Archive for category ‘Sick Building Syndrome‘

Mary Lamielle Receives Martin Luther King Freedom Medal

Mary Lamielle, executive director of the National Center for Environmental Health Strategies, is one of fourteen Camden County, New Jersey, residents chosen to receive the 2012 Camden County Freedom Medal, honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for their unselfish contributions to improving their community.

For three decades Mary has dedicated herself to promoting the public health and improving the lives of people sick or disabled by environmental exposures. She has served on dozens of federal and state advisory committees including the recently concluded CDC National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures. She is a member of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Public Interest Partners and HUD’s Disability Task Force.

Mary was nominated for the Freedom Medal by Diane Reibel, Assistant Professor of Physiology at Thomas Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia. In nominating Mary, Dr. Reibel noted that “I met Mary twenty-five years ago when I became ill from chemicals in my research laboratory. Mary’s knowledge, support, and advocacy were a life saver for me. What Mary did for me, she has done for thousands of people across New Jersey and tens of thousands nationwide.”

Mary was recently honored with the 2011 New Jersey Governor’s Jefferson Award for Public Service, PSEG Environmental Stewardship Award, and a 2010 US EPA Region 2 Environmental Quality Award, the highest civilian award given by the EPA.

The Camden County Freedom Medal award was created in 2001 to honor the ideals indicative of the slain civil rights leader. According to Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr., “This is Camden County’s way of honoring Dr. King.”

Medals will be presented during an evening ceremony at the Camden County Boathouse at Cooper River on January 20.

Author: National Center for Environmental Health Strategies, Press Release, January 2012

Congratulation Mary, this is so, so well deserved!

Official start of construction for MCS residential project is in sight

Contaminant-free living area designed for the environmentally ill

Europe’s one-of-a-kind housing project is designed for Switzerland. The planned start for construction is spring 2012 and the project is estimated at costing 5.8 million Swiss francs. The small to medium sized ecologically built apartments meet the strict health requirements of chemically sensitive people. The Swiss housing cooperative “Healthy Living MCS” was founded three years ago and since then has been working toward the realization of an MCS housing project. The city of Zurich agreed and sees enormous potential in the MCS residential project. The knowledge won through this project can be very useful for future ecologically built residential projects in the city.

Construction begins in spring

The news came at exactly the right time. Christian Schifferle (video) sent an email from Switzerland just in time for Christmas stating the following:

“There’s good news: A few days ago, we finally received the building permit from the city of Zurich for our Zurich MCS-housing project. All our planning in the last two years is on track. In January, the City of Zurich will begin with the development work (access, water, electricity) and April /May is the official start of construction.”

Contaminant-free housing

In Switzerland, there were, as in Germany and Italy, already cases of suicide, because the appropriate living space for chemically sensitive people has not been available. When no one offers help, the despair and helplessness is tremendous if the apartments are uninhabitable due to a hypersensitivity to pollutants and nothing adequate is available. Christian Schifferle, the initiator of the housing project knows about the catastrophic housing situation through his consulting work and from his own personal experience. He spent years searching for a suitable, pollutant-free apartment and camped in a caravan in the country. Often he had to sleep in the forest, regardless of weather or temperature. A long time ordeal finally comes to an end for him and other environmentally ill. But Christian Schifferle is already thinking ahead and would like to develop pollution-free housing projects for the environmentally ill all across Europe in cooperation with the MCS housing cooperative.

Author: Silvia K.Müller, CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network, 02.01.2011

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Ministry of Health presents Consensus Document on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH IN SPAIN PRESENTS THE CONSENSUS DOCUMENT ON MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY (MCS) – NOVEMBER 30, 2011

On November 30, the Ministry of Health in Spain has finally submitted the consensus document on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (pdf).

Two years ago, José Luís Aparicio, a MCS sufferer, and I were interviewed at the Spanish radio program Carne Cruda. They were so shocked by MCS that decided to contact the Ministry of Health because they wanted to interview them in their show to explain to them the terrible situation of the MCS sufferers.

After a lot of calls to the Ministry of Health without receiving any response, they did a live phone call during the radio show and the Ministry had finally to accept. On January 2010, 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. On February 2010 was held the meeting with Ministry of Health to state the situation of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity sufferers in Spain and they committed to create a Scientific Committee to elaborate the consensus document on MCS that has now finally been released. The document, that has 128 pages, will be translated into English by Ministry of Health and it will be reviewed within two years to include the new scientific knowledge.

David and I want to thank everyone who has been part of this long process. From the doctors members of the Scientific Committee to the 13 MCS associations that set up the “Comité para el Reconocimiento de la Sensibilidad Química Múltiple” (committee for the recognition of MCS in Spain) to have an unanimous voice for this process, including Jaume Cortés, lawyer of the Colectivo Ronda, because his disinterested participation has been crucial for this achievement. And we want to specially thank to Javier Gallego, the director of Carne Cruda, and all his team because without their courageous attitude this day would have never come.

David has remained as observer during the process and we greatly appreciate it to the Committee, and from now he split with the Committee because we don’t belong to any MCS association and we believe that our work is complete.

Today is a great day for all the MCS sufferers in Spain. The consensus document on MCS, albeit imperfect, lays the foundation for future recognition of this disease and it finally does recognize that the MCS patients exist.

Author: Eva Caballé, No Fun Blog, The Ministry of Health in Spain presents the Consensus Document on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) – November 30, 2011

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Experts says: MCS is a physiological disease with clear manifestations

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Reflections by Dr. L. Christine Oliver and Alison Johnson

Dr. Oliver and Alison Johnson present an excellent overview of the multi-symptom disease known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, or MCS. During Dr. Oliver’s twenty years of experience, she can attest to MCS being a physiological disease with clear visual manifestations, such as flushing of skin, increased heart rate, and blood pressure problems in patients exposed to chemicals.

As MCS is ever increasing, Dr. Oliver (Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Co-Director of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Massacsetts General Hospital) advocates for more research dollars dedicated to finding modalities to treat MCS. Medical students and physicians are still not trained about MCS even though it affects the respiratory, neurological, gastrointestinal systems, and even the skin. Pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, and allergists, just to name a few, are the physicians who must receive appropriate training.

Currently, most physicians cannot give a correct diagnosis which leaves patients feeling more isolated and thus many chemically injured seek alternative treatments, some which may do more harm than good. According to Dr. Oliver there are no miracle cures for MCS and currently the most reliable treatment is avoidance of exposures.

The disabling symptoms do much to interfere with a MCS person’s life. It interferes with using public transportation, living in multi-housing units, and gaining/keeping employment. Dr. Oliver advocates for every workplace to maintain perfume free environments. Public health policies are needed to accommodate people with MCS so they are not forced to turn to social security disability for a reduced income.

Housing is a big issue for the chemically injured. Multi-family housing is a problem due to the neighbors using scented chemical products. Many people with MCS can no longer work and thus don’t have the finances to rent or buy single family housing.

The lack of safe housing, lack of safe workplaces, and medical issues can be overwhelming for those with chemical injury. The despair associated with lack of the above, plus the disbelief that the illness is real, leads many to contemplate and actually commit suicide.

Alison Johnson has witnessed the real devastation of this disease which has destroyed far too many lives. So many MCS people have seen their former lives slip away. This is hardly a “rare” condition with an estimated seven million Americans suffering from MCS. More accurate educating of the public is needed.

The tobacco industry succeeded for years in their funding attempts to keep the public in the dark regarding the negative health risks of tobacco. The chemical industry is also doing a good job preventing the public from realizing the harm from the chemically laden products on the market. In the meantime people on every continent are suffering great devastation, isolation, and compromised lives due to the chemical injuries they have suffered and must endure.

Have a look at this excellent film overview…


For further information vistit: The Chemical Sensitivity Foundation

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An icon of environmental medicine visits Germany

Evidence for the causes of environmental diseases have been around for a long time

The doctor and scientist Doris Rapp is one of those who not only practice environmental medicine, but has also made environmental medicine the most important thing in her life. The American spent two weeks in Germany. The reunion with Prof. Rapp was very productive and we were lucky enough to spend a beautiful day on the Moselle. Here is a small summary.

Researcher documented environmental disease

I met Prof. Rapp for the first time at a congress in Bad Emstal about 18 years ago. It was a crucial experience. In her presentation, she showed a video about a teacher who became ill from contaminated carpeting in the school. The teacher was filmed during a reaction to contaminated dust from the carpet. This video vividly conveys to the viewer what MCS is and what a reaction can look like. At that time I was at the very beginning of my own illness and had had similar reactions to certain pesticides. The teacher experienced convulsions and fell unconscious. I thought “my goodness, that’s me, that’s exactly like me, that’s what you have…“ After the lecture I spoke with Prof. Rapp and that was the beginning of an ongoing exchange of information and an interesting friendship. We met again at conferences in Germany, Holland and in the U.S., visited each other in Germany and the United States and exchanged e-mails. When I visited her in Scottsdale, she showed me one of her video archives. She had stored thousands of videos of children whom she had treated. They showed the patients during and after therapy and during testing of foods, mold, pollen, dust mites or chemicals. They displayed impressive evidence that can remove any last doubts as to the existence of environmental illnesses and allergies.

We can no longer ignore environmental illnesses

Dr. Binz and his wife invited the environmental doctor for this most recent visit to Germany. We had actually arranged to meet for a trip along the Moselle, which would start before lunch. We had a warm reunion and before we knew it we had already exchanged information and ideas and were in the midst of planning for future projects.

“I’m over 80 years old now and have no children, I don’t really need to be doing all this and I could be enjoying my peace at this age, but I see what’s going on, and I simply cannot remain silent. We have so many chemicals in our environment, in the food we eat, in the water we drink and the air that we are constantly breathing. They affect each of our body systems and we can no longer ignore this. Almost every second person in my country has cancer and that is just not acceptable”, says Doris Rapp.

“The politicians and the public must realize the impact the flood of chemicals has on us and no one should keep insisting that we do not know where all the increasing diseases that occur are coming from. The evidence is there. We have animal testing to prove it. That’s why, as a doctor, I ask: How much more has to happen before we admit to the real causes? I won’t accept hearing when one says, “Yes, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” Yes, there is, because you can educate yourself and there’s a hell of a lot you can do,” says Prof Rapp, who is enraged about the current situation.

Solutions are often very simple

Prof. Rapp is no one who can be at odds with the world and ignore the solutions. She is in the process of writing another book. “It will be a small book, only 30 pages. Every reader can easily understand how he/she can shape his environment in order to stay healthy. The tips in this book will not cost anyone a fortune, they can easily be implemented without major expense. It will help anyone who wants to change something and wants to improve his health. The doctor cites two examples:

“Many people react to foods, but are not sure towards which foods. Expensive tests are not necessary. I advise people to think about what they eat most, foods that they downright crave. Experience has shown that these are the foods that are eaten every day and most likely those which cause reactions. The solution: omit the suspected food for a week. You can test one food after another. This costs nothing! ”

“Some people live in a house that is contaminated with pollutants or contaminated by mold. My experience is that five out of seven people can improve their health by 70% if they obtain a high quality air cleaner that is capable of filtering hundreds of chemicals from the air in your home. Such a device may cost a bit, but I have often seen patients who got better over night. So it’s worth it if you are unable to directly move out of the apartment or house.”

The new book will be published this year, and Professor Rapp has authorized me to translate it into German. She also gave me permission to translate videos and other books into our language, contributing knowledge to allergy sufferers and chemically sensitive people in the German-speaking countries, helping them to find a way back into life.

A trip along the Moselle

During the drive to the historic Moselle wine village, Bernkastel, to Traben-Trabach and the drive back to Trier, Prof. Rapp was bursting with innovative ideas that we will begin to put into action in the next few months and they will benefit the environmentally ill in many ways.

Author: Silvia K. Müller, CSN – Chemical Sensitivity Network, 12 September 2011

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