Multiple Chemical Sensitivity—A Mysterious Malady

Pam’s home was in a housing tract surrounded by cotton fields. Planes regularly dusted the fields with herbicides and pesticides; and the wind often carried chemical residues to nearby homes, including Pam’s.

PAM began experiencing severe headaches and nausea, and her health deteriorated. In time, she was adversely affected by substances that seemingly had no relation to pesticides: perfumes, deodorants, body lotions, cleaning agents, paint, new carpet, tobacco smoke, room deodorizers, and other substances. Pam’s symptoms are among those generally attributed to a baffling malady called multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).a

“When I come in contact with everyday chemicals, I start feeling very tired as well as disoriented, dizzy, and nauseated,” Pam explained to Awake! “My body becomes bloated, and at times I experience shortness of breath, panic attacks with uncontrollable crying, heart palpitations, increased pulse rate, and fluid buildup in my lungs. This has even led to pneumonia.”

While the symptoms seen in MCS vary somewhat from person to person, they may include headaches, extreme fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, eczema, rashes, flulike symptoms, asthma, sinus problems, anxiety, depression, memory problems, difficulty in concentrating, insomnia, irregular heartbeat, bloating, nausea, vomiting, intestinal problems, and seizures. Of course, many of these symptoms can also be caused by other illnesses.

MCS—A Growing Problem

In the United States, surveys among various groups of the population suggest that between 15 and 37 percent of the population consider themselves especially sensitive or allergic to common chemicals and chemical odors, such as car exhaust, tobacco smoke, fresh paint, new carpet, and perfumes. However, only 5 percent or fewer, depending on the age group surveyed, said that MCS had been diagnosed. About three quarters of these were women.

Many sufferers of MCS say that pesticides and solvents caused their condition. Both products are common in the environment, especially solvents. Solvents are volatile (highly evaporative) substances that disperse or dissolve other substances. They are an ingredient in paints, varnishes, adhesives, pesticides, cleaning solutions.

In the following articles, we will examine MCS a little more closely, discuss what help is available for those who suffer from this condition, and see how sufferers and nonsufferers can cooperate to make life more pleasant for those who have MCS.

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When Chemicals Make You Sick

MANY aspects of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) are puzzling. Understandably, there is considerable disagreement in the medical community as to the nature of the condition. Some doctors believe that MCS has a physical cause, others believe that it has a psychological cause, and still others point to both physical and psychological factors. Some doctors suggest that MCS may even represent a class of several diseases.a

Many patients with MCS say that an initial large exposure to a toxin such as a pesticide caused their condition; others point to repeated or chronic exposure to lower levels of toxin. Once MCS is acquired, sufferers react with various symptoms to a variety of seemingly unrelated chemicals that they previously tolerated, such as fragrances and cleaning products. Thus, the term “multiple chemical sensitivity.” Take the case of Joyce.

Joyce contracted head lice while in school. Her head was then sprayed with a pesticide. Joyce’s health deteriorated, and she became intolerant of many chemicals that had not bothered her before. These include household cleaners, air fresheners, fragrances, shampoos, and gasoline. “My eyes swell shut,” says Joyce, “and my sinuses become infected, causing headaches and nausea so severe that I remain sick for days. . . . I have had pneumonia so many times that my lungs are scarred like those of a person who has smoked for 40 years—and I have never smoked!”

Chronic exposure to a lower level of toxin, which has also been suggested as a factor in MCS, may occur outdoors or indoors. In fact, in recent decades the rash of sicknesses in the wake of indoor air pollution has led to the coining of the term “sick-building syndrome.”

Sick-Building Syndrome

Sick-building syndrome surfaced in the 1970’s when to conserve energy, many naturally ventilated homes, schools, and offices were replaced with airtight, air-conditioned buildings. Insulation, treated wood, volatile adhesives, and synthetic fabrics and carpets were often incorporated into these buildings and their furnishings.

Especially when new, many of these products release low levels of potentially harmful chemicals, such as formaldehyde, into the recycled air. Carpets add to the problem by absorbing various cleaners and solvents and then releasing them over a long period of time. “Vapors from various solvents are the most prevalent of indoor air contaminants,” says the book Chemical Exposures—Low Levels and High Stakes. “Solvents,” in turn, “are among the chemicals most frequently implicated by chemically sensitive patients,” the book states.

While most people seem able to cope with the environment inside such buildings, some develop symptoms ranging from asthma and other respiratory-tract problems to headaches and lethargy. These symptoms generally disappear when the affected people leave that environment. But in some cases, “patients may develop multiple chemical sensitivities,” says the British medical journal The Lancet. But why do some get sick from chemicals while others do not? This is an important question because some who seem unaffected may find it difficult to be understanding of those who become ill.

All of Us Are Different

It is good to remember that we all react differently to various agents, whether they be chemicals, germs, or viruses. Things that affect reactions include genetic makeup, age, gender, health status, medications we may be taking, preexisting disease, and life-style factors such as use of alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.

With medicinal drugs, for example, your uniqueness dictates “whether a drug will work and what its side effects might be,” says New Scientist magazine. Some of these side effects can be serious, even resulting in death. Normally, proteins called enzymes clear out of the body chemicals that are foreign, such as the chemicals in drugs and the pollutants that are absorbed in daily activities. But if these “housekeeping” enzymes are defective, perhaps because of heredity, prior damage by toxins, or poor diet, foreign chemicals can build up to dangerous levels.b

MCS has been compared to a group of enzyme-related blood disorders called porphyrias. Often the way people with certain porphyrias react to chemicals, ranging from vehicle emissions to fragrances, is similar to the way people with MCS react.

The Mind Is Also Affected

One MCS sufferer told Awake! that certain common chemicals make her feel drugged. She said: “I have experienced personality changes—becoming angry, agitated, irritable, fearful, lethargic. . . . These symptoms can last anywhere from a few hours to several days.” Afterward, she feels hung over and suffers from varying degrees of depression.

These effects are not unusual for people with MCS. Dr. Claudia Miller says that “more than a dozen countries report psychological problems after well-identified chemical exposures, whether it’s insecticide exposure or sick building [syndrome]. . . . We know that workers exposed to solvents are more at risk of developing panic attacks and depression. . . . So we need to be very thoughtful and remember that perhaps the most sensitive organ system in the body to chemical exposures is the brain.”

Although chemical exposure can lead to psychological problems, many doctors believe that the reverse is also true—psychological problems can contribute to the development of chemical sensitivities. Dr. Miller, mentioned above, and Dr. Nicholas Ashford, firm believers in physical causes of MCS, acknowledge that “psychosocial events, such as the death of a spouse or divorce, can suppress immune system function and may predispose certain people to being more sensitive to chemicals at low levels. Certainly, the relationship between psychological and physiological systems is an intricate one.” Dr. Sherry Rogers, another believer in physical causes of MCS, states that “stress makes a person more chemically sensitive.”

Is there anything MCS sufferers can do to improve their health or at least reduce their symptoms?

Help for Those With MCS

Although there is no known cure for MCS, many sufferers have been able to reduce their symptoms, and others have even been able to resume a reasonably normal life. What has helped them to cope? Some say that they have benefited by following their doctor’s recommendation to avoid, as much as possible, chemicals that trigger their symptoms.c MCS sufferer Judy finds that avoidance works well for her. While recovering from the Epstein-Barr virus, Judy was overexposed to a pesticide used inside her home and subsequently developed MCS.

Like many with MCS, Judy reacts to a broad range of domestic chemicals. Thus, she does all her cleaning and laundry with pure soaps and baking soda. She finds vinegar most effective as a fabric softener. Her wardrobe and bedroom contain only natural fibers and fabrics. Her husband does not keep his dry-cleaned clothes in their closet until they have aired out for weeks in a well-ventilated place.

Of course, in today’s world it may not be possible for MCS sufferers to avoid all contact with problem chemicals. American Family Physician says: “The major disability from MCS is often the isolation and withdrawal experienced as the patient seeks to avoid chemical exposures.” The article suggests that under medical supervision patients should work and socialize, gradually increasing their activity. At the same time, they should work at managing panic attacks and heart palpitations by learning relaxation and breath-control techniques. The aim is to help patients gradually adjust to chemical exposures rather than eliminate chemicals from their life altogether.

Another important therapy is a good night’s sleep. David, an MCS sufferer who is now virtually symptom free, attributes part of his recovery to sleeping in a bedroom where he gets plenty of fresh air. Ernest and his wife, Lorraine, both of whom suffer from MCS, also find that “a good night’s sleep helps considerably in coping with unavoidable chemical exposure during the day.”

Good nutrition, of course, is always essential for maintaining or regaining good health. In fact, it has been hailed as “the single most important component of preventive health care.” It stands to reason that for the body to regain health, at least to the extent possible, its systems must be working efficiently. Dietary supplements may help.

Exercise also contributes to good health. Additionally, when you perspire you help your body eliminate toxins through your skin. Also important are a good mental disposition and a sense of humor, along with being loved and showing love to others. In fact, “love and laughter” is the prescription one doctor gives all her MCS patients. Yes, “a heart that is joyful does good as a curer.”—Proverbs 17:22.

Enjoying loving, happy companionship, however, can be a major problem for MCS sufferers who are unable to tolerate fragrances, cleaning agents, deodorizers, and other chemicals that most of us encounter in our daily activities. How do people with MCS manage under these circumstances? Equally important, what can others do to help those with MCS? The next article will discuss these matters.

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Do You Need So Many Chemicals?

All of us should keep our exposure to potentially toxic chemicals to a minimum. This includes chemicals that we keep in the home. Says the book Chemical Exposures: “Indoor air contaminants appear to be among the most potent initiators and triggers of chemical intolerances. Complex mixtures containing low levels of hundreds of different volatile organic chemicals occur indoors.”d

So ask yourself if you really need to use as many chemicals as you do, especially pesticides and products containing volatile solvents. Have you tried nontoxic alternatives? If you must use a potentially dangerous chemical, however, be sure never to handle it without taking all the necessary precautions. Also, be sure to store it in a safe place where children cannot reach it and where vapors it may give off will do no harm. Remember, even chemicals in some sealed containers may give off vapors.

Chemical awareness also applies to what we put or spill onto our skin. Many chemicals, including fragrances, are absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin. Thus, skin patches are one means of administering certain drugs. So if you spill a toxic chemical onto your skin, “the first and most immediate treatment must be to thoroughly wash the chemical off the skin,” says the book Tired or Toxic?

Many people with multiple chemical sensitivity are sensitive to fragrances. Ninety-five percent of the chemicals used in fragrances are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum. Acetone, camphor, benzaldehyde, ethanol, g-terpinene, and many other chemical ingredients are used. The health risks associated with these substances have been published—in the United States, for example, by the Environmental Protection Agency. The same is true of chemicals used in air fresheners. When environmental scientists study air fresheners, says the University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter, they “study them as polluters, not improvers, of indoor air.” Air fresheners do not eradicate bad odors; they mask them.

The book Calculated Risks states that “one of the most important concepts in toxicology [is that] all chemicals are toxic under some conditions of exposure.”

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Helping Those With MCS

A SENSITIVITY to common substances, whether colognes or cleaning agents, presents sufferers with more than a medical problem; it also presents them with a social problem. Humans are gregarious by nature, but multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) forces many otherwise warm, fun-loving people into a lonely life-style. “I have had other health problems in the past,” says Shelly, an MCS sufferer, “but this problem is the worst. The hardest part is the isolation.”

Sadly, MCS sufferers are sometimes seen as oddities. One reason for this, of course, is that MCS is a complex phenomenon that the world has not yet come to terms with. But a lack of knowledge about MCS is no reason to be suspicious of those who have it. The journal American Family Physician says: “These patients are truly suffering as a result of their symptoms.”

Rather than looking askance at people with MCS because their malady is puzzling and poorly understood, a wise person ought to be governed by the principle at Proverbs 18:13: “When anyone is replying to a matter before he hears it, that is foolishness on his part and a humiliation.” How much better it is to show Christlike love to all those who are ill, without partiality! We will never regret having shown such love, whatever medical science uncovers in the future.

Showing Christlike Love

Christlike love is like a diamond with beautiful facets to suit each occasion or need. When a friend has MCS, our Christlike love ought to sparkle with empathy, allowing us to put ourselves in his or her shoes. Also, love “does not look for its own interests”—or, we might say, its own rights. It puts the welfare of others first. It helps us to be ‘long-suffering, to bear all things, believe all things, and endure all things.’ Such love “never fails.”—1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

Mary does not have MCS, but some of her friends do. “Personally, I love perfume,” Mary writes, “but I choose not to wear it when visiting with those with MCS.” In her own way, in imitation of Jesus, Mary is saying, “I want to help.” (Mark 1:41) Trevor developed MCS in infancy. His mother says: “People I have worked with have bent over backward to accommodate my son.” Joy, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who lives in Australia and suffers greatly from MCS, says that she is encouraged by friends and relatives who visit her regularly and show that they understand her problems.

On the other hand, people with MCS should try to be patient with those who do wear fragrances in their presence. Ernest, quoted in the preceding article, said to Awake!: “Our illness is a burden we have to carry. Other people have their problems too, so we appreciate it when they help us with ours.” Yes, inviting cooperation, not forcing it, is always the best policy. “When someone wearing perfume or cologne asks me why I’m not looking well,” says Lorraine, “I tell her or him, ‘I have a fragrance problem, and it seems to be worse tonight.’ To discerning people, that is often enough.” Of course, that does not mean that if you suffer from MCS you cannot kindly remind friends that you need their help.

On the positive side, Pam, quoted earlier, writes: “All that we suffer now is just temporary.” Why did Pam say “just temporary”? Because her Bible-based hope is that soon God’s Kingdom will rid the earth of all suffering. It will even eradicate death—something that the most healthy person must eventually face.—Daniel 2:44; Revelation 21:3, 4.

Meanwhile, all who have to endure an illness for which there is no cure at present can look forward to the time when, under God’s Kingdom rule, ‘no person will say: “I am sick.”’ (Isaiah 33:24) As we endure whatever trials come upon us in this present system of things, let us all strive to be like Jesus and focus on the prize that is set before us.—Hebrews 12:2; James 1:2-4.

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Showing Love for One Another

The following Bible principles may help you if a friend or a relative has multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) or if you have it yourself:

“All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them.”—Matthew 7:12.

“You must love your neighbor as yourself.”—Matthew 22:39.

“Let us consider one another to incite to love and fine works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as some have the custom, but encouraging one another, and all the more so as you behold the day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24, 25) We all need spiritual encouragement, especially when we are ill. Commendably, many Christians with MCS make the effort to attend congregation meetings in person; others who suffer more severely sometimes attend by means of a telephone hookup. In other instances, fragrance-free areas have been reserved at Kingdom Halls for people with MCS. But this may not always be possible or practical.

“Do not forget the doing of good . . . , for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” (Hebrews 13:16) Note that doing good often calls for personal sacrifices. Are you prepared to make sacrifices to help someone with MCS? On the other hand, people with MCS need to be reasonable in their expectations of others. Christian elders, for example, cannot make rules about the use of perfumes and colognes, nor may they always be able to make announcements about it. Additionally, newly interested people and visitors wearing fragrances come to congregation meetings—and we welcome them. We certainly would not want to embarrass them or make them feel ill at ease over their use of fragrances.

“Seek peace and pursue it.” (1 Peter 3:11) Obviously, health issues should not rob Christians of peace. “The wisdom from above is . . . peaceable, reasonable, . . . full of mercy,” says James 3:17. Peaceable persons, whether they have MCS or not, would not be extreme or demanding in regard to the use or nonuse of chemical products. Likewise, reasonable persons who are “full of mercy” would also avoid insisting on their right to wear fragrances if they realized that these would affect the health of another person. In this way they demonstrate that they too are seeking “peaceful conditions” and are “making peace.”—James 3:18.

On the other hand, an inflexible, unreasonable attitude, whether on the part of an MCS sufferer or another person, is like a wedge that drives people apart. Such an attitude benefits no one and may even harm one’s relationship with God.—1 John 4:20.

Christians, of course, have a tremendous asset—Jehovah’s spirit. As they regularly petition Jehovah for his spirit, they develop its wonderful fruits, especially love—“a perfect bond of union.” (Colossians 3:14) At the same time, they patiently allow that spirit to nurture Christlike qualities in others.—Galatians 5:22, 23.

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People with MCS need friends as much as others do