I have a neighbor who does laundry evey other day and the chemicals from their dryer sheets floats over to my yard and comes in my windows. I've explained to them my chemical sensitivity and how sick it makes me and have asked them politley if they would use something more natural or I would give them some to try. They said they are going to use what they always use. What can I do. The chemcials are so strong that I was outside for less than 30 seconds and my nose started to bleed lightly, I'm having a hard time breathing my head hurts so bad and I'm sick to my stomach. I will now be sick for days. What can I do to get them to stop spreading their chemicals into my yard? They are inflicting physical harm on me.

Hi sunshine,

I'm sorry you have an unsympathetic neighbor. Perhaps you can find out if they have a laundry schedule and avoid going outside or opening the windows during those times. It may just be a matter of protecting yourself the best you can. In a place that I use to live, I had to keep my windows closed in the morning because a neighbor used smelly detergent and loved doing laundry at the crack of dawn.

If you find a savvy attorney, you may be able to sue your neighbor. Perhaps even a letter threatening to sue will be enough to get them to stop, but that may just cause more animosity. You'll have to weigh the pros and cons.

I know someone who sued their neighbor for using toxic pesticides and lost. It's a tough case to win, but there may be more legal precedent since that woman was just awarded 100K for people wearing perfume at work.

You might want to consider moving if your neighbor plans not to move any time soon and it just becomes impossible to work around. This could be an ongoing battle. That may sound extreme, but if other things start cropping up like tobacco smoke blowing over the fence or construction dust, you may just not be living in the best place to heal.

Good luck. I'm so sorry you're in this situation.

Airy

Hi,

I'm so sorry this is happening to you, I had a similar situation. The people were rentals. When like you I asked them to please work something out with me, she just ran the dryer 24/7. I was contemplating moving, but somehow I survived it. Do you have plenty of air filters and are all areas sealed well in your house? Odors come through exhaust fans too, you have to look everywhere. I was leaving my house day and night for that year. You can't live like that forever. Do what you can to tighten up your home, and I agree that you might have to speak to a caring and savvy attorney. Really can empathize, hope you find a solution soon!

I now keep my windows closed all the time and I do not go out when my neighbors are home. These particular neighbors care less about people's health or the environment. Last week they hired a chemical lawn company to treat their entire lawn with chemicals. Then they spray their lawn to prevent ant hills because we live on sandy soil. You can see where their chemicals have run over onto my lawn because the grass is so green there and I am on the downhill side of them. I may not have understood MCS before I developed it, although if someone said they had it and explained the effects if causes to their health, I would surely try to help them in anyway I could. I think the lawyer way would only make things worse and I would be afraid they would intentionally do something that would really harm me. I guess I just needed to vent.

We have the same problem with our neighbors.
Dryer runs 24/7, uses Bounce sheets, talk to them & they will not stop.
Looks like they are running a inhouse laundry business.
Smell burns our eyes, nose, & gives us headaches.
What can we do?
Is there a filter they can use on the end of their dryer tube?
Closing the windows in the heat of the summer is very hard to do.

After I approached my neighbors letting them know I have severe MCS they have no concern in the world and hired a pesticide company and had their entire yard sprayed with liquid pesticides. This made me very very ill. After seeing a second neighbor flag the pesticide truck down, I asked him if he would not have his yard sprayed and he has known I have breathing problems due to chemicals and I also told him how sick the chemicals made me when our other neighbor sprayed his yard. A wek later he had his yard sprayed and since them my other neighbor had their yard sprayed two more times. i was very sick for all of June and July and could not go outdoors or even open my windows. I don't know what can really be done and I don't have the money for a lawyer which I think would only piss them off and make things worse. I did write a letter to the editor in our local paper explaining how everydays poisons affect MCS sufferers and the effects they cause. it didn't help becaus that's when they sprayed the third time.
If anyone know of something that could be done I'd appreciate the advice.