EiR Blog

As I was browsing my Google Alerts emails covering multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) yesterday I came across what looked like a very interesting article in the New York Times which looked like it would be useful for those suffering from MCS and environmental illness (EI). The article is titled 'An Environmentally Friendly Mosquito Repellent?' so I thought, great, this sounds like great news and perfect material for my blog tomorrow. Unfortuately when I actually read the article this morning it was not what I was expecting at all. First off, the author talks in considerable length about how during her childhood in New Jersey she would chase farm machinery spraying the highly toxic pesticide DDT (note pesticide, as in kills pests, it is not an insect repellant), breathing it in and having her clothes and skin covered in it. The fact that as far as she knows her expsoure to DDT in this way...

For the first time my cat (Stimpy) has recently developed a very persistent flea problem and managed, despite my best efforts, to infest my home as well - so I ended up covered in itchy bites! I don't mind treating Stimpy with the regular anti-flea products as I can apply them wearing my carbon filter mask (or holding my breath!) and then leave him outside for the rest of the day. When it comes to my home however there is no way I can spray pesticides/insecticides on my carpets and furnishings. I'd never be able to live there again. On a recent trip to Pets at Home (the equivalent of PetSmart in the US) I came across a product labelled with stand-out words such as "natural" and "organic". I've learned through experience that this in no way means the product is safe for those with environmental illness however so I made a mental...

The Daily Telegraph (London) this week reported on another study linking chemicals in common household products to autism. This time the culprit is a group of insecticides commonly found in pet shampoos designed to kill fleas. It seems there is increasing acceptance that an interaction between genetics and environmental triggers (including synthetic chemicals) may be the key to understanding autism which now affects around 1 in 150 children in developed countries. The latest study reported by the Telegraph was carried out by Professor Irva Hertz-Picciotto and colleagues at the University of California, who found that expectant mothers who used pet shampoos containing pyrethrins to kill their pet's fleas were twice as likely to go on to have children with autism. Pyrethrins are a pair of chemicals that act as insecticides by attacking the nervous systems of insects In terms of human health They have been regarded as one of the safest...