Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
Overview
Multiple chemical sensitivity, or chemical sensitivity, is a hypersensitivity to chemicals, generally organic solvents, pesticides, and combustion products. Typically it develops after chemical injury. It is not rare.
Epedemiologic research conducted in Atlanta in 1999 revealed that:
- 1.8% of the general public had lost a job due to chemical hypersensitivity
- 3.1% of the general public had been diagnosed with either environmental illness or multiple chemical sensitivity
This study and others have found a rate of unusual sensitivity to chemicals similar to the National Academy of Sciences estimate of 15% of the general public.
A
Review of a Two-Phase Population Study of Multiple Chemical
Sensitivities
by Stanley M. Caress and Anne C. Steinemann, Environmental
Health Perspectives
Prevalence studies, as well as evidence for neurological and respiratory damage in MCS patients, are discussed in the following article:
Response
to Errors Prevalent in the Understanding of Environmental Illness
by Dr. Gerald H. Ross, MD
The following is a brief description of chemical sensitivity and its symptoms, how the body's ability to identify chemicals escalates to chemical sensitivity, and who gets MCS:
Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) - What Is It?
by Dr. Sarah Myhill, MD
Diagnosis and Treatment
Considerations
for the Diagnosis of Chemical Sensitivity
by Dr. William J. Rea, MD
Biomarkers
of MCS and MUSES Syndrome
"Abnormal Medical Tests and Physical Signs Associated with Chemical
Sensitivity"
by MCS Referral & Resources
Pamphlet: Chemical
Sensitivity
by Dr. Sherry A. Rogers, MD
Treatment
Options in Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
by Dr. Gerald H. Ross, MD
Book: Chemical
Sensitivity, Vol. IV: Tools of Diagnosis and Methods of Treatment
by Dr. William J. Rea, MD
Biological Cause
This essential article analyzes the process of acquiring chemical sensitivity and suggests how theories about the mechanism could be experimentally demonstrated. The article clearly explains important concepts related to chemical sensitivity, such as stimulatory and withdrawal symptoms; masking; and habituation.
Toxicant-induced
Loss of Tolerance--An Emerging Theory of Disease?
by Dr. Claudia S. Miller, MD, Environmental Health
Perspectives, Vol. 105, Suppl. 2, March 1997
Book: Chemical
Exposures: Low Levels and High Stakes, 2nd ed.
by Nicholas A. Ashford and Claudia S. Miller
In the following article, Dr. Gerald H. Ross, MD, reviews the evidence of neurological damage in the chemically sensitive, who have "neurocognitive and intellectual impairment, or emotional instability, upon certain chemical exposures." Evidence includes:
- Brain scans of MCS patients show a "neurotoxic pattern of metabolic abnormalities in the brain"
- Brain scans show a worsening of the abnormalities on challenge with low-dose chemicals
- Nasal inflammation causes increased chemical absorption on inhalation
- SPECT scans demonstrate a corresponding increased nasal uptake of tracer
Response
to Errors Prevalent in the Understanding of Environmental Illness
by Dr. Gerald H. Ross, MD
Airway Inflammation
Hypothesis
for Induction and Propagation of Chemical Sensitivity Based on Biopsy
Studies
by William J. Meggs, Environmental Health Perspectives,
Vol. 105, Suppl. 2, March 1997
Nitric Oxide / Peroxynitrite Cycle
Book: Explaining
"Unexplained Illnesses": Disease Paradigm for
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Fibromyalgia,
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Gulf War Syndrome, and Others
by Martin L. Pall, PhD
Novel
Disease Paradigm Produces Explanations for a Whole Group of Illnesses
by Martin L. Pall, PhD
Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity
by Martin L. Pall, PhD
NMDA
Sensitization and Stimulation by Peroxynitrite, Nitric Oxide, and
Organic Solvents as the Mechanism of Chemical Sensitivity in Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity
by Martin L. Pall, The FASEB Journal, 2002
Elevated
Nitric Oxide/Peroxynitrite Theory
of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Central Role of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate
Receptors in the Sensitivity
Mechanism
by Martin L. Pall, Environmental Health Perspectives,
September 2003
The
Vanilloid Receptor as a Putative Target of Diverse Chemicals in
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
by Julius H. Anderson and Martin L. Pall, Archives of
Environmental Health, 2004
Impact
The personal stories collected by Alison Johnson demonstrate the course of chemical injury: exposures to solvents or pesticides, subsequent neurological problems, and increasing impairment with repeated exposures.
Book: Casualties
of Progress: Personal Histories from the Chemically Sensitive
by Alison Johnson, ed.
Environmental illness or MCS is often labeled "complex" and "mysterious" for purposes of obfuscation. Bruce and Barbara Small point out that it is the "simplest disease around," "subject to simple and often dramatic experiment." They add that chemical sensitivity is a natural consequence of society's overuse of synthetic chemicals, an overuse difficult to explain except in terms of addiction.
Sunnyhill:
The Health Story of the 80's
by Bruce and Barbara Small
Links
American
Environmental Health Foundation
"The Foundation, a nonprofit organization, was established to provide
research into and education on Chemical Sensitivity."
The
Chemical Sensitivity Foundation
"The primary goal of the Chemical Sensitivity Foundation, a 501(c)3
nonprofit corporation, is to raise public awareness about multiple
chemical sensitivity."
The
Environmental Illness Resource
"Information and community resources for sufferers of CFS,
fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity, allergies, Candida, and
related conditions. Includes regular news, research updates,
doctor-authored articles, forums, book and product reviews and much
more."
MCS-CanadianSources
Support Group
"Resources and Support for Multiple Chemical Sensitivities,
Environmental Illness, and Chemical Injuries in Canada"
Environmental
Health Association of Nova Scotia
"Information about environmental illness, multiple chemical sensitivity
and less toxic living. The Environmental Health Association of Nova
Scotia is a volunteer, non-profit organization founded in 1985."
Rocky
Mountain Environmental Health Association
"The Rocky Mountain Environmental Health Association is a support group
for people with chemical sensitivities. We provide a starting point for
information and resources about Environmental Illness (EI), Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), Environmental Medicine, Sick Building
Syndrome (SBS), Gulf War Syndrome (GWS), and other related
environmentally aggravated health conditions."
Washington State Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Network
HEAL of Southern
Arizona
"Chemical Sensitivity Support Group.
HEALSoAZ has been helping members learn how to cope with MCS since
1983, in addition to educating the public about MCS and the health
effects of chemicals. We are a chapter of the Human Ecology Action
League and welcome new members."