Here is a really good reason as to why you might want to try “Fragrance Free Living”. Did you know that the ingredient “Fragrance” used in most of the above products can indicate the presence of up to 4,000 separate, mostly man-made ingredients? Many compounds in fragrance are human toxins and suspected or proven to cause cancer. Symptoms reported include: headaches, dizziness, rashes, skin discolorations, violent coughing and vomiting and allergic skin irritation. Observations by medical doctors have shown that exposure to fragrance can affect the central nervous system, causing depression, hyperactivity, irritability, inability to cope, and other behavioral changes. 100% of perfumes contain toluene, which can cause liver, kidney and brain damage as well as damage to a developing fetus.

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Tags: Air, Asthma, Chemicals, Cosmetics, Fragrance, Healthy Living, Home, Indoor Pollution, Perfume, Personal Care, Sick Building, Stink, Toxic

The woes of public restrooms

Posted on Dec 28, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Keith Carlson, MCS

Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity can make it an enormous challenge to use a public restroom.

Post by Keith Carlson.

Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), it can be an enormous challenge to be in a public place and simply need to use a bathroom. These days, public restrooms in the United States seem to have been permanently inoculated with so-called “air-fresheners” that make relieving one’s self an adventure in being actively poisoned.

For me personally, my struggles with public restrooms are exacerbated by the fact that I have an underlying medical condition (enlarged prostate) that necessitates fairly frequent urination, and this, my friends, can lead to some exceedingly challenging scenarios.

Just the other day, I was in a Trader Joe’s store here in Atlanta, where we’re visiting for the holidays. Feeling the urge, I sauntered warily towards the men’s room, hesitant to open that door but feeling that I had no real choice in the matter. Pushing the door open, I was hit with that disappointing, maddening and altogether overwhelmingly frustrating sensation that I had discovered—yet again—another public rest room that is simply verboten for my use. Sigh.

While I have no problem with peeing outdoors (which, in fact, is altogether preferable on so many levels), there are numerous situations in which doing so could lead to embarrassment, dirty looks, and—worst of all—a permanent label as a sex offender. Bearing in mind that many states do indeed prosecute public urination as a sexual offense, I frequently find myself at a loss as to what to do in order to heed nature’s (increasingly urgent) call.

You may then be led to ask, “Why not just use the stinky bathroom anyway, Keith? What could possibly happen to you?”

And I would reply, “Well, first of all, the clothes that I’m wearing can very quickly become saturated with the toxic smell of the substance in question. Although I do not develop respiratory symptoms like my wife does, I will find myself incredibly irritable, often with confusion, dulled mental faculties, and a difficulty finding words when speaking. A secondary and unfortunate sequela of my exposure to such a substance is that my wife will then react to the aura of chemical toxicity surrounding me, and she will then begin to have bronchospams, headaches, and a host of other symptoms which would have been otherwise preventable had I not entered that rest room in the first place.”

As you can see, the fallout from a simple visit to a men’s room can have far-reaching health consequences for both myself and my wife, and now that we are traveling, it is even more crucial for us to continue to use the toilet in our chemically safe mobile home when we can. Still, we often find ourselves in situations where we are far from our mobile haven, in need of a rest room, and unable to do what so many other people take for granted on a daily basis.

A “rest room” should truly embody the literal meaning of its name—a place for rest, to relieve one’s self and emerge refreshed and ready for the next chapter of one’s day. For those of us who are canaries in the coal mine of the toxic world around us, they are far from a restful place of repose. From the scented sprayers on the wall to the deodorizers in men’s urinals, public rest rooms are dangerous, exasperating, poisonous places to be avoided at all costs. When a safe rest room is found, it is cause for celebration and relief (both mental and physical). But when one needs to go and there’s nowhere to do so, it is a maddening moment of living in a toxic world.

~~~

This post was originally published on my blog Digital Doorway, a digital venue for creative expression, nursing adventures, reflections, thoughtful reverie, thoughtless repose, and other flotsam and jetsam.

You can also visit me at Mary and Keith’s Excellent Adventure, where my wife and I blog about living full-time in our new RV, traveling the highways and byways of America, visiting intentional communities, and bringing Laughter Yoga and the benefits of health and wellness coaching to new and old friends along the way!

Photo credit.

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Tags: Chemicals, Fragrance, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Perfume, Products, Sick Building, Stink, Toxic

On babies and husbands

Posted on Sep 25, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, MCS

A grandchild is on the way and a husband is staying put.

Post by Franny Armstrong.

Yes, Nanny Franny’s having a grandbaby in the spring. Thankfully, I don’t have to carry it until AFTER it’s born. LOL.

The first concern that crossed my mind was about baby powder, baby oil, Ivory Snow and so on. With all those chemically, fragrance enhanced products, will I get to hold him? (I’ve decided it’s a boy…for now.)

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity doesn’t allow you to choose if you will react to chemicals from birth, but does it start in the womb? Perhaps it will eventually link to genetics, this sensitivity that others don’t seem to get. Who knows?

It isn’t all about making sure the house is childproofed with locks, small toys for the correct age groups, and even keeping pennies out of the way of small hands and mouths (my nephew seems to have misplaced one… ahem) yet what about the chemicals in the locked cupboards? Do they vaporize from their containers and fill the tender lungs of infants to start the whole process?

Hmmm, it makes me wonder if my parent’s smoking around me when I was growing up might have weakened my immune system and made me more libel to become chemically sensitive.

I’m unable to talk my husband into moving out of our mold infested house after twenty years of living here. My doctor said that since we live beside a new golf course (we were here first I tell ya!) it is possible that the pesticides started the whole ball of wax… uh… MCS. He highly recommends moving is all I’m going to say.

Hubby is replacing walls, spraying concrobium to kill the mold, and doing a number of things around the house that just never seem to get done. I suppose that’s his way of saying he doesn’t want to move. SIGH.

Health wise, as long as I remain at home and stay out of populated areas, including vehicles on the road, I’m doing great, from the neck down anyway. It’s nice to be able to breathe again this week after three weeks of setbacks. I’m back up to writing full steam ahead and look forward to finishing yet another book (paranormal romantic suspense).

I’m revving up for an online writer’s conference in October that will keep me spellbound to the computer for weeks on end, even though it’s only for one week. So much to learn.

To Your Good Health.

Cavewoman-Franny Armstrong-ParaNovelGirl

Come visit me at ParaNovelGirls and at my MCS site.

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Tags: Chemicals, Children's Health, Fragrance, Home, Indoor Pollution, Mold, Perfume, Personal Care, Stink, Toxic

Sometimes loving your family STINKS!

Posted on Sep 22, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, MCS

Since Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is an invisible illness, it must be all in my head… shouldn’t it?

Post by Franny Armstrong.

Sept. 7– I had to rewrite this post this morning after the emotional anger had passed from severe reactions during a family/friends visit yesterday. This morning, my brain fog is clearer, though my head and face are still pounding like drums during a war dance.

We had family and friends come for a visit on Sunday. I cleaned my home with my chemical free cleaners, vinegar, unscented, color-free… almost everything free soap, baking soda, and a large dose of elbow-grease (petroleum-free).

With that done, hubby and I sat out on the deck and shucked corn together and talked. My hubby called to caution everyone not to wear fragrances because I was “severely allergic” to them, bless his heart. Hey, it’s what people understand, the word ALLERGY.

One family member told me to strive for some “normalcy” and not talk about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity! Though I seldom see them, and listened to them talk about health issues such as cancer, I was stunned. It’s been my mission for the past year to let people know what MCS is all about so they will understand what they can’t see.

I don’t wear a body cast, nor do I use a walker or leg braces, or even a bandage around my entire head, face, and lungs. Since it’s an invisible illness, it must be all in my head… shouldn’t it? In a sense, it is. It’s in my sinuses, headache, sore throat, plugged ears, aching chest and muscles and so on…

The friends were interested in finding out about MCS; what makes me ill and what doesn’t, so I carefully explained, though stuttering over my words due to the “hit” of fragrances I got the minute they arrived (not perfume or cologne, they all assured me). I was glad that the woman was finishing my sentences for me because my brain had stopped functioning properly. I had thrown on my mask right away but the damage was already done. The “hit” got me outside in the so-called fresh air!

The final straw that sent me off to hide in my room with a migraine was when someone lit the birthday cake with SPARKLERS! Gee, who’d-a-thunk they were made from CHEMICALS! Since I was now too ill to even sing Happy Birthday, let alone eat cake, I didn’t have a chance to protest before they were lit.

Going for a short walk down the driveway to clear my head didn’t work, so off to bed I went. I didn’t even say goodbye, goodnight, or kiss my… um… cheek (it was hidden behind the mask after all).

Dealing with family can be even more painful than dealing with strangers who at least are interested enough to ask me WHY I wear the mask. I believe having to sit beside me wearing a mask was an embarrassment to some of my family members, though not all.

Someone asked, “Why not leave the mask off? We are all sitting outside, after all.” I rest my case…

Come visit me at ParaNovelGirls

Self-portrait photo by Franny Armstrong.

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Tags: Chemicals, Fragrance, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Perfume, Pollution, Stink, Support, Toxic

Documentary film: Crude

Posted on Sep 09, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Environment, Media/Videos, Susie Collins

A true story about systematic poisoning.

As someone with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, I understand completely the statement in this trailer, “These people have been systematically poisoned.” Products containing petrochemicals are a big problem for people with MCS. We also know well the statement, “When you look at the science, they cannot really prove their case.” Bull dinkies. The science is there, we just need it to be recognized and used as a foundation for making policy regarding toxic chemicals, including oil.

It is a government’s responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens. Period.

Link

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Tags: Chemicals, Children's Health, Environment, Environmental Health, Film, Law, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Policy, Pollution, Products, Research, Stink, Toxic, Video, Water

Asphalt ASSAULT!

Posted on Aug 31, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Franny Armstrong, MCS

Is asphalt carcinogenic? Yes! Does it cause breathing issues, skin burns, and redness/burning of the eyes? Yes! A petroleum based product? Absolutely!

Post by Cavewoman Franny Armstrong-ParaNovelGirl

Yes, my new nickname is now Cavewoman! Nope, not like Batwoman or Catwoman, but Cavewoman because it’s nearly IMPOSSIBLE to leave my cave at ANYTIME OF YEAR where I don’t run into SOMETHING that makes me ill! Jeesh!

Today I drove to visit family and ran across a construction/upgrade of kilometers (miles) of highway with freshly laid asphalt (aka bitumen) and much more being laid while I waited in line to pass the area. Quickly slipping on my not–so–trusty carbon-filtered mask (which doesn’t filter out much, believe me) I continued to watch while blue–grey clouds of thick smoke billowed around the workers and large construction machines, wondering how long I could hold my breath!

It crossed my mind that neither of the workers were protecting their lungs from the toxic morass of chemicals and decided that since I was so ill by the time I arrived home and crashed in my bed for most of the rest of the day, that it was time to research asphalt!

Is it a carcinogenic? Yes! Does it cause breathing issues, skin burns, and redness/burning of the eyes? Yes! A petroleum based product? Absolutely! Hmmm…Strike, strike, strike…And so I continued to gather this eye-opening, sinus–attacking, breath-stealing, head–splitting info.

Okay, that was enlightening .Now, the question: Is it a pesticide? YES! A neurotoxin? You betcha!

It’s a product created with hydrocarbons and contains small amounts of metals such as iron, nickel, and vanadium (to name a few). Crude oil is distilled to separate raffinate (solvents used to separate an original liquid from other components, like oil from petroleum refining processes) from residual oil process called de–asphalting or carbonization. It might then be further processed by ‘air blowing’ ‘solvent precipitation’ or blending with other refined materials to create a product that will have the correct elasticity (if you will) to move with the constant expanding/contracting of the surface for the climate the product is made for. In Canada, for instance, we have harsh, cold winters, then hot, wet summers which can wreak havoc on paved roads leaving potholes, cave ins and cracking. Save a car, suffer illness.

Asphalt is also used on roofing projects, to coat electrical wiring, insulate for sound, and corrosion protection in municipal drinking water reservoirs. Yum! I can taste the results already…

So, what else is in this volatile mixture? How about: clarified slurry oil, organic antistrip agents, silicone oil, elastomers, polymers, antioxidants (oh, maybe that’s a good one?) kerosene and diesel fuel. Sounds like something I’d prefer to stay away from. Oh, give me back the days of rutted dirt roads!

Well, I could go on, but just having been in contact with the smog of despair today, I’m off to bed again with a severe headache. Hope I can get back up again tomorrow. We’ll see.

The best thing to do in this case is to AVOID CONSTRUCTION ZONES AT ALL COSTS!

Sigh

CAVEWOMAN!

Come visit me at ParaNovelGirls

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Environment, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Pollution, Stink, Toxic

A tropical depression, MSC style

Posted on Aug 10, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, MCS, Susie Collins

I’m not exactly sure when I realized I was in trouble.

Post by Susie Collins.

There’s nothing like a hurricane barreling in your direction to cause havoc with just about everything. No matter how many times the weather service tells you Hurricane Felicia is expected to weaken before land fall, you still have to plan for the worst. You still have to take a look in the food pantry to be sure you’ve plenty of provisions. You still have to worry about your employment if the Internet cable goes out. You still have to wonder about how sturdy the chicken pen and how delicate the spinach starts. You still have to wonder how much wind it would take to whip that tree limb into the electric line. Forty miles per hour? Sixty? How much wind would be too much? How much rain would cause a flood?

To reduce some risk, we spent all day Sunday trimming branches, clearing out ditches, securing potted plants, scrubbing water containers, planning for possible evacuation.

But disaster came anyway, for a different reason. It happened in the front garden when we were trimming back the bamboo from the Internet cable, my husband way up at the top of a wooden ladder lopping shoots, and I hauling off the bundles to the mulch pile. About an hour into the job, our neighbors decided to do their laundry. Only someone with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity understands what this means. Only someone with MCS could understand that a neighbor doing laundry can cause a disaster.

I’m not exactly sure when I realized I was in trouble. Certainly the odor was a clue, that sickening stench of laundry detergent chemicals causing my brain to lurch backwards and my eyes to burn. But exactly how long was it before I actually started to crash? Oh, I remember. It was when the same neighbors started up the BBQ. Yep, that was it, the lighter fluid, hitting my lungs and my brain and my muscles as I lugged a bundle of cut bamboo up the hill. Instantly, it was no longer a hurricane I worried about, it was my own tropical depression.

I barely made it through the rest of the chores, collapsing into bed by 7 o’clock and sleeping for a couple of hours before having enough energy for dinner. I was so sick! Horrible, horrible feeling. Brain not working, body not working, all joy of life gone.

I woke this morning groggy but better. My eyes were still a mess, but I managed to shake off the rest of the aches and pains by the time I started on today’s writing assignments. This evening, Civil Defense is saying Hurricane Felicia is now a tropical storm, quickly deteriorating into a tropical depression herself. She’s wandered north of the Big Island, and will dump some rain on a few of the other islands, but no major problems are expected. As it turned out, she made less problems in my life than my neighbor’s washing machine.

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Environment, Fragrance, Garden, Hawaii, Home, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Products, Stink, Toxic

A chemical nightmare at work

Posted on Jul 28, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Keith Carlson, MCS, Worker's Rights

There are poisons and toxins everywhere that can damage our health and cause us temporary or permanently debilitating symptoms that directly impact our ability to fully function in the world.

Post by Keith Carlson.

Last week, I was sitting in my office and began to notice an odd smell, sort of sickly sweet. Ignoring it against my better judgment for several days, I was even told by my astute boss—who is well aware that I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)—that something seemed amiss.

Since last week, I’ve been noticing increased confusion, memory loss, and a marked increase in my level of stress and anxiety. Granted, we are in the midst of selling our home and radically changing our lives, but this past week my emotional life has been over the top and I have been feeling physically unwell.

Today, my (chemically sensitive) wife came to visit my office, remarking immediately that my office seemed incredibly toxic to her and that I should leave immediately. Just prior to her arrival, I had literally been crawling around on the floor, trying to “sniff out” where the offending odor was coming from, an odor that had by now become almost overpowering in its sweet disgustingness.

With my nose on the top of the heat register, I detected the source of the odor emanating directly from the heater, even though it wasn’t on.

Bringing two colleagues into the office, they both agreed that the smell was very strong and that I should leave for the day and we would try to get to the bottom of it. Just then, one colleague mentioned that someone had moved into the office directly below mine last Tuesday, and perhaps there was a connection. Looking back, it was indeed Tuesday or Wednesday of last week that I began to feel unwell and that the faint smell had begun to make itself known.

Running down to the first floor with my wife, we quickly located the office directly below mine (which I had never before noticed), and although the door was closed and locked, the smell coming through the cracks was absolutely the same odor now filling my office on the second floor, although the intensity of it as it emanated through the door was enough to send us reeling.

My guess is that the new resident of this office installed a “Plug-In” on the day she moved in, the sort of plug-in that is filled with noxious liquid fragrance that is heated via an electrical outlet. These insidious and ubiquitous devices have taken over, with Americans of all economic stripes convinced that their homes will not smell “clean” without such unhealthy trash that poisons the very air that they and their children breathe.

Since the building manager was out, I sent him an urgent email explaining the situation, left work early (with dizziness and confusion continuing), and will not return to my office until the space has off-gassed for several days.

So, although I have fought for a fragrance-free workplace, low-VOC paints, “green” cleaning products, and other accommodations, this employee who moved into the office downstairs unwittingly created a toxic environment for me that has subsequently caused me a week of distress, confusion, and other neurological symptoms that will, I hope, decrease as the next few days allow me to detox from its deleterious effects.

When one has MCS (or even if one does not), there are poisons and toxins everywhere that can damage our health and cause us temporary or permanently debilitating symptoms that directly impact our ability to fully function in the world.

I was glad to get to the bottom of this situation, and hope that it will be rectified shortly and that I can recover from the impact of this unfortunate chemical event.

This post was originally published at Digital Doorway.

Link to image at NoFragrance.org.

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Children's Health, Environment, Environmental Health, EPA, Fragrance, Home, Indoor Pollution, MCS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Perfume, Products, Sick Building, Stink, Toxic, Work