Snowflake, Arizona USA – June 7, 2010 – Re|shelter is a new non-profit organization forming to address the urgent need for housing alternatives for people with environmental intolerances, who experience mild to life-threatening physical reactions to extremely low levels of chemicals, mold, electrical fields, and other environmental factors and have great difficulty living in their conventionally built homes.

Currently applying for 501(c)3 status, the charitable organization is committed to addressing the global housing crisis and high rates of homelessness and suicide within vulnerable populations affected by disabling environmental sensitivities. Their activities will include fundraising, awarding housing aid grants, facilitating the design and construction of healthy homes and communities, and using the arts to promote awareness.

Co-founders Julie Genser and Julie Laffin formed the charity because “the need is so great, and no one else is doing it,” says Genser. Genser and Laffin are hoping to direct funding from government and the private sector to help prevent homelessness and further suffering for those unable to secure safe housing due to their own limited resources. Both Genser and Laffin were disabled by severe chemical, electrical and other environmental sensitivities within the last six years and have a firsthand understanding of the housing struggle for this population. The two met online four years ago in a group for artists with chemical sensitivities.

Genser and Laffin will comprise the Board of Directors. The Advisory Board has 16 notable members with experience working in related fields, or with the illness itself, including William J. Rea, M.D., a pioneer in environmental medicine and safer housing construction, Pamela Reed-Gibson, Ph.D., an author and researcher of the life impacts of environmental sensitivities, Magda Havas, Ph.D., an expert on the biological effects of electromagnetic radiation, Carl Grimes, President of the Indoor Air Quality Association, Bennie Howard, the former director of the Office of Disability at HUD, Susan Molloy, a long-time disability rights activist, and Paula Baker-Laporte, an architect experienced in building for those with environmental sensitivities.

Some of the group’s planned projects include awarding home renovation grants to eligible individuals, construction of a clean air community as well as an emergency shelter, and an architecture school outreach program that educates students while collaborating on re|shelter’s projects.

Genser studied Design and Environmental Analysis/Interior Design at Cornell University and coordinated construction projects prior to getting ill. She had just become certified in permaculture and ecovillage design, and was enrolled in an intensive 4-month sustainable architecture semester at ECOSA Institute when she became severely disabled by environmental illness and had to drop out of the program. She has unique insight into re|shelter’s target population: the last five years she has moved seven times in search of safe housing that did not severely affect her health.

Laffin also knows the struggle of finding safe housing; she searches each summer for a place to escape the aerial crop spraying in her home county in northern Illinois. Driven by compassion and personal insight into the particular problem of housing for those with environmental illness, the two are very excited to be taking this important step, as there is no other organization in existence today that is solely focused on housing solutions for those with environmental intolerances.

Contacts: support@reshelter.org

Website: Re|shelter

Related Articles:

• Zurich targets first MCS-Housing Project in Europe and issues an invitation to tender
• The last few months of life of Angelika who was chemically sensitive
• An Italian Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Sufferer shouts an inconvenient truth with his death

President’s Cancer Panel report highlights threat from hormone-disrupting chemicals – many found in new fragrance study

San Francisco – A new analysis reveals that top-selling fragrance products – from Britney Spears Curious and Hannah Montana Secret Celebrity to Calvin Klein Eternity and Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce – contain a dozen or more secret chemicals not listed on labels, multiple chemicals that can trigger allergic reactions or disrupt hormones, and many substances that have not been assessed for safety by the cosmetics industry’s self-policing review panels.

The study of hidden toxic chemicals in perfumes comes on the heels of last week’s report by the President’s Cancer Panel, which sounded the alarm over the understudied and largely unregulated toxic chemicals used by millions of Americans in their daily lives. The President’s Cancer Panel report recommends that pregnant women and couples planning to become pregnant avoid exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals due to cancer concerns. Several fragrances analyzed for this study contained multiple chemicals with the potential to disrupt hormones.

“This monumental study reveals the hidden hazards of fragrances,” said Anne C. Steinemann, Ph.D., Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor of Public Affairs, University of Washington. “Secondhand scents are also a big concern. One person using a fragranced product can cause health problems for many others.”

For this study, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition of health and environmental groups, commissioned tests of 17 fragranced products at an independent laboratory. Campaign partner Environmental Working Group assessed data from the tests and the product labels. The analysis reveals that the 17 products contained, on average:

Fourteen secret chemicals not listed on labels due to a loophole in federal law that allows companies to claim fragrances as trade secrets. American Eagle Seventy Seven contained 24 hidden chemicals, the highest number of any product in the study.

Ten sensitizing chemicals associated with allergic reactions such as asthma, wheezing, headaches and contact dermatitis. Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio contained 19 different sensitizing chemicals, more than any other product in the study.

Four hormone-disrupting chemicals linked to a range of health effects including sperm damage, thyroid disruption and cancer. Halle by Halle Berry, Quicksilver and Glow by JLO each contained seven different chemicals with the potential to disrupt the hormone system.

The majority of chemicals found in the testing have never been assessed for safety by any publically accountable agency, or by the cosmetics industry’s self-policing review panels. Of the 91 ingredients identified in this study, only 19 have been reviewed by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), and 27 have been assessed by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) and the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM), which develop voluntary standards for chemicals used in fragrance.

“Something doesn’t smell right—clearly the system is broken,” said Lisa Archer, national coordinator of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Breast Cancer Fund. “We urgently need updated laws that require full disclosure of cosmetics ingredients so consumers can make informed choices about what they are being exposed to.”

“Fragrance chemicals are inhaled or absorbed through the skin, and many of them end up inside people’s bodies, including pregnant women and newborn babies,” said Jane Houlihan, senior vice president for research at Environmental Working Group.

A recent EWG study found synthetic musk chemicals Galaxolide and Tonalide in the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants. The musk chemicals were found in nearly every fragrance analyzed for this study. Twelve of the 17 products also contained diethyl phthalate (DEP), a chemical linked to sperm damage and behavioral problems that has been found in the bodies of nearly all Americans tested.

Members of Congress who are working to develop safe cosmetics legislation reacted to the report:

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.: “There’s no reason that people should be exposed to potentially harmful chemicals because they use perfume, cologne or body spray. But this report suggests that is exactly what’s happening. The chemicals detected in popular fragrances, which are often endorsed by celebrities, could have a range of adverse health effects and Americans are being exposed unknowingly. I think this is a clear sign of how woefully out of date our cosmetics laws are and how urgently the cosmetics safety legislation we’re developing is needed. The ingredients used in these products need to be tested for safety and the FDA must be empowered to fully protect the health of Americans by blocking chemicals deemed unsafe. Americans need to know that the fragrance products they buy don’t contain chemicals that could harm them.”

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass.: “A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but in some cases sweet smelling fragrances may in fact be dangerous. I am happy to be joining with my colleagues to soon introduce legislation that will make disclosure of ingredients used in cosmetics and fragrances mandatory and ensure that toxic chemicals are kept out of colognes and perfumes. Consumers have a right to know just what is in the products they spray and rub on their body every day.”

Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.: “It’s alarming that cosmetics products we use every day contain hidden toxic chemicals. That’s why I’m working with colleagues in Congress on legislation that will overhaul our outdated cosmetics oversight and regulation. We all deserve to know our products are as safe as possible.”

# # #

Download the report: www.safecosmetics.org/notsosexy

Autor: Campain for Safe Cosmetics, Release: May 12th, 2010.

International Appeal from Wuerzburg

The European Academy for Environmental Medicine (EUROPAEM) invited many renowned national and international scientists and health care professionals to a medical conference held in Wuerzburg, Germany from April 23 to April 25, 2010. These professionals were from the fields of environmental medicine, toxicology, immunology, neurology and genetics and other health fields as well as physicians and dentist. Also in attendance were representatives of patient initiatives. The theme of this international medical conference was Science Meets Practice. It dealt specifically with the issues of Neuro- Endocrine- Immunology and their importance in environmental medicine.

Greatly concerned, participants noted the increasing prevalence of chronic multisystem illnesses such as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CSF), fibromyalgia (FMS) as well as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, neurodegenerative diseases, auto immune diseases, and cancer.

At the conference it was impressively demonstrated that these chronic diseases are based on similar pathological mechanisms. Common mechanisms are chronic inflammatory processes influenced by environmental factors including chemical pollutants, biological infectious agents, and electromagnetic field (EMF) triggers.

Chronic diseases mean long-term patients and such patients require consecutive higher medical costs. This often leads to social exclusion of the affected people. Facing the appalling reports of Europe´s growing financial constraints, especially in public health, a further increase of chronic illnesses will accelerate the ongoing collapse of the National Health Service and medical insurance companies in Europe. Remedy is only possible with a change of priorities from today´s unilaterally symptomatic oriented medicine to causally oriented medicine focusing on cost-effective primary prevention.

Conference participants addressed an urgent appeal to the European environment and health ministers, to the European Commission, the European parliamentarians, national governments and to the directors of social and private insurance companies. They urge them to take these findings and developments into serious consideration, stressing and weighting financial investments primarily in prevention, precaution and best early detection and diagnosis of these chronic and environmentally related illnesses.

All over Europe this requires the full awareness of these research findings of the practicing physicians of environmental medicine and their integration into university research and teaching. The European governments are asked to finally implement the already ratified decisions of the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health Ministers held in Budapest in 2004.

This appeal was unanimously adopted by the congress.

Wuerzburg April 25, 2010

For the board of EUROPAEM,

Jean Huss, Vice-Chairman

Dr. Kurt Mueller, Chairman

Dr. Peter Ohnsorge, Managing Chairman

Dr. Hans-Peter Donate, Press, Responsible

• German Version – International Appeal from Wuerzburg
• Japanese Version – International Appeal from Wuerzburg / Thanks to Takeshi for translation.

Carne Cruda gives the scoop on the meeting of the working group to create a document of consensus on the Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Spain held in the Ministry of Health on April 21th 2010

“I’m your fan”. This was the title of the post in the blog of Carne Cruda, Spanish radio program, on October 22th where they asked people about their favorites songs. José Luís Aparicio posted a comment with his 10 favorite’s songs and the last one he chose was “No Fun” by The Stooges. But his choice went beyond the music, and, as he explained, he chose “No Fun” because my blog was named after this song. He also explained what MCS is (illness that he also suffers) and he asked Carne Cruda to talk about MCS and he also mentioned the interview that Salvador L. Arnal did with me for Rebelión.

4 days after I received an invitation from Carne Cruda through the editorial El Viejo Topo to interview me to talk about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

On November 2009 4th I was interviewed on Carne Cruda and I met José Luís Aparicio. They were so shocked by MCS that next day the show’s director explained during the radio show that they would contact the Ministry of Health because they wanted to interview the Minister of Health in their show and talk about MCS and to explain to them the terrible situation of the MCS sufferers.

This is how all this started. After a lot of calls to the Ministry of Health without receiving any response, last December they did a live phone call during the radio show and they finally had to accept. On January 15th 2010 José Martínez Olmos, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, was interviewed on “Carne Cruda, in a special show devoted to Multiple Chemical Sensitivity with Miguel Jara, Dr. Pablo Arnold, José Luís Aparicio and David Palma on behalf of me. He made the public commitment to meet with associations that deal with MCS between ten and twenty days after the show.

On February 4th 2010 was held the meeting with Ministry of Health to state the situation of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity sufferers in Spain. A petitions document done by MCS associations under David Palma’s coordination was submitted. One person by each MCS association attended to the meeting and also Jaume Cortés, lawyer of Colectivo Ronda, and Dr. Pablo Arnold. Also a copy of “Desaparecida: Una vida rota por la Sensibilidad Química Múltiple (Missing: A life broken by Multiple Chemical Sensitivity)” was hand delivered on behalf of me, as an example of what MCS sufferers have to go through in Spain. Representatives of Ministry of Health committed to contact MCS associations to jointly agree on experts to form a Scientific Committee to create a document of consensus on the MCS.

Then the 13 MCS associations set up the “Comité para el Reconocimiento del Síndrome de Sensibilidad Química Múltiple” (committee for the recognition of MCS in Spain) to have an unanimous voice for this process. The committee elaborated the list of doctors and the Ministry of Health invited all the 11 doctors nominated by the associations and 16 people from the Ministry of Health, between doctors and consultants, to attend to a meeting on April 21th 2010.

The first impression is positive. The working group elaborated the schedule and they agreed to create a draft of the document of consensus on the MCS to be review by MCS associations in September/October 2010. The reviewed document will be published by the Ministry of Health in December. They stated that this is the first step to make possible the inclusion of the MCS in ICD-10, i.e. its official recognition as disease in Spain.

It will be published an official press release but the day after the meeting, Carne Cruda gave the scoop, since is thanks to Carne Cruda that we are in this process and we wanted to give them our gratitude. David and I gave this great news during the program and Javier Gallego, the director and host of Carne Cruda, was really moved.

Thanks to José Luís Aparicio and special thanks to all the team of Carne Cruda, led by Javier Gallego, because if they wouldn’t have been interested in MCS, this would never have happened. I told them during the program, but I want to repeat again here:

Thanks in the name of all people with MCS!

Translated by Eva Caballé.

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CSN says thank you to Eva for the permission to reprint!

Masses

Choke

Slowly

We are not allowed to stop dreaming. Dreams we have not chosen. Dreams that are sold to us as indispensible for our happiness. And we sleep carefree and dream. We dream and we buy to be able to sleep and to keep dreaming about more stuff. We sleep deeply warmed by the glow of the robotized masses, heads full of dreams that don’t allow rest.

Don’t even dare to stop having sweet empty dreams. Don’t even dare to stop breathing deeply and find yourself lost in the nightmare of other’s dreams, without being able to wake up; in a world that burns you and locks you into an illness that only allows you to dream that your nightmares disappear.

Tonight you will go to sleep satisfied, snuggled up to your soft-skinned, seductively perfumed life, where everything is inoffensive and perfect. Your dreams will, once more, banish me to the hidden side of the world, where light pierces and sound scorches the nerves, where dreams become a cruel poison that slowly kills me and drags me from nightmare to nightmare with no way out.

Your toxic dreams bury my existence under a stone slab made up of three words: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Your world of ideal dreams sentences me to live jailed.

Wake up from the heavy dream in which you are sinking us so that you and I can dream that we actually live, a real dream; so that no more will anyone see their dreams turned into the torture of a merciless illness.

Author: Eva Caballé for Delirio, April 2010

Photo: Aida/Delirio

• German Version

More articles from Eva Caballé for Deliro:

• Naked Truth about MCS
  
• Metamorphosis insinde Multiple Chemical Sensitivity