Life-threatening asthma attack in airplane triggered by Permethrin

An Irish businessman suffered from a severe allergic reaction during an Air France flight because the airline sprayed the pesticide permethrin on board. James Lapham sued Air France and received €50,000 compensation for damages for the first time in history as was stated in the Irish Independent newspaper. Mr. Lapham, an asthmatic, barely survived the incident and is still receiving medical treatment after 8 months.

Pesticides are often part of everyday life on board

The spraying of pesticides on planes is not unusual. For hygiene reasons, and because it is feared that pests could be transported, many countries require the spraying of pesticides. Normally, the passengers are not informed or warned. The estimated number of passengers who suffered health problems during a flight due to pesticide on board is most likely high. Airlines worldwide now fear that this case could constitute a precedent, and that other passengers suffering from ailments may call upon this case.

A German lawyer led a lawsuit against Air France in 2008. He had also suffered health problems caused by the spraying of pesticides on board. The airline denied him the information as to what pesticide had been used. The Frankfurt regional court’s verdict in December 2008 gave the attorney only half right.

An even bigger worry for the airlines than the single passenger cases, is complaints from flight staff who have become ill due to pesticides and may take advantage of the current case.

Asthma attacks caused by pesticides

The Independent writes that James Lapham was on a flight from Rabat to Dublin when the incident occurred. He had only been on board for 10 minutes when he experienced breathing difficulties. The Irish Independent reports that the flight attendants had sprayed permethrin, a neurotoxic pesticide, in the cabin. Permethrin is a Pyrethroide, and is a pesticide which is known for, among other things, triggering allergic and non-allergic asthma. Permethrin is prohibited on flights in the U.S. because the pesticide has been classified by the EPA as carcinogenic since 1997.

Emergency landing due to asthmatic’s reaction to pesticide

The Irish businessman reacted so violently to the permethrin that the flight attendants had to give him oxygen. This intervention was not enough and Mr. Lapham’s asthmatic condition worsened and the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing in Morocco. The businessman was brought by ambulance to a hospital, where he was stabilized with cortisone. The Independent stated that Mr. Lapham might indeed work again, but is still in need of medical treatment.

Sick due to pesticides in airplane – not an isolated case

The Irish businessman James Lapham is not an isolated case. Particularly flight staffs on long-haul flights in hot regions have been complaining for years about the use of pesticides and the damaging health effects caused by the toxic chemicals. Court cases in different countries are pending and flight attendants have organized internationally for years.

James Lapham pled at the Irish High Court at the Montreal Convention. Passengers cannot receive more than € 100,000 damages under this convention, the Irishman won half, €50.000. Whether more cases will be recognized can not be predicted, because airlines still claim that permethrin had been recommended by the WHO, although scientific studies on the health damaging effects of neurotoxic pesticide are increasing.

Author: Silvia K. Müller, CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network, 21. August 2011

Literature: Independent, Airline pays out €50,000 in pest-killer spray case, August 09, 2011

Support for sufferers of Aerotoxic Syndrome: AEROTOXIC ASSOCIATION

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Environmental contamination from the everyday habits of humans cause “perfumed” fish

We encounter fragrances in everyday situations. We have “our world” scented even if we prefer to live fragrance and chemical-free. These scents come to us via our daily hygiene, food, cleaning products, baby diapers, candles, hotel rooms, and even socks and subway tickets have fragrance added. Mixtures of chemicals usually make up the perfumed ingredients. They accumulate in our fatty tissue, breast milk, and in our environment. A governmental laboratory in Switzerland found fish in high alpine lakes with fragrance ingredients. How did they get there, at altitudes seldom reached by a hiker, in a region where nobody lives?

The dream of clean air and water

Take a look at a peaceful scene in nature… high mountains at two thousand meters, crystal clear air, breathtaking panoramic views with deep blue mountain lakes. This scenery gives one the opportunity to feel one with nature, but appearances can be deceiving. A Swiss government laboratory for analytical chemistry has found samples of fish from the lakes in high mountains and lowlands which contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and fragrance ingredients.

Fish repository for insecticides, flame retardants, and fragrances?

Fish were examined from alpine lakes in seven regions above 2062-2637 meters sea level. The scientists found concentrations of old insecticides, and long banned chemicals like DDT, DDE, dieldrin, HPEX, HCB, HCH, PCBs, PCDD / F and PBDE in the fatty tissue of the fish . In addition to these highly questionable chemicals were found seven different artificial musks and Musk xylenes. These chemicals are components in fragrance mixtures, which are found in nursing, cleaning, laundry products and perfume.

Precipitation transports chemicals to the lake fish

Concentrations of PCBs, PCDD / F and PBDE were found in fish from high mountain lakes as well as in the lowlands. Things were very different from the concentration of synthetic musk compounds. These substances which came out of detergents and cosmetics were found in higher quantities in fish of the lowlands than in fish in higher regions. The reason is that the lakes in lowland regions are much more contaminated because sewage treatment plants release water which is still contaminated with these substances. An effect which doesn’t exist in higher mountain regions.

Everyday scents have side effects

According to the Swiss scientists, there is only one explanation for the fragrance ingredients and persistent chemicals in fish found in the high mountains: they come directly from atmospheric precipitation and air pollution. Rain, snow, and fog from our atmosphere in these regions are the cause/source for the contamination of the fish with fragrance ingredients. The environmental contamination from the everyday habits of humans cause “perfumed” fish. This development should show everyone the importance of having a critical mind in a scented world.

This year, which is more recent that this 2007 research, there was also an article in Berner Oberland about the fish in Lake Thun not being good for eating due to the chemical contamination.

Author:

Silvia K. Müller, Seit wann benutzen Fische Parfüm, CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network

Translation: Christi Howarth

Literature:

Schmid P, Kohler M, Gujer E, Zennegg M, Lanfranchi M. Empa, Persistent organic pollutants, brominated flame retardants and synthetic musks in fish from remote alpine lakes in Switzerland , Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research Laboratory for Analytical Chemistry Dubendorf, Switzerland. Chemosphere, January 2007

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• Scented consumer products shown to emit many unlisted chemicals
• Baby Bathwater contains Fragrance Allergens and Chemicals
• Household detergents, Shampoos may harmful substance in wastewater
• Toxic Beauty – What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You . . . In Fact, It Already Is

Pesticides – often underestimated

It is annoying when ants suddenly run out halfway across the kitchen, and climb up the kitchen cupboard looking for something sweet. However, street ants and bugs generally die quickly with the grip of poison. It is not a surprise to see a dusty can of pesticides in the home closet or garage, or pesticides offered in the supermarket or hardware store. Recently, however, ant poison is even available in some health food stores.

Although many consumers have become confident in dealing with pesticides, they still question how to treat this ant problem in their kitchens? If the poison kills the ants from the can, is it also possibly that this poison can also affect one’s health? Trivializing descriptions and promises on the box can lead to the underestimation of potential pesticide risks for humans and pets.

Ant poison freely available everywhere

During summer this poison is conveniently available to consumers at checkout counters, especially at the hardware store. Large shelves are built for pesticides of all kinds, to kill mosquitoes, ants, wasps, snails and whatever other pest is unwelcome.

In the summer, it is similar at the supermarket. A large shelf with various pesticides is conveniently and centrally located for consumers. Anyone who knows something about pesticides probably realizes that the products on these shelves are mostly nerve poisons. Among the ingredients are pyrethroids and organophosphates, both classes of pesticides are very harmful. For certain groups at risk, like pregnant women, and those who have chemical allergy-sensitivity, there is an increased danger. This is exactly why German authorities warn the public before they spray these pyrethroids and pyrethrum in the public’s vicinity.

The terms “natural” and “organic” lead to consumer deception

On some pesticide labels it is easy to read “natural pesticides”, “organic”, or “derived from the chrysanthemum” for of the toxic ingredient, pyrethrum. Not all such descriptions however mean that one is dealing with a completely harmless “organic poison.” Although pyrethrum is a contact insecticide derived from chrysanthemum, it has been known since ancient times for its consistent toxicity. Non-hazardous pesticides with natural attractants are rarely found.

Neurotoxic ant poison in the health food stores?

Change of scene: “What do we have here?” I asked myself recently as my eyes fell to the floor at a health food store in the refrigerated section. There was a range of small sized pesticide bottles with a nicely decorated design in pastel colors. “Well, maybe something completely non-toxic, which can be recommended to the neighbors if they have problems with insects,” was my second thought. Then I looked at the list of ingredients on the ant venom spray pump.”Natural pyrethrum” was written there. A toxic nerve agent in the health food store?

“People, who buy ant poison, should already know that!” Really?

The owner of the health food store was not far away, and it was a good opportunity to talk to her regarding the pesticide product line. With a factual explanation of how dangerous pyrethrum can be for health, especially for children, the sick, those with allergies, asthma, and pets, the health food store-owner then answered, “People who buy ant poison, should already who knows that.”

Pesticides assessed by each person, right?

This exact statement was an affirmation that even those who should be familiar with pesticides, sometimes completely underestimate their danger.

Even natural pyrethrum poses significant health risks for humans and pets. Cats can die from it. From the toxicology and medical reports, it is known that pyrethrum is harmful and can trigger allergies and asthma. So for safety sake it is better to leave this “natural” pesticide alone and try a harmless home remedy instead.

Health food stores should offer no pesticides with pyrethrum. The consumer confidence in their health food store drops by having such health hazards available for purchase. The better option, specifies an American organic supermarket chain, is to distribute free brochures with tips for small non-toxic pest control. Toxic items and multi-vitamins do not peacefully coexist in the same store.

Author: Silvia K. Müller, CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network, 06/26/2011

Free poison tip against ants in the house and garden:

Get a bag of chili seeds from the supermarket and place several tablespoons into a glass with oil. Then wait a couple of hours and sprinkle them outside along the door. This effective barrier is completely toxin-free and one can enjoy watching the ants outside make a U-turn.

Helpful tip: Warm the chili seeds with warm oil on the stove so that the agent responsible for the sharpness of capsaicin passes quickly into the oil. You can also spread the seeds of chili without oil, but the disadvantage is that they may be spread by wind.

Helpful informations about non toxic pestcontrol Steve Tvedten

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Were pesticides to blame for the death of Knut, the polar bear?

Many thousands of people mourn the sudden death of Knut, the polar bear. He was the darling at a German zoo. Why did Knut die? Initial autopsy results showed that Knut, the polar bear, suffered from a brain disease. A former animal keeper at a zoo reported the death of gorilla babies dying from pesticide use. The keeper herself fell ill and nearly died. Were pesticides the cause of death of the polar bear, Knut? Recent scientific research has shown that pesticides cause different brain diseases. What caused Knut’s brain disease will require further investigation. It is possible, because pesticides are used regularly in zoos to keep the zoo animals free of vermin.

All mourn the loss of Knut, the polar bear

In the media, on Twitter and Facebook, the death of Knut, the polar bear , remains the main topic for days now. The sweet polar bear was raised by a nurse with a bottle in the German zoo after his mother abandoned him. The little polar bear in no time, won the hearts of all the visitors. Now the sadness is great, and the cause of Knut’s brain disease is still under investigation. Zoo visitors witnessed the polar bear turning itself around several times and falling into the pond. Over 500 people observed the death of this polar bear and reported that he had an epileptic-like seizure before he sank into the water in his polar bear enclosure. Knut’s keeper also died suddenly at the age of 44 from a heart attack in 2008.

Dream job, but health went downhill

The young woman worked in one of the biggest zoos in Germany. She loved her job as a veterinary nurse above everything. She was responsible for the gorillas. With the bottle, she helped gorilla babies grow when needed. Most of all, she never wanted to go home after work because she loved her job so much. During her training, her health was deteriorating. The reason for her health decline was first discovered years later. Several radiological studies including SPECT, CT, and MRT scans of her brain showed severe brain damage and atrophy. Pesticides were the reason the keeper’s health went downhill.

Gorilla babies dead due to the use of pesticides

During training, the young keeper had to deal with pesticides during the spraying of the gorilla’s sleeping quarters. The pesticide nerve agents, pyrethroids and organophosphates were used. The young woman had to spray the sleeping caves. As she kneeled in front of the caves, she couldn’t avoid breathing in the poison. “The gorilla babies died, and now I know it was because they were exposed to the pesticides,” she told me several years ago when we met at a special clinic. Her immune and nervous system were severely damaged, and she had problems with her muscles and her heart was weakening. Her hair was falling out and she had the typical nerve agent seizures. She stated, “I initiated a workers’ compensation lawsuit and won.” There was no question that the health of the animal keeper was destroyed by pesticides.

Knut died from pesticide exposure?

We do not know exactly which brain disease Knut, the public’s favorite animal in the Berlin Zoo, suffered from, but further studies will hopefully determine the nature and cause of his brain disease. Pesticides may well be on the short list, because they are regularly used in zoos to keep the zoo animals free of fleas and other parasites. Certain herbicides, which are often used on pavements and along roadsides in zoos in order to be kept free of weeds, are quite capable of causing life-threatening seizures.

Author: Silvia K. Müller, CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network, March 21, 2011

Translation: Thanks to Christi Howarth.

Related articles:

• Groups seeking Ban on Organophosphate Pesticide got to Federal Court
• Wide range of currently used and globally marketed pesticides contained Dioxin impurities
• Pesticide Exposure linked to sucidial Thoughts
• Common Household Pesticides linked to Childhood Cancer Cases in Washington Area

A young chemically sensitive woman is in need of help due to pesticide spraying

Elvira Roda lives in the Spanish region of Valencia and is in great need. Her family and friends are asking for international help. The 35-year-old woman is suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, MCS. The humidity and heat where she lives means an increased number of bugs and mosquitoes. The officials from her area are using highly toxic organophosphate pesticide spraying in the trees and roadsides (see video). These neurotoxins are very harmful to humans and animals. Elvira’s family drew up a petition on July 1st, 2010 to ask for assistance.

Treatment success from the specialty clinic is now destroyed, instead she faces danger

Elvira was treated at one of the world’s best environmental clinics, the Environmental Health Center in Dallas. Her physical health was stabilized and hope returned to her family. Her case was in the media for some time.

This young woman who is disabled with severe reactions by small traces of perfume has already broken down several times due to highly toxic pesticides that are being applied by the officials outside of her home. These pesticides are particularly dangerous for her because they disable a specific detoxification enzyme and the body then poisons itself.

At the moment Elvira is brought to the sea every day. It is difficult for her because she has severe sensitivity to light among other things. She gets spasms, has immune damage, and suffers from fibromyalgia. She spends the whole day on the beach, not enjoying the sand and the water, but instead staying still in a “bed” due to her bad health. There is no other solution. It is the only way to protect her from being exposed to dangerous toxins. Unfortunately there are no emergency headquarters in Spain for the chemically sensitive or in any other countries for that matter.

Young women in danger

Eliva’s parents have designed her a safe “bubble” where her living space is free of harmful substances, so that this 35 year old woman can normally cope and get along well. She has a sauna there for detoxification so Eliva has a safe haven to live in. She had a safe oasis, but that was before. Now toxic pesticides are sprayed a few yards from the house and the trees are fogged from top to bottom.

The family has informed the authorities of the danger of this pesticide spraying for the young woman. They requested notification of this spraying beforehand. Many don’t understand that these sprays used can penetrate through sealed windows and doors of apartments. These types of pesticides remain active for a long time and they can release gases for several days or weeks.

Not only are those who are chemically sensitive are threatened by these pesticides, but everyone who lives in the environment, especially babies and children whose immune systems and detoxification systems are not fully developed. The main objective of this class of pesticide is to attack the nervous system, but they can also damage the immune system as in the case of chlorpyrifos, which is one type which is known to cause multiple chemical sensitivity.

Petition in support of Elvira Roda

In order to stop this spraying of pesticides, Elvira, and the family have written a petition to the City Council. Anyone can also sign this petition and make a comment. It is important that Elvira receives international assistance. Please post on Facebook, in newsgroups, and on Twitter to help the family spread the news.

Petition for Elvira Roda: http://www.gopetition.com/online/37492.html

You can sign and comment here:

http://www.gopetition.com/online/37492/sign.html

Give Elvira support, strength and hope

Details regarding Elvira’s situation are on the Website Elvira Roda There you can see what her family has built for her. It would be wonderful to write Elvira and her family to give them courage to move forward in any language. English and Spanish are preferred if possible, but your own language can be translated by computer. Anyone who suffers from MCS can relate to the incredible pain Elvira must be dealing with now.

Since Elvira also suffers from electrical sensitivity, she cannot answer herself, but gets all her letters read aloud. Elvira is trying to maintain contact through her website. She writes by hand on paper, and the family and friends help to refresh the page. It can sometimes take a while to get online information, because of the intensive care for the young woman.

All the best for Elvira!

We wish you much strength and hopefully Elvira will assist in the quick understanding on the part of the City Council to move on to non-toxic pest control methods that would benefit of all inhabitants of the Spanish city.

Author: Silvia K. Müller, CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network, 11 July 2010

Translation: Christi Howarth for CSN

• German Original
• Japanese Translation

Please feel free to add this article to your website or blog. Thank you!

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More articles about Chemical Sensitivity:

• Spanish Workgroup met with Ministry of Health to create a MCS Consensus Document
• Join the project “Multiple Chemical Sensitivity uncovered” / Lola Vicente
• New Housing Non-Profit Forming with Focus on Environmental Sensitivities
• MCS in Japan: A lecture at the House of Representatives of Japan
• The naked Truth about MCS – Multiple Chemical Sensitivity – Including Foreword about German Situation

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.

MeP DOMENICO SCILIPOTI (IDV): “HOW TO HELP PEOPLE AFFECTED BY ENVIRONMENTAL DISABILITY”

PRESS RELEASE, Rome 21.dec.09

“In order to help people with Environmental Disabilities whose survival and quality of life depend not on drugs, but on avoiding certain environmental factors, today I presented a project of law about this issue”, comments On. Scilipoti. “The law is meant for environmentally triggered diseases such as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), involving a loss of tolerance of chemicals, or Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS), forcing the affected ones to get far from electromagnetic fields emitted by mobiles, Wi-Fi, electric cables, etc. But the law is also meant for genetic, metabolic, neurological or immunological disorders such as fibromyalgia or CFS (involving chemical intolerances) or favism, which gives serious reactions to legumes. Other cases of environmental disability are seen in autism, epilepsy, migraine and lupus that involve reactions to fluorescent lighting”. “It’s important to discuss this law as soon as possible in order to give an answer to these people”, Scilipoti concludes.

LAW PROPOSAL

By the Member of the Chamber DOMENICO SCILIPOTI

“Rules for the Protection of Individuals with Environmental Disabilities”

Submitted December 21, 2009

HONORABLE COLLEAGUES ! – Over the last hundred years the environment of human life has been completely overwhelmed by industrial activities. Before the advent of chemistry, in Nature there were approximately 150 chemicals, while today there are on the market over 100,000 chemicals, most of which are not tested for their long-term effects on health.

At the same time the microwave background in the natural environment was virtually nonexistent and it was derived from extra-planetary sources in a scale of a billionth of a microwatt per square centimetre, while the wireless personal communications produced in the last fifteen years have pushed the EMF levels to tens of micro watts per square centimetre.

Thus, the human body evolved during thousands of years in an environment made of only 150 chemicals and nearly without micro-waves and it is not biologically prepared to protect itself from the sudden increase of these environmental factors, unlike, for example, the defense from ultraviolet rays of the sun that is guaranteed, after centuries of evolutionary selection, by the melanin.

Our society is facing, then, a growing number of new diseases and disorders caused by the use of toxic substances, considered innocuous for decades or whose health effects are still unknown, as well as electromagnetic fields, that are biologically active even if still considered harmless by the actual laws that are based exclusively on the thermal effects of electromagnetic radiation.

In this regard it should be observed that determining the legal limits for exposure to toxic agents or to electromagnetic fields has historically been determined on the basis of studies that are largely funded by the industry and it is scientifically proven that the public health policies arrive too late to consider the advancement of scientific knowledge.

In the case of electromagnetic fields, for example, while there has been an uncontrolled proliferation of wireless communications technologies over the past decade, there is a growing evidence about the non-thermal affects of the exposure to magnetic fields much lower than those admitted by the guidelines, up to the point that independent scientists have on several occasions adopted resolutions to ask for lower legal limits of these fields: Catania Resolution (2002), Benevento Resolution (2006), London Resolution (2007), Venice Resolution (2008), Porto Alegre Resolution (2009).

In 2007 a group of independent scientists founded the BioInitiative Group with the aim to review the studies and to analyze the existing health policies about electromagnetic fields with the point of view of the precautionary principle (www.bioinitiative.org). BioInitiative Report was adopted by the European Environmental Agency in the same year and the conclusions call for a lower safety limits of 0.6 V / m, suggesting that for very high frequency waves the threshold limit of safe exposure could be even thousands of times less than the one in the laws of the most industrialized countries.

In the Resolution about Interim Evaluation of the European Action Plan for Environment and Health 2004-2010, 4th September 2008, the European Parliament has listed multiple chemical hypersensitivity, the syndrome of dental amalgams, electromagnetic hypersensitivity, the sick building syndrome or the Attention deficit and hyperactivity syndrome among children as newly emerging environmental diseases.

Over the past three decades a growing number of people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and Electromagnetic Hyper-Sensitivity (EHS), two different conditions, but similar because they force those affected to avoid the triggering agents, respectively chemicals and electromagnetic; moreover very these two conditions often overlap.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a disorder that involves multi-organ reactions in case of exposure to environmental chemicals at law doses, far below those tolerated by the general population. The diagnostic criteria for the disease were established by an International Consensus in 1999, as a result of a multi-centric study lasted ten years, which was published in Archives of Environmental Health (vol. 54 / 3).

The Consensus defines MCS as:

[1] a chronic condition

[2] with recurring symptoms that occur in a reproducible way

[3] in response to low level exposures

[4] to multiple chemicals that are not related

[5] that improve or disappear when the triggering agents are removed

Later a sixth criterion was added about the symptoms affecting more than one organ or organ system.

The onset of MCS was associated with the exposure to seven classes of chemicals: organic solvents, organochlorine pesticides, carbamates, organochlorine, pyrethroids, mercury, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide (M. Pall, 2009). Substances that can trigger reactions are especially insecticides, pesticides, disinfectants, detergents, perfumes, deodorants, air fresheners, paint, solvents, glues and tar products, wood preservatives, building materials, printed paper, removal of dental amalgam, inks, exhaust fumes from stoves, fireplaces, barbecue, plastic products, drugs, anesthetics, formaldehyde found in furniture, fabrics and new fabrics, fuels, and all that is derived from petrochemicals.

Chemical sensitivity to common products was found in the 15% of the US population and in the 10% of the people in Denmark, while the cases of MCS disability affect 1,5 to 3% of the US population (G. Heuser , 1998). MCS is the cause of many debilitating diseases affecting many body systems: the renal, respiratory, circulatory, digestive, dermal, neurological, musculoskeletal and endocrine-immune systems.

Genetic studies suggest that there is a genetic predisposition to such disease in individuals with genetic polymorphisms of CYP2D6, of the glutathione sulfur transferase, of the NAT2 or of SOD, which are responsible for a reduced capacity of metabolization of xenobiotic substances.

MCS is often mistaken for a common allergy, since the symptoms appear and disappear with the removal of the cause; however its dynamics and its course are completely different because the ability to tolerate chemicals is lost forever.

There is no resolving cure for MCS, but international health protocols suggest a the environmental avoidance of chemicals as the best therapeutic approach with no contraindications. Due to this chemical avoidance the MCS patient must therefore change his/her living and working environment, his/her leisure activities while the food must be organic and free of chemical additives or preservatives. This task can be facilitated by the adoption of therapeutic aids such as cotton or paper masks with active carbon or cotton filters, ceramic oxygen masks, activated carbon filters or reverse osmosis water purifiers, all metal cage and active carbon and HEPA filters air purifiers for the car and the house.

In the case of IV type allergy to metals, it was demonstrated an improvement in MCS patients by removing with safe protocol the dental amalgam fillings, or of other prosthetic or dentistry metals. Experimental studies suggest a therapeutic approach designed to lower the body toxic load through a prolonged stay in environmentally controlled unites, by daily physical therapy and heat, and integration therapy to reduce the oxidative stress, which is typically very high in MCS patients.

Since Multiple Chemical Sensitivity can vary greatly from case to case and over time, with people completely disabled and others who suffer with mild symptoms occasionally, the International Consensus in 1999 recommended to characterize each diagnosis with quantitative and / or qualitative impact on life or disability (ie: minimal, partial, total); severity of symptoms (ie: mild, moderate and severe), frequency of symptoms (ie: daily, weekly, monthly), and sensory implications (identifying what sensory systems are involved – olfactory, trigeminal, gustatory, auditory, visual and / or touch, including perception of vibration, pain, and hot or cold – showing a change in sensitivity (more or less) and / or tolerance to normal levels of stimulation both chronically, and in response to exposure to specific chemicals).

In Italy there are already dozens of seriously ill persons with disability pension for MCS at 100%, and some cases of recognition of disability with escort, but these are cases where the disease was at such an advanced stage that there was no doubt about the diagnosis and disability status, while there is the need for a preventive protection and for the recognition of disability even in those who are still employed in order to keep them as long as possible active citizens in society.

In United States MCS is recognized as a disease and disability by ADA (American with Disabilities Act), the U.S. Department of Building and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), agencies, commissions, institutions and federal departments, state and local governments, as well as judgments of federal and state courts.

In Germany, Austria and Japan, MCS was included in the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization, ICD-10, with the code T78.4 relating to “unspecified allergy”. The German Ministry of Welfare also equalises MCS to a motor disability.

The Agency for Environmental Protection in Denmark published in 2004 a report on MCS, which concludes that there is ample scientific evidence that chemical sensitivity is caused by environmental factors and the Danish Government has pledged to minimize the use of materials emitting gas in indoor environments in order to prevent the development of this condition.

The diseases that can involve an hyper-sensitivity to chemicals are neurotoxic encephalopathy, encephalitis myalgic or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Fibromyalgia, Hyper-Reactive Airway Syndrome, nonspecific asthma, migraine, Daunderer Syndrome, Sjogren’s syndrome, atopic dermatitis, cancer (especially in case of chemotherapy) and many other conditions.

Another growing environmental disease in recent decades, which incidentally also affects many patients with MCS, is the Electromagnetic Hyper-Sensitivity (EHS), which involve multi-organ reactions to electromagnetic fields in everyday life, such as those emitted by power lines at high voltage (power lines), radio and television transmitters, by household appliances and business tools (eg. video terminals) and, especially, by mobile phones and by mast stations. It is a condition that can lead to troublesome and occasional symptoms up to a serious illness resulting in the reduction or loss of earning capacity and to a deterioration in the quality of life.

“Double blind” scientific studies showed that EHS subjects were able to correctly recognize the presence of electromagnetic fields and they suffered the symptoms they attributed to these fields, as a result of provocation. Moreover, in recent years, more and more experimental evidence support the objectivity of “Electromagnetic diseases” and their possible molecular, cellular and functional basis. Prof. Olle Johansson at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden discovered, in particular, an increase of mast cells and other substances secreted by them in samples of skin of the face of EHS people posed in front of computer screens. Mast cells play a role in allergic, hypersensitivity and anaphylactic reactions, but also in the production of substances responsible for vasodilation and contraction of the muscle and they might be responsible for stroke-like symptoms reported by some EHS individuals after the exposure to electromagnetic fields.

In Sweden, where according to some researchers EHS affects up to the 10% of the population, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) recognized the condition as a “reduced capacity that makes a person unfit in their relation to the environment” and suggests doctors to classify this condition with the International Classification of Diseases with the Code R68.8 ICD, related to “Other specified general symptoms and signs of illness” (Socialstyrelsen, enheten klassifikationer och för terminologists 2009-03 — 09 Dnr 55-2573/2009). The EHS subject then receives grants to improve his/her living or work environment, for example by shielding with paint or tents, or in severe cases with an accommodation away from electromagnetic sources.

In Canada EHS is recognized as a debilitating condition and there is also help from the pension system for the seriously ill cases.

In United States EHS is listed under the law for disability ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).

The WHO believes that the EHS involves 1 to 3% of the population, while other estimates produced in 2005 by the Research Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Berne, Switzerland, indicated an incidence of 5% of EHS Swiss people. According to Gino Levis, former professor of Environmental Mutagenesis at the University of Padua, and permanent member of the Commission Toxicology at the National Institute of Health in Rome, these percentages will rise dramatically paralleling the spreading of wireless technologies.

On 2nd April 2009, the European Parliament, underlying that wireless technologies (cellular, Wi-Fi/WiMAX, Bluetooth, DECT phone lines) emit magnetic fields that can have adverse effects on human health, has called on the Member States to recognize as disabled people those who suffer from Electromagnetic Hyper-Sensitivity so as to ensure adequate protection and equal opportunity, as Sweden did for several years:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/FindByProcnum.do?lang=en&procnum=INI/2008/2211

Some U.S. and Canadian Governors proclaim the May as “Month for the awareness of MCS and Electromagnetic Hyper-Sensitivity “, while the ones affected by these conditions in our country are in fact left to their own and only who possess the necessary financial resources may leave their jobs, improve own home or to relocate to a healthier place.

In November 2009, sixteen cities in France decided to reduce experimentally the top limit of EMF exposure to the one recommended by BioInitiative (0.6 V/m), also in response to the invitation (May 2009) by the Ministry of Environment to “adopt more stringent limits”.

The Israeli Ministry of Environment informed (July 2009) the population about the careful use of the phone.

Environmental pollution has produced a considerable increase in allergies which are often complicated by a framework of poli-allergies that are difficult to handle by the only vaccination or drug treatment. In some severe cases the poli-allergic patient is forced to avoid the allergens. Moreover it’s known that many patients with chemical sensitivity or poli-allergies also suffer from hyper-reactivity to drugs.

There are also a number of other environmental conditions that are due to an enzyme deficiency or to a metabolic deficiency. Consider, first of all, those with a reduced activity of catalase, glutathione sulfur transferase or superossidismutasis, but also the patients with favism that must not come into contact with traces of legumes, both by ingestion and by inhalation.

This bill aims to give an answer to all those who, to maintain a healthy state, are forced to follow a protocol of avoidance of agents that trigger a reduction of their psycho-physical wellness.

In this regard, this bill refer to the precautionary principle enshrined by the European Treaty of 1992; to the European Court of Justice that has repeatedly stated that the content and scope of this principle in law is a cornerstone of policy protection sought by the Community in the field of environment and health; to the binding criteria adopted by the Commission in its communication of 2 February 2000 on the precautionary principle (COM (2000) 0001); to the European Parliament resolution of the April 2, 2009 has recommending to Member States to involve the market operators in improving indoor air quality and in reducing the exposure to electromagnetic radiation in their property, their subsidiaries and in their offices. To date this recommendation has been unheard.

This bill appeals especially to the United Nations Convention on Equality of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities stating that all humans are entitled to live in a society based on equality. Patients suffering from the above conditions are in fact excluded from this basic right to health and from the right to equality because of the lack of specific regulations about Environmental Illness or Environmental Disability and, above all, because of the poor training of the medical profession about the environmental medicine, due to insufficient public funds, thus delegating medical training mainly to industry, whose interest it to focus the attention only on chemical therapeutic remedies rather than to the real causes of disease.

LAW PROPOSAL

ART. 1. (Definition and recognition of environmental illness as a social disease and defining the rights of those with Environmental Disabilities)

1. Environmental Illness is defined as any condition that results in an altered state of health induced by environmental factors while Environmental Disability defines a reduced capacity of the individual in his/her relationship to the surrounding environment. Such definition covers all diseases that are known to have a predominantly environmental origin, such as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), Electromagnetic Hyper-Sensitivity, allergies, asthma, hypersensitivity to chemicals, but also all those conditions of different or unknown pathogenesis which involve the same kind inability to relate with the surrounding environment, such as Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, the sick building syndrome, the favism, as well as metabolic disorders or complications of chemotherapy.

2. The Minister of Labor, Health and Social Policy shall, through a decree, implement the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article, within one month from the date of entry into force of this Act, in order to make the necessary modifications to the decree of Minister of Health dated December 20, 1961, published in the Official Gazette No. 73, 20 March 1962 as the “Framework Law for the assistance, social integration and rights of persons with disabilities” No 104 of 5 February 1992.

ART. 2. (Aims)

1. The provisions in this law, together with the National Health System general support, are meant to guarantee the fundamental rights to equality and to equal opportunities and to foster integration into normal social life of people suffering from Environmental disease or disability and to promote research about environmental medicine.

2. The regions and autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano shall, within their health plans and within the limits of resources from the National Health Fund, design objectives, actions and other appropriate programmatic initiatives to address the Environmental Disability.

3. The national and regional provisions in subsections 1 and 2 are directed to the following:

a) to establish a National Reference Center for Environmental Medicine, entirely funded by the National Health System and exclusively managed by specialists who also a training in clinical toxicology and who are completely free of conflicts of interest, or who are free of private enterprises or interests (a part from their profession), who have not worked even occasionally for the industry over the five years preceding their appointment, who do not belong to any professional organizations or associations sponsored by the industry and, finally, who don’t hold shares or holdings in chemical or pharmaceutical industries of an exceeding value of five thousand dollars.

b) to facilitate the access to essential levels of assistance guaranteed by art. 3 of the Constitution, changing the structures of the Public Health System with the adoption of specific protocols for first aid and with the creation of at least one clinic for every province dedicated to persons with Environmental disabilities, realized under the rules of the Environmentally Controlled Units of the international environmental medicine hospitals that provide access direct from the outside, the use of green building techniques and materials, the use of inert and odourless materials, free of radon-emitting and of particulate, but also with the adoption of controlled ventilation and air purification systems in order to isolate the environment from the rest of the hospital;

c) to impose a ban on mobile phone use, smoking and on products containing fragrances in all healthcare settings (hospitals, clinics, medical), as well as in schools, offices and public utilities, and the requirement – for all local businesses, including the tourism facilities – for warning signs regarding: the use of Wi-Fi system or wireless communications, the use of insecticides, herbicides or pesticides (in the ten days before), the presence of products such as potpourri or scented air fresheners, the presence of beans or legumes;

d) to prevent the complications of environmental illness or of diseases involving an Environmental Disability promoting a greater awareness in local authorities and in the health professionals about the importance of indoor air quality, about the harmful effects of chemical substances in everyday products (detergents, insecticides, paints, building materials, etc..), as well as about the dangers associated to the wireless communication technologies (cellular, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Bluetooth, DECT, etc.) in order to prevent the onset of diseases with a particular emphasis on children, the chronically ill, elderly, pregnant women and especially on those with a reduced genetic detoxification of xenobiotic substances that are most likely to contract Parkinson MCS and cancer;

e) to make arrangements to facilitate the act of voting in an environment consisting with the Environmental Disability, including, where appropriate, the possibility to vote by mail, under the provisions of Article 8;

f) to improved health education of the population on Environmental Disability;

g) to promote health education of the individual suffering from sickness or disability of the Environmental and of their family;

h) provide training and retraining of health personnel in relation to the Disability Environmental;

i) to provide education and training of staff from social services and Law Enforcement in relation to the Environmental Disability;

l) to provide for the revaluation of pensions of the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL) in favor of those who have been exposed to chemicals or electromagnetic fields in the workplace; of those whose occupational disease evolved into an Environmental Disability; those who are unable to work due to their reduced ability to detoxify their body; or those with a hyper-sensitivity, sometimes determined by genetic factors;

m) to establish the appropriate tools for Environmental Disability research;

n) to update the law 104/92 in order to include the needs of those with severe environmental disabilities and to ensure the provision of therapeutic aids, funds needed to change their home environment and to improve their integration into social life;

o) to offer home visits and health care for people with Environmental disabilities.

ART. 3. (Diagnosis and Prevention of Environmental Disability)

1. In order to offer early diagnosis and prevention of MCS, regions and autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano, through their health plans and actions referred in the Article 2 about the criteria and methodologies established by special act of guidance and coordination of the Minister of Labor, Health and Social Policy, point out to local health authorities the most appropriate operational measures to:

a) to establish a structured program which ensures basic and further training for medical personnel in relation to the Environmental Disability, in order to facilitate the identification of people suffering from conditions that could develop into an Environmental Disability, as in the case of allergy sufferers who risk to become MCS or in the case of cancer patients risking the sensitization to chemical agents after chemotherapy;

b) to prevent the complications and the monitoring of diseases associated with MCS, Electromagnetic Hyper-Sensitivity and poli-allergies;

c) to define the monitoring of people suffering from environmental disease or disability through a National Observatory.

2. For the realization of the actions referred to in paragraph 1, the local health authorities rely on centres accredited by the regions and by the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano, characterizes by documented experience of specific diagnostic and therapeutic activities, as well as regional and provincial centres of reference, whose mission is to coordinate the network in order to ensure early diagnosis, including the adoption of specific protocols agreed at national level.

3. The local health authorities also undertakes to:

a) to call the primary care teams for the adoption of hospitalization protocols for people with Environmental Illness or disabilities to be implemented in cases of necessity and urgency;

b) to set up, in each autonomous province and in each region, a reference center for diagnosis and treatment of diseases involving an Environmental Disability;

c) to facilitate the training of the doctors involved in treating the Environmental illness or disability at international accredited Environmental health services in order to gain a clinical experience required for research, diagnosis and treatment;

d) to arrange home consultations from specialist and/or for laboratory testing by trained health personnel who know, depending from the kind of Environmental Disability, they have to decontaminate themselves from fragrances, traces of cigarette smoke, or, in the case of EHS people,  who have to take off their mobile phones;

e) to provide mobile dental units, made by compatible materials with the requirements of Environmentally Controlled Unit, and home health assistance and/or treatments for diseases involving an Environmental Disability.

ART. 4 (Economic support for food and personal care)

1. To ensure a balanced diet for people with environmental illness or disability there is a contribution for the purchase of special products or tolerated mineral water bottled in glass.

2. The Minister of Labor, Health and Social Policy, through a decree, establishes the ways and forms for the recognition of the contribution referred to in paragraph 1 and 2.1.

ART. 5 (Provision of drugs, nutritional supplements and therapeutic aids)

1. The National Health Service ensures the delivery of lifesaving drugs and medicines which contribute significantly to improving outcomes for people with Environmental Disabilities.

2. The National Health Service provides dental care, acupuncture therapy, motor rehabilitation, including home care, the oxygen therapy and hyperbaric chamber therapy for single use or collectively, if they are compatible with absence of fragrances and chemical fumes and not to any therapy which is demonstrably an improvement of psycho-physical condition of the patient.

3. The National Health Service also ensures the provision of free treatment aids for individuals with Environmental disabilities depending on their degree of disability. Expected therapeutic aids for people suffering from diseases or disabilities for Environmental chemical toxic overload include: sauna, cloth masks, masks with activated carbon filters, air and water purifying systems, cotton gloves, vented boxes for reading and for personal computers, other aids prescribed by a physician of the regional or provincial reference center in Article 3, paragraph 2. Regarding the expected therapeutic aids for EHS there are screened computer, screening paint and curtains for isolating the patient’s housing, his car or a special vehicle, and other aids if prescribed by a physician of the regional center or provincial reference in Article 3, paragraph 2.3.

ART. 6 (Building and Planning Rules)

1. The right to housing for people with Environmental Illness or disability who have an economic hardship is guaranteed through several measures:

a) tax relief of 55% on restructuring of the houses owned or rented for meeting the requirements imposed by the Environmental Illness or disability on the base of the advice of medical healthcare systems;

b) the development of housing at least every public building in the provincial capital made under the rules of environmentally controlled units or housing preferably positioned within the Natural Parks, and in any case far from sources of exposure to chemical and electromagnetic accommodation will be made green building materials, inert and odorless, radon-emitting and / or particulates with controlled ventilation systems and air purification means to isolate each unit;

c) the performance by the Civil Defense, mobile units made according to the principles of environmentally controlled units for their temporary stay in safe areas, the people with Environmental Illness or disability in the event of natural disasters or in cases where the subject must necessarily leave their home, for example, in case you need to step away from dangerous exposures around his house or the like.

1. The use of insecticides, pesticides and chemical herbicides is prohibited within a radius of 100 meters in urban areas and 500 meters in the agricultural context from the household of a person with MCS; compulsory notification about the time and the day of spraying at least a week before. These products have to be replaced by mechanical operations or natural products whenever possible.

2. The use of air fresheners, paints containing solvents and solvents is prohibited within a radius of 50 meters from the house of a person with MCS and in public offices (waiting rooms, sanitation, first aid, ambulances, etc.). These products are replaced by products to water, low emissions of volatile organic compounds and free of fragrances.

3. Installing Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, DECT, mobile phone or radio and television antennas is prohibited in the vicinity of the dwelling or employment office of a person with EHS or with Environmental disability incompatible with the exposure to biologically active electromagnetic fields and the Local Health Service (ASL) will ensure the measure the magnetic field in and around the house or work place that is acceptable for the patient in order to ensure that the EMF characteristics are unchanged over time, even if the exposures are below the limits stabled by existing legislation;

4. Municipalities prepare the plan of the roads, the traffic plan and release the permissions for commercial activities and installations of antennas depending on the presence of homes or workplace of people with Environmental Illness or Disability;

5. Municipalities regularly and frequently measure the EMF levels and air emissions, conducted by independent offices (with the collaboration of associations representing people with Environmental illnesses or disabilities) with prompt and immediate information to the target audiences;

6. The regions promote with incentives the creation of White Zones, preferably within natural parks, but not only, that are characterized by the complete absence of chemical contamination arising from industrial activities, crafts or agriculture, and by electromagnetic fields below 0,1 volt / meter, a limit considered safe for people with EHS.

ART. 7 (Protection of the right to work and study)

1. In order to protect the right to work of people with Environmental Illness or disability through the following measures:

a) adoption of appropriate aids in the workplace, including in particular those listed in Article 5, paragraph 3;

b) the use of detergents with low emissions of volatile organic compounds and free of fragrances for cleaning the premises for work-related and sanitation in the case of chemical sensitivity;

c) use of furnishings that Hexalin volatile chemicals in case of chemical sensitivity;

d) allocation in environments equipped with scrubbers and / or air exchange equipment that release fragrance of ink and volatile chemicals (eg, toner, etc.).

e) possibility of changing jobs, if incompatible with being an individual with a disability environment;

f) ban the use of wireless communication systems (Wi-Fi, cellular, DECT) in the offices in which there is a person with a EHS or an Environmental disability incompatible with biologically active electromagnetic fields;

g) maintenance of the professional group for those who have contracted an illness or disability causes of environmental work;

h) promote telework in all cases where it is advantageous for the person suffering from sickness or disability Ambientale.

2. In order to protect the right to education of people with Environmental Illness or disability are provided adequate solutions to stay in a school environment treated, both in building materials for those necessary to teaching, and should ban the use of fragrances and chemical cleaners in the case of chemical sensitivity, for example, or with the prohibition on the use of Wi-Fi systems or the prohibition to leave the phone switched on, even in stand-by, using, in severe cases, learning and monitoring from a distance.

ART. 8 (Exercising the right to vote for election and participate in competitions and private)

1. In order to guarantee the right to vote to people with Environmental Illness or disability, the right to vote by mail required by law of 27 December 2001, n. 459, is extended to the same subject, in accordance with the provisions in paragraph 2 of this article.

2. In order to ensure the right enshrined in Art. 51 of the Constitution for public office and access to public office on equal terms, if elected people with Environmental Illness or disability in the Parliament, municipal councils, provincial, regional or at other public bodies, they will be entitled to secure access in public facilities, arranging for the same protocol for amending the buildings, furniture and, ultimately, if protection policies (such as the smoking ban, a ban on wearing perfume, to keep cellular approaches, etc.. ) should not be sufficient, how to be prepared to participate in meetings and votes at a distance.

3. The individuals with Environmental Disabilities participating in competitions both public and private, have the right for decontamination measures of chemicals in areas reserved for competition tests.

ART. 9 (Report to Parliament)

1. The Minister of Labor, Health and Social Policy submit to Parliament an annual report on the state of knowledge and new scientific knowledge in the field of Environmental Diseases and Disabilities, with particular reference to problems of early diagnosis and monitoring of complications.

ART. 10 (Financial coverage)

1. The amount associated with the present law, estimated at 10,000,000 per year from the year 2009, provided for by reducing the appropriation in writing, the three-year budget for 2009-2011, under the special fund the current account of the estimate of the Ministry of Economy and Finance for the year 2009, to partially using the provision for the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Policy.

2. The Minister of Economy and Finance will monitor the costs arising from implementation of this law, even for the purposes of Article 11-ter, paragraph 7 of the Law of 5 August 1978, No 468, as amended, and forward to the chambers, accompanied by relevant reports, any decrees issued pursuant to Article 7, second paragraph, number 2) of Law No 468 of 1978.

3. The Minister of Economy and Finance is authorized to make, by decree, the necessary budgetary changes.

On. Dott. Domenico Scilipoti

Male reproductive disorders that are of interest from an environmental point of view include sexual dysfunction, infertility, cryptorchidism, hypospadias and testicular cancer.

Several reports suggest declining sperm counts and increase of these reproductive disorders in some areas during some time periods past 50 years. Except for testicular cancer this evidence is circumstantial and needs cautious interpretation. However, the male germ line is one of the most sensitive tissues to the damaging effects of ionizing radiation, radiant heat and a number of known toxicants.

So far occupational hazards are the best documented risk factors for impaired male reproductive function and include physical exposures (radiant heat, ionizing radiation, high frequency electromagnetic radiation), chemical exposures (some solvents as carbon disulfide and ethylene glycol ethers, some pesticides as dibromochloropropane, ethylendibromide and DDT/DDE, some heavy metals as inorganic lead and mercury) and work processes such as metal welding. Improved working conditions in affluent countries have dramatically decreased known hazardous workplace exposures, but millions of workers in less affluent countries are at risk from reproductive toxicants. New data show that environmental low-level exposure to biopersistent pollutants in the diet may pose a risk to people in all parts of the world.

For other noxicants the evidence is only suggestive and further evaluation is needed before conclusions can be drawn. Whether compounds as phthalates, bisphenol A and boron that are present in a large number of industrial and consumer products entails a risk remains to be established. The same applies to psychosocial stressors and use of mobile phones.

Finally, there are data indicating a particular vulnerability of the fetal testis to toxicants – for instance maternal tobacco smoking. Time has come where male reproductive toxicity should be addressed form entirely new angles including exposures very early in life.

Literatur:
Bonde JP., Male reproductive organs are at risk from environmental hazards, Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark, Asian J Androl. 2009 Dec 7.

The last few months of the life of Angelika S.

Six months ago Angelika S. was still doing fairly well. She lived with her family in a suburb of a German town. She loved animals and had a small animal hostel. She also cared deeply about other people.

I got to know her through my cousin who often visited her and mentioned four months ago that Angelika too had strange symptoms similar to my own. Suddenly, she didn’t tolerate fabric softeners – the shower gel of her family, the deodorants and a lot more now made her sick. My cousin told her about me and so we got in touch, first writing letters. She was looking for informational material about chemical sensitivity and I was sending it to her. About the same time I heard that she couldn’t tolerate the furniture and the flooring anymore and was sleeping on the kitchen floor on blankets. From now on everything went incredibly fast…

Nearly every day my cousin called me to report new intolerances. Because of the heat in August, she could only sleep outside on the patio on a kind of futon mat made from compatible materials. Then even this wasn’t possible anymore for her…

Calling an environmental doctor she was told, she would have to wait several weeks (vacation etc.). Then I could contact to her on the phone too. She was able to talk only five or seven minutes, because in addition now she had become electromagnetically sensitive.

Then I gave her the advice to drive to a nature area in her neighbourhood. She did so with her husband each morning between 7 and 8 o’clock. There she did much better. But it speeded up:  difficulty in breathing… heart palpitations …. decreased muscle tonus in the arms and legs …. pulmonary problems …. everything took a turn for the worse.

Since she couldn’t use the phone anymore, I talked to her husband instead. In September he brought her to an abandoned campsite of his club and they slept in the car…in small cars…she in her car and he in his car because his one was contaminated with chemicals from his work. During the daytime he had to drive 25 kilometres to his workplace and to leave her alone there. In the evening he was cooking the meals for her and brought them to her… again 25 kilometres … The nights in the car… bad for the joints.

Then her husband called the environmental doctor again and got the advice to arrange a clean room for her in their house. He should tile the room and keep her in it. So he removed the floor, tiled the room and painted the walls with safe chalk paint. Angelika still was at the campsite, alone during the daytime and it started to get colder…Two air purifiers where bought from PureNature, oxygen for the ride to her home… and then the attempt to bring her back to the new safe room. During the whole time her husband had to take time off from work which got more and more difficult. They had to worry that he would lose his job too.

When she was back at home, my cousin couldn’t come for a visit anymore. Also no one from the family could come to see her. When her son came, she had to escape, and had no contact to her beloved grandchild.

I have had Multiple Chemical Sensitivity for over ten years now, but I had the chance to grow into the situation and I know what isolation means. The soul suffers…tears come…sometimes depression…and when there is no or little hope and you do not really know what will happen to you…then everything is even worse.

But Angelika was learning fast and tried to avoid everything which made her sick; she ate organic food and changed everything.  But it takes time until all smells are out of a general household.

I supported her as much as I could by calming her down and providing her with information…Then the appointment with the environmental doctor came…He said that she has full blown Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and suggested a therapy only of B12 shots for six weeks daily with added B1 and B6. She started his therapy, but everything got worse.

Angelika had reached the end stage of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in only six months.

When she still wasn’t doing so badly – that was in September this year – I had offered her a invitation to come to my place and try it here, but she wanted to try first the tiled room at home.

Last Saturday her husband called me to tell me that they had to drive to the forest or to a graveyard each night.  Otherwise she wasn’t able to breathe…The heating period made the air in the town intolerable for Angelika. Each night she suffered from heart palpitations, shortness of breath and many more symptoms.

I told them to try to come over to me and so they arrived at nine o’clock Saturday, October 25th.

The last days of the life of Angelika S.

She arrived totally exhausted with a mask and heavy use of oxygen on the ride. We placed her on the porch.

For me her clothes were totally contaminated from her environment. I had to keep distance. Then she wanted to change her clothes.  I offered her some of my clothes, but she couldn’t tolerate them. I had used an unscented safe washing powder which I tolerate very well.

To let her into the house we had to shower her in the evening. I found old jogging pants of my husband’s and a cotton pullover; both had not been washed for a long time, and socks…

But on what should she sleep? She couldn’t tolerate wood anymore, no natural wood furniture. It didn’t matter if it was old or not. She even couldn’t tolerate the very old closet in the room we arranged for her. She wanted to sleep on the floor on linen which had not been washed for a long time and on a blanket which had been hanging in the attic for a long time too.

The windows to the forest were open all night and all day…

We live here in Germany in a wide forest area at Vogelsberg and so she was doing well with the clean air. However, last Monday it got damp and foggy and we had bad weather.

Her hope vanished that she would slightly recover here, but she wanted to try.  She didn’t want to go back…

Either she lay or sat on the porch …. I cooked for her, gave her much water to drink …. tried everything possible to help her to restore her soul and mind …. told her about CSN and other sufferers who had recovered by avoiding substances and by isolating themselves. Each day we left for a walk in order to get some fresh air. So far she was still able to walk for an hour.  On Tuesday, though slowly, she was able to walk until a car passed by and left exhaust emissions, which affected her in spite of her mask.

Then she said she couldn’t live a life as I do, without people around her and in isolation for such a long time and then it got worse and worse.  She had no hope that she could stay here any longer because she couldn’t tolerate the damp air especially during the nights.  She refused to eat or drink anymore.  She was in despair and her mucous membranes were – as in her home – bright red and swollen.

She had to leave, but where to go????

We were considering many possibilities: Switzerland, North Sea…back to the campsite because there is not that much forest in its neighbourhood…setting up an aluminium shed…but how to heat it…and so forth…

On Wednesday at 3 o’clock p.m. the son of my cousin came with a big car which was safer than her car. Her husband and we said goodbye…

They didn’t know where to go…they didn’t know…what to do….so they first drove back to her tiled room and then to the close-by nature site.

She survived the ride at five degrees Celsius inside the car and then I heard nothing from them anymore.

On Thursday afternoon when her husband had to go to work and go shopping for food, she put an end to her life!  I did not learn of it until Friday evening because it was the wish of her husband.

We are in deep grief about this lovely person…a human…who still could be living if there was accommodation for cases like hers in Germany. If there was just one clinic to go to which had clean rooms as at the Environmental Health Center in Dallas / USA. If we just had doctors who could diagnose chemical sensitivity in time.  If we just had support for the relatives who don’t know why all this happens.

This ignorance and intolerance about environmental diseases MUST stop. These are diseases that have been described by scientists like Prof. Martin Pall and others.  It’s well known what these diseases DO exist.

I have seen two suicides since last July.

• Two precious humans who didn’t know what to do because of their boundless despair.
• Two humans who felt as a burden to their families.
• Two humans who had worked hard all their lives.

We lament Angelika S. and we are shocked because of the lack of help for people with severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

May the God of solace comfort the suffering of the relatives and may they find hope that their suffering is not forever…

That it will not be like this forever…

That the suffering stops some day…

And that some day there will be a recovery of all things lost…

Authors: Wolfgang and Mona B., Silvia, CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network November 2009

• Japanese Version: “The last few months of the life of Angelika S.”
• Italian Version: “The last few months of the life of Angelika S. ”
• Spanish Version: “The last few months of the life of Monika S.”

If it hadn’t been for the Big Macs that Joannie ate pretty much three times a week, she wouldn’t have gotten fat.  If she hadn’t been exposed while in her mother’s womb to chemicals x, y and z, Joannie wouldn’t have had the propensity to get fat.  And if Joannie’s mom had eaten more sensibly, both waistlines would be slimmer.

Fat people most likely are programmed to become fat before taking their first sip of milk.

Today’s news is, that pesticides are among the chemicals responsible for this reprogramming.

Two of three U.S. adults are now classified as overweight.  Type II diabetes has increased in like measure over the same decades, and so has heart disease.  This is not a coincidence.  These illnesses share common characteristics: they are triggered while in the womb by exposure to the same kinds of chemicals and the outcomes show up in adulthood.  Scientists now call this pattern “the fetal origins of adult diseases”.

The most likely culprits are chemicals now grouped together under the rubric “endocrine disrupters.” It’s been known for about two decades, though disputed by the manufacturers, that these chemicals alter the normal signaling pathways of hormones.  Think of Bisphenol A (BPA), right now the nation’s most celebrated endocrine disruptor.

Pesticides, though not specifically thought of as endocrine disruptors nor regulated as such, can similarly knock normal development off track.  Research has just found that a family of pesticides among the most widely used in the world is connected to these three adult illnesses.  This is the family of organophosphates, concocted from petroleum with an addition of phosphoric acid.

When lab rats are exposed to these pesticides through the mother’s diet, at a time in their development equivalent to a human baby’s second trimester in the womb, their metabolism changes in two ways: their cholesterol and triglycerides rise.  These abnormal and lasting changes resemble the major factors that predict and lead, later in life, to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular heart disease (specifically, atherosclerosis, a condition in which fatty material collects along the arteries and hardens artery walls).

These changes in metabolism happen at low levels, within the levels we are uniformly exposed to, which the Environmental Protection Agency declares as “safe” but are evidently not.  The changes are the strongest when the mother rats are fed a high-fat diet.  Human babies may even be underweight at birth (and there’s an epidemic of underweight babies in the U.S.), but quickly become overweight

Humans run into these pesticides in our food and water.  Of course, children continue to be exposed once they are born and are in fact exposed more than adults because they eat and drink more in relation to their body weight and have a higher ratio of skin.

The other groups of people exposed most to organophosphates and other pesticides are the same groups with the highest rates of obesity – people who live in run-down inner-city neighborhoods, the poor, and farmworkers.  Again, not a coincidence but a connection, a trigger.

Dr. Ted Slotkin of Duke University, the researcher responsible for these discoveries, found another compelling clue: exposure caused harm to the rodent’s brain, as well as its metabolism.  Once the exposed lab animal was born and started to eat at will, its consumption of a high-fat diet reduced the adverse symptoms in its brain functioning.  As Dr. Slotkin muses, “If you’ve got neurofunctional deficits, and they can be offset by continually eating Big Macs, then you will naturally (but unconsciously) select that kind of food because it will make you feel better.”  Unfortunately, increased fat will further harm the animal’s, or human’s, metabolism.

What this means for you:

Particularly while trying to conceive, during pregnancy, while nursing, and for your children, avoid pesticides; eat organic foods.

For information about endocrine disruptors, read the new booklet published by the nonprofit Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative.

Author: Alice Shabecoff for CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network, November 5, 2009

Alice Shabecoff is the co-author with her husband Philip of Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on our Children, published by Random House last year.  See their website, www.poisonedprofits.com

Related article from Alice Shabecoff:

• Our planet, our children – How are your children doing?