by Toni Lee

for UPSCALE Magazine

683 Words

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Has a whiff of someone’s perfume or cologne ever taken your breath away or brought out a slight headache? These are symptoms of a low-level chemical sensitivity reaction. With repeated exposure to chemical substances such as perfume or cologne, it is likely that the reactions will increase in intensity.

 

Reactions can range from sneezing, uncontrollable coughing, faintness, headache, temporary loss of vision and unexplained sudden sleepiness, to ringing in the ears, loss of breath and immediate cold or flu like symptoms. You may also experience disorientation to the extent of not knowing who or possibly where you are, or an unusual and bizarre attraction to the opposite sex upon contact with their fragrance.

 

For many people exposure to chemicals like perfume and cologne is debilitating. Unless chemical pollution is taken seriously, according to the medical community in the study of environmental medicine, there will be an unpredictable number of multiple chemical sensitivity incidents in the next few years.  As our environment becomes more chemically laden, so do we. Lack of eliminating the immune overload we encounter, caused by the onslaught of chemicals, can result in severe consequences. Proper food - preferably organic - which is not chemically treated, helps strengthen the immune system, while regular exercise and consistently attempting to reduce chemical exposure, will all help in keeping MCS at bay. 

 

According to Claudia S. Miller, assistant professor in allergy and immunology at the University of Texas Health Science center at San Antonio, MCS can cause a variety of reactions, as exposure to chemicals occurs. Other common environmental chemicals which cause reactions for MCS sufferers include exhaust fumes, new carpeting, fresh paint, cigarette smoke, nail polish, cosmetics, hair products, commercial soaps and pesticides. Some of these substances cause fatigue cognitive difficulties, mood alterations, food intolerances, depression and irritability.

 

Environmental specialists, immunologists and most allergists are appropriate choices for care rather than general practitioners. The general medical community is sometimes ill informed or skeptical about MCS, despite the condition’s existence since the late 1970s, when the problem of chemicals in our environment was first acknowledged.

 

In 1994, the US Department of Health and Human Services published a three-inch thick book on the findings of a conference on the subject, “ Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: A Scientific Overview” edited by frank L Mitchell. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made this book available to the medical community, yet many physicians have not investigated the information. Furthermore, when directly confronted with information from studies conducted by a highly respected peers, many physicians will not acknowledge the existence of this disorder.

 

MCS results from an overload of chemicals encountered daily. Individuals who do not attempt to use mostly natural products accumulate seemingly high levels of harmful chemicals.  As the day begins, we brush our teeth with toothpaste, which may contain up to 25 chemicals; then wash with soap with another 15; apply perfume or cologne containing up to 600 chemicals; cosmetics with another 2 to 300 chemicals and eat breakfast with another 200 or so chemicals. An individual may then breathe new carpet with another 300 chemicals; wash dishes with another 20; walk outside and breathe polluted air and start the car and inhale approximately 40 more chemicals. Before getting to work we have come in contact with a possible 1200 chemicals, many of which have been identified by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, in a 1989 study, as recognized toxic substances. In that study, out of the 2983 chemicals used in the fragrance industry, 884 were identified as such. To better understand MCS, complaints about it should be taken seriously. Acknowledge that close proximity to certain substances causes immediate distress and sometimes severe, lingering symptoms for individuals with this condition. Understand that even minimal application of perfume or cologne, for example, can ignite lasting effects on a sufferer.

 

By becoming more educated and sensitive about MSCS you can prevent such agony for individuals with this condition, and may possibly save yourself from developing it as well.

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Written for UPSCALE Magazine 1999

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