Air Filters For Asthma, Allergies and Chemical Sensitivity

DweezelJazz — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 07:00:00 +0000

If you have asthma, allergies or chemical sensitivies one of the best things you can do to reduce the symptoms you experience is to use an air filter. Do you often have a runny nose, congestion, sore throats, dry irritated eyes? Do you, or someone in your family, catch colds frequently? Do you have trouble sleeping? Running one or two air filters in your home can dramatically reduce the particulates and chemicals present in your indoor air. And this can have a dramatic effect on how you feel.It’s especially important also for babies and young children. Last month the Los Angeles Times published an article “Common chemicals pose danger for fetuses, scientists warn”. Two hundred leading environmental scientists from five continents around the world wrote a declaration stating that exposure to common chemicals makes babies more likely to develop an array of health problems later in life. These health problems included: diabetes, attention deficit disorders, prostate cancer, fertility problems, thyroid disorders and even obesity.In the article, Dr. Bruce Lanphear, director of the Environmental Health Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is quoted as saying: “Reducing exposure would lead to tremendous benefits. We shouldn’t wait for an epidemic to fully mature before we develop policies to protect children.”Pollution is also a big concern. Ozone is created when car pollutants interact with sunlight. With summer coming we’re moving into a time when ozone levels in outdoor air increase. The International Herald Tribune posted a blog article today discussing the effects of ozone pollution. Ozone attacks the lung’s lining and causes coughing, wheezing and watery eyes. The article says that many cities in Europe routinely exceed what the European Environment Agency deems to be harmful levels of ozone in the air. Ozone travels large distances and so it is a problem for people outside the cities also. It is suggested that people with lung problems avoid outdoor exercise when levels are high.There are many sources of pollution that enter our homes, both from the inside and outside. An air filter is a very effective way to reduce our exposure. There are quite a variety of filters available on the market and there are a few things it is good to be aware of. The quality of the components and substances used in these filters is extremely important, otherwise the filter itself ends up introducing unwanted chemicals.I bought a very expensive filter a year ago that was advertised as being suitable for those with chemical sensitivity, but it turned out that the unit itself was releasing chemicals that caused problems. It was housed in a soft pliable plastic, which undoubtedly makes it more durable and robust to denting, but which released chemicals that caused increased breathing difficulty.It’s also important that the manufacturer take care to ensure that oils lubricating the motor don’t cause contamination. And the quality of the carbon filters also needs to be high.I highly recommend the filter company AllerAir. They have all types of filters. The HEPA filter and high efficiency carbon filter remove airborne chemicals, gases, odors and particles. They know firsthand what materials are required for someone with chemical sensitivities because the company was established after a member of the family developed MCS and they discovered there wasn’t a suitable filter on the market. AllerAir’s units are made of metal and they take great care to ensure the materials they use are high quality.The AirTube is a great choice for smaller rooms and costs around $300. It can also be a huge help as an interim solution if you don’t have the funds to get a more powerful filter right away…The Allerair 5000 MCS air purifier can have dramatic effects on how you feel after a night’s sleep and during the day. The MCS unit costs approximately $1000.After running an air filter in the indoor environment for a few weeks, a person can experience a huge increase in energy and reduction in symptoms. It’s a worthwhile investment that can make a tremendous difference to current and long-term health and, as a result, even lifestyle.

What Is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity?

DweezelJazz — Wed, 30 May 2007 07:00:00 +0000

An article in the BBC News today reports that exposure to pesticides increases the risk of contracting Parkinson’s Disease. Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive, degenerative neurological condition. Many pesticides are neurotoxic and there have been other studies that have found associations with exposure to pesticides and various chronic neurological diseases.Neurotoxic chemicals are prevalent in our society today. For example, we are exposed to solvents and pesticides almost every day, in our working environment or on our way to work, very often at home, and even in our food. Gasoline, diesel and the products of combustion are something we are regularly exposed to when we’re on the road, and also when traffic passes close to where we live or work. These frequent and common exposures put us at risk of developing chemical sensitivities. This is even more relevant for children.Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, MCS, has been defined in a number of ways. It is difficult to define precisely because the mechanism of injury is not known and the specific symptoms can be very varied from one individual to another, and also varied in the same individual over time.Multiple Chemical Sensitivity often begins with one high-dose exposure to a chemical which is toxic in large doses, but it may also develop with long-term exposure to low levels of a chemical, or chemicals. The significance of ‘low level’ used here refers to the fact that this level of such a chemical is generally held to be non-toxic to the human body at this concentration. However, for many of the chemicals that we are exposed to, conclusive tests, taking into account reactions inside the body with other chemicals we are exposed to, and/or the interaction of many ‘low level’ concentrations of chemicals forming further chemical products before they enter the body, have not been performed.A few examples of the ways in which people who develop MCS are commonly exposed are: working in industrial employment; living or working in a poorly ventilated building; living in conditions of high air or water pollution. Chemicals most often associated with MCS include: formaldehyde, pesticides, solvents, petrochemical fuels, waxes, detergents, cleaning products, latex, tobacco smoke, perfumes and fragrances, artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.Products that often precipitate symptoms of MCS are: air fresheners, aerosol deodorant, asphalt, after-shave lotion, colognes, perfumes, diesel, dry-cleaning fluid, furniture polish, gasoline products, hair spray, insect repellant, insecticide, many laundry detergents, marker pens, nail polish and remover, oil-based paint and associated products, many creams and cosmetics, many hair shampoos, gels, and dyes, public restroom deodorizers, many modern cleaning products, tar, varnish, creosote, paint products, chipboard, treated lumber, many treated leathers (depending on process used), soft plastics, mold, cotton and fabrics treated with pesticides and/or antibacterial agents, antibacterial soap, fabric softeners, rubber. This may seem like a phenomenal list, and there may be other items that can cause a problem that through oversight have not been mentioned here. But this gives a good idea of how difficult it is to avoid regular exposure to ‘low level’ harmful agents once chemical sensitivities have been triggered in an individual.MCS symptoms can manifest in any or all organ systems including respiratory, neurological, endocrine, urinary, cardiovascular, immune. Some of the symptoms experienced, in any combination and in differing strengths at any given time, by someone with chemical sensitivities can be: fatigue, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, depression, anxiety, slow response, weakness, dizziness, tingling in fingers and/or toes, headaches, heat intolerance, irritability, numbness, burning sensation on the skin, itching skin, itching scalp, noise sensitivity, congestion, sore throat, hoarseness, shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, difficulty thinking and making decisions, stomach pains and cramps, insomnia, clumsiness, inability to gauge distance, coordination problems, muscle cramps, joint pain, trembling, faintness, nausea, vomiting, rapid increase in heartbeat, increased frequency in urination, diarrhea, confusion, blurred vision, eye irritation, rashes.This may sound even more incredible than the number of products that can cause a problem, but people with chemical sensitivities experience many, if not all, of these symptoms at some time or another in varying intensities. However, more commonly, many people experience some level of these symptoms without necessarily understanding the cause.When such symptoms occur at low intensity they are easy to dismiss, without realizing their significance, because they become an expected part of our ordinary daily life. Eliminating the use of some of these products and items mentioned above that are not essential to our existence can provide a way to investigate whether we actually feel better without them. If an individual is genetically predisposed to succumbing to chemical sensitivity then with every greater load we place on the body’s toxic clearing mechanisms, the closer we get to triggering chemical sensitivities.There is controversy in the professional medical field about chemical sensitivities and related syndromes. It is not a topic of research readily financed by commercially successful businesses manufacturing these products. The organized removal or alteration of the multitude of products that permeate almost every aspect of our daily lives would require a huge change in economics. Ultimately, consumer choice dictates largely what products are available on the market, and that is where each individual can make a difference in what is in our daily environments. Many of the products available today not only cause damage in human beings, but they also harm our environment and the ecosystem around us.MCS is medically a poorly understood phenomenon; there is no known cure for it as yet. However, it is possible to make very significant improvements in a person’s health and daily functionality by reducing regular exposures. And it is possible to decrease an individual’s reaction to previously problematic products and chemical agents by reducing the overall load experienced by that individual. It is better, however, to reduce the load before really noticeable chemical sensitivities even occur.

DweezelJazz Art Blog » chemical sensitivities

Air Filters For Asthma, Allergies and Chemical Sensitivity

What Is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity?