"green" is not MCS-friendly

The "Green" building movement and green products in general do NOT address the needs and concerns of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

Green building and green consumer products are a good change from the toxic way we had been doing things,and it may save a lot of people from the living hell of MCS. However, those who suffer from MCS will find themselves disappointed and likely hurt by confusing "green" with MCS-friendly. Don't do it.

There are many good sources of MCS-friendly products if you take the time to look for them. One source of such sellers is the monthly newsletter Our Toxic Times published (since 1990) by the Chemical Injury Information Network.

Exposures and emotions

Just a short note about something we at Chemical Injury Information Network already know. When a person inhales a chemical, it goes up the nose, hits the olfactory bulb, and goes straight to the brain. No messing around with the blood-brain barrier.

In the brain, the chemical reaches the hippocampus, very important to logic and emotion. As a practical matter, this means that exposures can leave a person with volatile emotions and impaired logic ability – just about the worst combination at the worst time.

Chemical sensitivity, or MCS, comes with a lot of emotional pain. It can help if people understand that the heightened emotions they feel under exposure are not really theirs – they are artificially produced and will ease off as the exposure wears off.

Case definition update

At this time, there is a new case definition for MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity). It was written in a meeting of doctors/researchers that took place in August of last year (2007). It is now working its way through the peer review process on its way to publication. Difficult to tell how long that will take, but it probably won't come out until early next year, at a guess.
When it is published, we will shout it to the world in the pages of Our Toxic Times.