Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Unless your immune system has been compromised, the body fights back very effectively when a substance the body identifies as "foreign" enters.

These foreign substances are called antigens. When the body detects one, the immune system manufactures specific antibodies that attach to and neutralize the antigen; however, for those with allergies, a normally harmless substance such as grass pollen, peanuts, or wasp venom can cause an immune response that results in what we know as allergy symptoms.

Editor's Note:

"Race" is sometimes mentioned as a risk factor in the development of certain cancers and a number of other diseases. When you read this in a discussion about an illness, note that the explanation seldom refers to anything biological. Instead, it usually refers to behavior, such as eating habits. The kinds of behavior usually mentioned as risk factors are culturally determined. They are not genetic or biological.

To some people the buttery odor from buckets of popcorn at the movies is a foretaste of the pleasure to come. For others, it's anathema. If going to the movies makes you cough, here's the reason.

A petition has been sent to OSHA requesting that it set exposure limits to diacetyl, a flavoring in popcorn, "... and immediately issue a bulletin to all employers and employees stating that exposure might result in severe illness; and conduct inspections where workers are exposed to diacetyl and issue citations when necessary." "Employers, in addition to providing respirators, would have to control levels of diacetyl in the air workers breathe and provide medical surveillance and consultation to all employees exposed to the chemical," reports the Baltimore Sun.

William J. Rea, M.D. is a pioneer and one of the leading researchers and clinicians in the field of environmental medicine and chemical sensitivity. Dr. Rea is the director of the Environmental Health Center (EHC) in Dallas, TX (www.ehcd.com).

Reports by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Children's Health Environmental Coalition have been used in this article to educate Americans about the huge quantity of toxic and hazardous chemical products used in homes that find their way into the bodies of humans and wildlife. Unfortunately, only a miniscule number have been tested for safety.

According to new research reported in the online edition of the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the chlorine in indoor swimming pools may be contributing to the rising number of children with asthma.

Tulare County, in the Fresno area of California, is a heavy agricultural area. Pesticide-reform activists said mid-July, 2006, that their monitoring shows airborne pesticide levels in Tulare County are unsafe.

A new study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine in July, 2006, found high levels of pesticide exposure in children of migrant workers in eastern North Carolina.

Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are extremely dangerous.

A group of firefighters believe they are a classic cancer cluster. A wave of premature deaths triggered memories of their fire-fighting training 20 years ago with burning oil at the academy. The trainees didn't know then that the oil contained polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, compounds later found to cause cancer.

Children are about to gain strong protections from pesticides, mercury, diesel fumes, arsenic-treated wood, mold and mildew at North Carolina’s public schools.

A new bill titled the “School Children’s Health Act” has passed the House and Senate and has been sent to the Governor for his signature. The bill uses common-sense, low-cost, and even cost-savings measures to reduce student and staff exposure to hazardous contaminants in school buildings.