About Steve Ross, M.A.

Medicine.org Editor, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Steve Ross, MA, is a California licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, now living in Tucson, AZ with his wife, Julie, who has severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). His interest and deep involvement with MCS and Environmental Illness (EI) in general stems from his wife's illness and the effects of his own exposures to pesticide and mold.

In 1989, Julie was exposed to pesticide, new carpeting and new buidling materials in a remodeled San Francisco school room with faulty ventilation. She began having mild seizures and later, because she kept working (not realizing that the job environment was causing her symptoms), developed a severe reaction (sensitivity) to perfume, which included significant cognitive impairment after exposures. Her sensitivities spread to the chemicals in other scented products and to formaldehyde and the chemicals in printer's ink and paper, and soon she was unable to teach any longer. She could no longer go many places, or even be around other people, because of her reaction to the chemicals in common everyday products.

By the time she and Steve got together, she was nearly home-bound and on disability, although she looked perfectly healthy when not exposed to the chemicals that impaired her. From then on, Steve was her advocate and helped her navigate through the perils of shopping, medical appointments, hospital stays, etc. Then, in 1998, he and his wife were both exposed to Dursban, a potent pesticide now banned for residential use. Steve's endocrine system was disrupted and his wife's seizures changed from mild to gran mal. At this point Steve became active in the Environmental Health Network of Northern California (www.ehnca.org) where he learned much more about MCS and EI.

In 2002 they moved to Tucson, having found land and an old adobe house way out in the desert with clean air and lots of space from neighbors. The house turned out to be moldy and had to be demolished and Steve suffered a bad exposure. They then built a safe non-toxic house on the land, where Julie is recovering, although any exposures set her back. They joined the Human Ecology Action League of Southern AZ (www.healsoaz.org) and became active members. Steve produces a regular email bulletin of news and information for the local MCS community and has readers around the country. He first learned about Medicine.org from a reader in Colorado.

With his background in mental health and environmental illness, he is now editor of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity resources on Medicine.org and a contributing editor for the Mental Health channel.