MCS Info and Resources

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is thought by many people to be caused by either long-term low-level exposure or single severe exposure of chemicals that seem to not affect most people. Unusual sensitivity to chemicals, foods, and medications is also a recognized symptom of CFIDS.

Most people start with a higher tolerance, but many will eventually have problems. I know many people who have "allergies" all the time while using perfume, garden pesticides, dryer sheets, etc. And considering how advertising keeps pushing more and more chemicals as necessary for the "good life" I suspect the incidence of chemical sensitivity will skyrocket over the next few years.

I have had very bad allergies my entire life. Even in early childhood I'd run away and hold my breath when anyone used hairspray, and had terrible headaches around cleaners, paints, etc. As a teen and young adult I had less reaction, but still found a lot of "normal" things bothersome... cleaners, perfumes, lotions, most make up, most shampoos and conditioner.

In the early 90s I realized it was worse and cleaned house with a vengeance, getting rid of all the cleaners, yard sprays, etc, that had been around. I got much better.

Unfortunately I was exposed to several things in the 90s that knocked made me seriously ill, and am now extremely reactive to almost everything, although it's better than it was from 97-99.

One of the things that makes me most ill is anything perfumed or scented, including laundry detergents and dryer sheets (although even unscented dryer sheets do it). It's pretty frustrating, since so many people use them. Car exhaust and cigarette smoke are also biggies.

Here are some pages with MCS information:

• MCS for Beginners
• Homepage for the Immune Mailing List I highly recommend all of Cyndi's pages.