The Way In Which We're Changing Our World

I spend a lot of time thinking about how our world is changing and what we, as the human race and dominant animal on our planet, are doing to our environment and ourselves. My mind goes round and round wondering how it is that we can continue in behavior that clearly does us harm. There are all sorts of examples of this, both obvious ones and not so obvious ones. We can become addicted to all sorts of behavior, substances and even emotional circumstances. The question is why?

Most people are well-meaning, considerate and wouldn't intentionally hurt others. But it seems the truth is, we're not being alerted to certain conditions quickly enough to trigger a healthy response to ensure ourselves a better future. Today someone sent me a video entitled: "Why haven’t we rallied our collective power to solve global warming?", and it happens to cover this very question and seems to provide an answer to this query.

I don't usually link to videos because they can often take more time than a person might want to give. Here is the choice of listening to the well-prepared talk by Dan Gilbert in video format, or a shorter summary in print. (The print version includes a reference in the title which I would not personally use as an example in today's world as something offensive to the general public's morality and I don't wish to offend anyone by linking to this. But if taken as simply an illustration that can be replaced by something that is offensive to the reader, then the point being made remains apparent.) I do recommend watching the video talk if you can spare the time - it's about 14 minutes long.

If I understood it correctly, Dan Gilbert, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, is saying that because our brains aren't wired to pick up gradual, impersonal changes we don't vividly compute such changes as an immediate threat even though they may be tremendously dangerous to us in the future.

I've always thought that if every breath I take didn't hurt (it doesn't hurt when I'm in pristine country air) I too would completely forget about global warming, pollution, the overuse of chemicals, cleaning products, laundry products, fabric softeners and perfumes. But each breath racks the lungs with burning pain and the brain with the continual question: why?

I remember how vibrantly blue the sky looked against a beautifully crisp green tree when I looked up as a teenager. I remember specifically telling myself to always remember that snapshot view because it was so fantastic. And today these truly brilliant colors of nature around us can still be seen, but only rarely and on especially clear days. And I wonder how we can forget what our world was not so very long ago and how we can tolerate it...and I'm not that old!

And then when I watch a beautiful bird, an African Grey, scratch and fleece herself of her feathers in very specific spots and become lethargic and dull, as a result of being poisoned in that same chemically poisonous atmosphere, my cry of anguish and the question "why?" becomes even more excruciating. Previous post "Jasmine and Her Continuing Tousle With Air Quality" gives the background to this, if you're not familiar with Jasmine.

Somehow I feel better with the understanding that Dan Gilbert's talk gives. I knew it wasn't malice on our part as human beings, but it seemed so inexplicable and has been perplexing me for some time. Hopefully soon we can show our intelligence on a large scale, to save the beauty of our planet, ourselves and the other living beings we share it with, both microscopically tiny and large. I hope it answers something for you too. Cheers.

Jasmine and Her Continuing Tousle With Air Quality

I'm spending much of many of my days up our local mountains carrying Jasmine, our African Grey parrot, in her backpack travel cage. As the temperature increases here during the summer, the air quality in the local environment of our apartment and its surrounds continues to worsen.When we got Jazzy at the local pet store she already frequently scratched herself around her neck, resulting in patches where feathers were removed by her scratching. She improved enormously when she first came to live with us. Since then we moved to another apartment and our environment has become increasingly filled with strongly perfumed cleaning agents, laundry detergents, fabric softeners, aerosol spray products, insecticides, cosmetics and perfumes that are universally used. We're unable to keep these out of our apartment and even the apartment block grounds smell strongly of a mixture of the many products emanating from people's apartments.

When at home: my eyes sting, skin itches, it's hard to breathe, and many other things too boring to list here. I watch myself losing a battle to keep ahead of these symptoms. I watch my husband developing increasing 'allergy' symptoms when he's around strongly scented products. Almost everyone we meet claims they have, or someone in their family has, allergies, asthma, headaches, rashes. But most heart-wrenching of all, I watch our little Jasmine, scratching, and since some weeks now, actually pulling out her feathers.

When we got Jasmine I had no idea that we would encounter such problems with her, especially since, due to chemical injury as a child, I'm unable to use strong chemical agents and so we have none used or directly present in our home. It turns out that she has become the 'canary' in our apartment 'coal mine'.
She still sings, chats, laughs, plays and is happy, but her skin is irritated. When I take her out to the fresh air in the mountains all this scratching and fussing stops. But if we meet someone who smells of fabric softener in their clothes, or who is wearing perfume, or uses strongly scented cosmetics, she immediately starts scratching furiously.

We're unable to move from where we live right now. We've bought more large, powerful air filters designed to remove chemicals from the air. They certainly help, and without them Jasmine cries, screeches in discomfort, and becomes worse with the scratching and even becomes lethargic. Around the apartment, where Jasmine goes, there go the filters with her. In March we added a second air filter and we have both filters running continuously in whatever room Jasmine is in. Last week we added two more and this week we'll be receiving another one.

These air filters are helping but unfortunately they're not able to deal with the concentrations that are coming into our living space. It seems that with each passing month stronger concentrations and larger amounts are being used. Floor polish is used on the apartment block hallway floors two to three times a week. There is no ventilation in the stairwells and so this brings fumes from the polish into our home for many hours. The concentration of fabric softeners and scent used in laundry products makes the laundry drying on people's balconies incredibly strong. These two factors alone have a big effect on Jasmine.

If I knew someone who could take care of Jasmine in a relatively toxin-free environment I would gladly give her to them in order to keep her well and safe. I've discovered that the papers we were given when we bought her do not correspond to her identity given on her leg band, so we don't have her papers of origin. We're currently looking into this, but without papers of origin it's not possible to take an African Grey out of the country, which means I can't send her to someone I know who could take care of her in a good environment.

Even when Jazzy is uncomfortable she sings and gives kisses and lots of love and is a very good sport. When she complains by being noisy, if I can change something to improve the air conditions she invariably stops making noise and resumes playing normally very soon after.

Birds always try instinctively to show a good face even if they don't feel well because a flock will shun a bird that is unwell. This is why a bird can appear well and then seemingly all of a sudden become very unwell and even die.

It's devastating to witness the havoc we're creating on our planet. My own suffering or that of other humans is so much easier to accept: we're creating it after all, and what we get to some extent, just by being a part of society, we are a part of reaping in some way. But innocent creatures such as birds, frogs, bees, fish, turtles,.... They suffer more than we do (at least so far), without having contributed to this destruction.
















Living, watching this incredibly beautiful, vital and brave creature who lives with us, pull out one feather after another in irritated distress, slipping slowly, but gradually each day, as a result of our ignorant actions is enough to break a heart.

So I continue to take Jazzy to spend as much of our days in fresh air as I can manage until we're able to move somewhere more independent of others' personal use of the myriad products available today.

This means that I have much less energy and time available to write blog posts and to paint. There are still many beautiful sights and lovely days and moments in our lives. But I sure hope that we all in society can find a way to live that allows human kind and the earth to thrive into the future.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read this blog. It's very rewarding and is a fun experience thanks to you. Please forgive the more emotional nature of this post; I've tried hard in the past to present data uncluttered by personal emotion in previous posts about toxic chemicals in our society. But the heartache of watching a beloved and innocent parrot suffer, pushes me to plead with anyone who can relate to what we're doing to ourselves and our loved ones.
We're playing with a very dangerous path into the future, and if individuals do not educate themselves and wake up to these dangers soon, we will be driven by a consumer capitalist economy to destruction, taking all that we value down with us. It's a huge problem, one bigger than I can possibly understand and one which I know that I'm equally a part of the problem.

But one thing is for sure: if we could each, as individuals, stop buying these products that are creating these toxic effects it would slow down their use and their production and this would at least be a start to helping improve our and our planet's future.

How To Reduce Our Pollution Intake On Car Journeys

Ozone is a major component of urban air pollution and is associated with increased cardiovascular and pulmonary hospitalizations and deaths. An article published in the October Journal of Immunology and described by EurekAlert! says: "Ozone shuts down early immune response in lungs and body". The mechanisms for this remain unclear, and pulmonary researchers at Duke University Medical Center have been performing studies to find out more.

John Hollingsworth, M.D., and lead author of this study, said: "...it appears that ozone causes the innate immune system to overreact, killing key immune system cells, and possibly making the lung more susceptible to subsequent invaders, such as bacteria."

The article concludes: "The Environmental Protection Agency is in the final phases of reviewing and possibly updating the standards for allowable levels of ozone in the air. The current standard says that any amount greater than 85 parts per billion can be unhealthy for those at risk. Many medical groups, including the American Thoracic Society, recommend setting a stricter standard of 60 parts per billion, citing studies showing ozone's adverse effects on health, especially in children and those with compromised health."

One way we can take some control of the amount of exposure we undergo is to minimize it by using an air filter in our car. When we're out driving we can be exposed to a vast amount of pollution. Exhaust from cars and trucks, heavy duty vehicles on construction sites, ... the list is varied and long. One very effective and easy-to-install filter is the XR-100 Car air purifier. This air filter removes particles, odors, particulates and volatile organic compounds, and it cleans the air within the car 10 times per hour. This costs approximately 150 pounds UK Sterling.
It has straps to hang it from the back of a front seat and it plugs into the cigarette lighter outlet.





My experience is that it makes a tremendous difference and it's a simple and effective way to significantly reduce exposure to pollution on car journeys.
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The Importance of Knowing About Our Chemical Environment, Part II

Being well-informed is all well and good, but situations also occur that as individuals we may not, in the short-term, necessarily be able to do anything about. We're surrounded by materials that are proving on a larger scale and varying conditions to be more problematic to the health than previously understood.

These two articles provide a good introduction into problems that can arise:

1. Prolonged respiratory problems for oil spill clean-up volunteers
2. The 9/11 Cover-Up

The first article was published in September in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, by the American Thoracic Society and is described at EurekAlert!. The article says that researchers from Spain say that workers and volunteers who helped in the clean-up effort after the 2002 Prestige Oil spill off the coast of Galicia, Spain, exhibit prolonged respiratory symptoms resulting from their exposure. More than 100,000 people participated in the clean-up effort.

Dr. Francisco Pozo-Rodriguez, M.D., lead investigator of the study, wrote: "To our knowledge, no previous study has explored long-term respiratory effects in clean-up workers of other oil spills. Our findings suggest that participation in clean-up work of oil spills may result in prolonged adverse respiratory health effects 1-2 years after exposure. Increasing awareness of the potential chronic respiratory effects among clean up workers of future oil spills, in combination with appropriate hygiene regulations, is strongly recommended."

The second article, cited above, was published in the Special Anniversary Issue of Discover magazine in October. The online version of this article can be seen here.

This article reports that up to 70% of first responders are ill as a result of 9/11 contamination. "About 70,000 New Yorkers so far have listed themselves with the World Trade Center Health Registry, a database that tracks the health impact of the 9/11 attacks. The registry has been criticized for excluding large numbers of those potentially sickened outside a designated one-square mile area. Despite the insistent denials of city and federal officials, tens of thousands of New Yorkers were unnecessarily exposed to a chemical brew without even the most rudimentary precautions."

The article continues: "Since the attacks, various scientific studies have demonstrated that New Yorkers are engulfed in billows of illness and disease related to 9/11. First the cough and mental health problems caught the attention of local doctors. Then chronic respiratory and gastrointestinal conditions began to surface. Recently a program at Mount Sinai noted the emergence of rare blood cancers among 9/11 first responders. Experts predict that more problems will surface in the next few decades."

Later it describes: "Heat up a ballpoint pen, a computer, an office sofa, electric wire, or any other object you might find in a high-rise and there comes a point when you can inhale it. The Twin Towers contained tens of thousands of computer terminals, each housing about four pounds of lead, and an untold number of fluorescent bulbs that contained mercury. Released metal particles from the smoldering pit of the World Trade Center were so fine that they could easily slip past a paper face mask and reach deep into lung tissue, where they are poorly soluble in lung fluid. Metals and glass can remain trapped there for long periods of time and make their way into the heart."

Thomas Cahill, a professor of physics and atmospheric sciences at the University of California at Davis has led some of the most exhaustive scientific studies of 9/11-related toxins. From his studies he concluded: "The fuming World Trade Center debris pile was a chemical factory that exhaled toxins in a particularly dangerous form that could penetrate deep into the lungs of rescue workers and local residents".

The Discover 9/11 article is long and sobering, but it's well worth the time it takes to read it in full. I became aware of this article by reading a post in a really great blog called BLDG BLOG by Geoff Manaugh. His post, "Inhaling 9/11", is thought-provoking with its presentation of a new viewpoint, along with a few incredible photographs. This too is very well worth reading.

Large scale disasters present us with difficulties that sometimes are not completely surmountable without injury. But foreknowledge can empower us to make better decisions. And if, on a smaller scale, we are confronted with a home or office fire, or some other incident, we may be able to avoid exposure through making choices we might not otherwise make. Knowledge provides us with a fighting chance: the power of choice.

The Importance Of Knowing About Our Chemical Environment, Part I

These days it pays more than ever to be well-informed. Becoming well-informed is not always easy. It requires that we glean information from reliable sources and that the currently accepted facts are indeed correct.

Modern society relies so heavily on new technology, which is wonderful in itself, but is not always fully tested in its possible short-term and long-term ramifications for human health. There have been an increasing number of articles recently that illustrate this lack of knowledge in our use of different substances. It also demonstrates that we can't simply rely on retail and manufacture to ensure that what is sold to consumers is safe in terms of our health.

On October 12th, BBC News published an article: "Housework 'can cause asthma'". The first paragraph reads: "A study found using household cleaning sprays and air fresheners as little as once a week raised the risk of asthma." It continues: "Spray air fresheners, furniture cleaners and glass cleaners carried the highest risk."

The article points out that heavy use of such products has already been linked with occupational asthma, but studies now also show that even little home use increases the risk by 15% or causes asthma in one out of seven adults. If the sprays and cleaning agents were used more often than once a week, then the risk could be higher by 30-50%.

The statistics given in this article are enough to suggest that if we limit our use, or even better, if we eliminate them altogether, and pursue other ways which are non-toxic to clean our homes, we'll reduce the risk of respiratory health problems for ourselves and our families. For more about non-toxic cleaners see previous post: Cleaning With Non-Toxic Substances.

An article published by The Independent on October 21st is entitled: "Legal threat to Apple after toxic chemicals discovered in iPhone". The article states that "Greenpeace bought an iPhone in the United States in June and had 18 of its materials and components independently tested for toxic substances. Half of them tested positive for bromine, 'suggesting widespread use' of brominated flame retardants; these are suspected of a range of threats to health, and the bromine itself can cause pollution when disposed of as waste."

The article continues: "Four items also tested positive for antimony, a toxic mineral often used with flame retardants, and others contained very small amounts of chromium and lead. ... But the greatest headache for Apple is the discovery of phthalates, used to make plastic more flexible, in the cable coating. The chemicals are suspected of causing birth defects and gender-bending effects. The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) says that under Californian law, products containing them must carry a warning label."

This following statement is the one I find most interesting: "Greenpeace says that all the chemicals found would be allowed under European law..." It is under the discretion of the local governing law to determine which chemicals are permitted to be used. It takes time for scientific findings to percolate through to law. In the meantime, citizens may be subjected to exposure to chemicals that are known to be injurious to the health, but that are not yet proclaimed illegal for use. And companies dealing in different countries may know this very well and exploit it to sell products in ways that suit them, rather than in the best interests of the consumer.

The particular products cited in these articles is certainly of interest, but there are other products on sale that almost certainly contain similar chemicals. As an example, soft plastics are much more widely available than they used to be even a year or two ago. And they're used in a vast range of products. If they contain these chemicals then it would be wise to avoid bringing too many of them into our routine use. If in doubt, it's worth finding out, or, if investigation is too difficult or time-consuming, to at least avoid them whenever possible rather than to blindly purchase them.

Ultimately we choose where and how to spend our money. If we select wisely we might at least minimize our risk for illness in the future. If we're already experiencing physical discomfort, such as asthma or chemical sensitivity for example, we might be able to reduce the symptoms if we stop using these and similar products.

It's hard to fathom the possibility of being ill when we're well, even if we've been ill before. It seems to be part of the human psyche to feel invincible and strong. But when something hits us, we soon realize our frailty.

How Safe Are The Products We Use?

A BBC News article, "Office printers 'are health risk'", published July 31st, reported that an investigation of a range of printer models. The study showed that almost a third of them emitted potentially dangerous levels of toner into the air which can cause a range of health problems, including respiratory irritation and other chronic illnesses. The article states that a team of Australian scientists has found that the "humble office laser printer can damage lungs in much the same way as smoke particles from cigarettes".

As illustrated in a previous post, "Becoming More Aware of Toxins In Our Environment", it would benefit us all to be more aware of what products we use in our daily routine. While it's not possible to know which products are not beneficial to the health, we can minimize the use of those that are known or suspected to be harmful, and we can take measures to ensure that our local environment is well ventilated.

On August 16, Science Daily reported on an article published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine that states researchers in Taiwan have demonstrated for the first time that urban pollution simultaneously affects key indicators of cardiovascular risk in young adults. The lead author of the study, Chang-Chuan Chan, Sc.D., of National Taiwan University's College of Public Health wrote: "This study provides evidence that urban air pollution is associated with systemic inflammation/oxidative stress, impairment of the fibrinogenic system, activation of blood coagulation and alterations in the autonomic nervous system in young, healthy humans."

Another article published in the same journal and also reported on August 16 by Science Daily: "High Pollution Linked To Poor Lung Function Growth In Children In Mexico City" states that "Children who are chronically exposed to higher levels of air pollution show marked deficiencies in lung growth and function, and not just short-term breathing problems." The lead author, Isabelle Romieu, M.D., M.P.H. of the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publico in Mexico wrote: "In addition to the important impact of lung health, early lung deficits may increase the risk of developing chronic obstructive lung disease later in life, as well as cardiovascular morbidity and general mortality."

A BBC News article published July 13, "'New tests needed' for chemicals", states that scientists writing in the journal Science say that about one-third of organic substances (which could amount to approximately 10,000 substances) in commercial use need re-testing for possible toxicity to human and environmental health.

Conventional tests for toxic substances involve measuring how effectively a substance dissolves in fat versus water; the measure is called Kow. This works well to estimate the accumulative potential in food chains involving fish, shellfish and plankton. The scientists performing this study concluded that a different measure is needed to estimate the accumulation of toxic substances in air-breathing animals, that would measure how well a substance can be absorbed across the lung membrane during respiration. This measure is called Koa.

The article states: "Classes of compounds possessing low Kow but high Koa include endosulfans and HCHs, which are used as inseciticides, musk xylene, an ingredient of perfumes and soaps, and the tetrachlorobenzenes." These substances would pass the conventional tests for toxicity. It's interesting that these substances very commonly present respiratory and other problems for people with chemical sensitivities. See previous post "What Is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity?"

As discussed in post, "Chemical Sensitivity and the New EU Chemical Law", there are, in addition to the omissions in the conventional measuring system, great gaping omissions in what substances are being studied at all. As individuals we can try to protect ourselves as much as possible from the hazard of the many chemicals that have found their way via products into our daily lives. There are a number of other articles here in the DweezelJazz blog, under Chemical Sensitivity, Asthma and Allergy, that you may find helpful.

Following Nature's Example To Reduce Pollution And Energy Waste

If human beings learn to behave more like swarms of insects, schools of fish, flocks of birds, or herds of animals we could make better progress with reducing pollution and taking care of our planet.

There are an increasing number of reports in the news related to climate change and pollution. It's becoming more and more clear that we need to take large scale action in order to optimize what the future holds for us and our world. There have been a few articles recently which illustrate clearly that we're jeopardizing the welfare of many people throughout the world already.

Back in May, a BBC article, "Oxygen supplies for India police" announced that police stations across Calcutta in India were equipped with oxygen devices to enable police to offset the effects of pollution. The article says that a recent report showed that 70% of the people in the city suffer from respiratory disorders, such as lung cancer, breathing difficulties and asthma, and that the police were among the worst hit by poor air quality. Doctors have cautioned that the oxygen may not help the policemen because "many of the pollutants are too deeply lodged in their lungs".

Another BBC article, published earlier this month, says that a report was quoted in a Financial Times article to say that "High levels of air pollution in China's cities leads to 350,000-400,000 premature deaths...Another 300,000 die because of poor-quality air indoors." There seems to be some dispute over the figures, but it is apparent from reports that increasing numbers of people are dying due to pollution.

Health problems all over the world are increasing as a result of pollution. Climate change is also becoming more noticeable as a result of our actions. A Greenpeace article "Expedition documents melting Himalayan glaciers" says that climate change is threatening the glacier source that provides water for one-sixth of humanity. The article says that scientists predict that 80% of the Himalayan glaciers will disappear within 30 years at the current warming rates.

Pollution and climate issues are clearly becoming more pronounced with every passing year. The key to reversing, or at the very least, slowing the progression of these problems is to raise general awareness to the severity of the problems. It seems there's still quite a ways to go to convince the majority of the population, as can be seen in the BBC article: "'Scepticism' over climate claims".

Seth Godin makes a great point in his blog post "Times a million". He says: "The way to sell the distant is to make it immediate." Be persuasive by presenting an argument that's personally meaningful by making sure it's something relevant to the person's experience. If the majority of individuals become convinced that these issues are important this could lead to a huge change.

The Live Earth concerts held this last weekend were a great way to combine pleasure and fun along with drawing people to a venue that raises awareness of what individuals can do in their own daily lives.

A couple of days ago I came across an article, "Swarms", at the Patagonia blog, which drew my attention to an article in National Geographic entitled "Swarm Theory". This article discusses the behavior of large groups in nature, such as bees, ants, schools of herring, herds of caribou. It looks to answer how the collective group can act as one unit in the best interests of all of them as a whole. Vijay Kumar, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania is quoted as saying: "In biology, if you look at groups with large numbers, there are very few examples where you have a central agent."

For animals traveling in large numbers, coordinating their movements with one another is vital to their staying alive. No one animal is in charge. The overall behavior relies on communication between individuals, while each individual follows a set of simple rules, each one acting on local information. The individual doesn't know what's happening throughout the entire community. The sum of these relatively simple actions by each individual adds up to a complex behavior of collective intelligence.

Software programs have been modeled on this simple behavior and are being used to successfully create management strategies for complex business processes, such as routing trucks and scheduling airlines. Using this type of behavior model is making the businesses much more efficient than they were when a centralized intelligence dictated what was to be done.

This emphasizes that one of the most effective ways for human beings to make a difference in any endeavor is for each individual to act according to a basic set of guidelines, according to what is possible or needed in their local vicinity. Swarm theory shows us how vitally important and effective it really is for each of us to make each small effort towards reducing pollution and energy waste, even if we don't understand or know what everyone else is doing.

Air Filters For Asthma, Allergies and Chemical Sensitivity

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.



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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.

Some tips for reducing common house allergens

There are some straightforward things that can be done to reduce allergens in the environment that can help to relieve both allergy and asthma symptoms.

Laundry Care
An article in the BBC news says that scientists have found that washing laundry at low temperatures of 30-40 degrees, regardless of the brand of laundry detergent used, doesn't get rid of some of the most common allergens that cause allergy attacks. They say it is much more effective to use a 60 degree water temperature in order to remove all or most of these allergens.
Unfortunately, switching from a 40 degree to a 60 degree wash generally uses a third more energy, and the switch from a 30 degree to a 40 degree wash uses a further 40% in energy cost. They found that rinsing laundry in cold water several times after washing at a 30 degree temperature produced results comparable with the hot water washes.

Selecting the laundry items that an allergy sufferer is likely to have in close and frequent contact, and adjusting laundry cycles for optimum removal of allergens in these items, while leaving other less important items at cooler washes or using less rinses, is a means of judiciously using energy and water resources while dealing effectively with the allergens.

Carpets












Carpets harbor allergens that are virtually impossible to remove. The best approach, if possible, is to remove carpets and replace them with a bare, hard surface, such as ceramic tiling or hardwood floor. Small cotton throw-rugs can be used in places for warmth and comfort.House Furniture
It is also very difficult to remove allergens from cloth furniture, especially furniture with soft cushioning. It is better to have furniture with less porous surfaces, such as those made with leather or some inert synthetic material. These can be wiped to remove dust from the surface and they provide some barrier to the cushioning beneath them, which inevitably accumulates allergens over time and use.Mattress and Pillow Covers
A significant portion of every 24 hours is spent sleeping in bed. So it is important to reduce the exposure to dust mite and other allergens that build up in mattresses and pillows. By encasing them in barrier covers, either made of synthetic material or very tightly woven cotton, it is possible to seal the allergens away from the person.

Curtains
It is good to have curtains that are easily machine washable so that it is possible to remove allergens from them frequently.

Dusting and Vacuuming
It is very important to dust frequently. The number of times will depend very much on the environment and time of year, but in some places it would be necessary even to dust once a day, depending on the severity of the allergies experienced. A minimum of once a week would be essential. A very effective way to dust, causing minimum exposure to the person dusting, is to use a damp cloth to wipe surfaces, so that dust particles are contained and do not fly around the room to settle elsewhere.

There are vacuum cleaners available that include HEPA filters to reduce the exhaust of dust and allergens. Unfortunately these are more expensive than ordinary vacuum cleaners. I own a Miele HEPA vacuum cleaner and consider the purchasing of such a vacuum cleaner an investment for future benefit.

Air Filters
Air filters are a great way to eliminate, depending on the type of air filter used, particulates and even chemicals from the air. This is a subject worthy of an article entirely in itself. From personal experience, I can highly recommend the AllerAir brand of filters.

Choosing whatever seems to be most relevant to a person's situation and moving forward one step at a time makes it possible to keep track of what has the most beneficial effect. Within whatever means available, even implementing one or two methods to reduce exposure to allergens may help relieve symptoms.

Common Senses

Spring is my favorite time of year. With color bursting out everywhere, it feels as though everything has a new bright sheen to it. Goals seem more attainable and a fresh outlook on life awakens. It just feels good to be alive.

But for some, it's a season of trial. Last week we were invited to dinner at a friend's house and one of the young boys of the family was suffering noticeably with swollen, teary eyes. His father explained that both his sons have severe allergies and that he was particularly concerned because his elder son regularly experiences difficulty breathing. He explained that they were both too young to take allergy medication and that he wanted to do something now to help them as much as possible.

With every passing year allergies, asthma and chemical sensitivities become more prevelant in society, and can range in effect from discomfort and inconvenience to serious threat to the health and well-being of a person. There are many hypotheses for the causes of this increase, and it is difficult to define absolute limits on exposures because individuals have varying thresholds and severity of reactions to trigger substances. This is exacerbated by the challenge of accurately quantifying and regulating the exposures an average individual receives in his or her normal daily environment. In addition, a given individual's response can also change over time to those trigger substances and their concentration levels. For people living in cities and valleys, pollution can build up rapidly. For those in the country there is often pollution extending from the cities, there are fields and hillsides full of grass and flowers, and also cultivated fields treated regularly with fertilizers and pesticides.

I have many years' experience dealing with and learning about such issues and have found that there are ways to reduce the symptoms without, or in addition to, taking medication for them. There are simple things that can be tried in order to determine if it helps the individual. The essence of this approach is to:

1. Eliminate many of the manufactured chemical agents and synthetic products which are regularly present in our surroundings.
2. Reduce exposure to known common allergens in our environment.
   
3. Try to live a balanced and healthy life with regular exercise.

The concept is simple, but our lives have become inundated with products that we take at face value as having been tested and shown not to adversely affect health. Unfortunately the parameters for defining meaningful tests of these products in relation to the human body is usually ill-defined. And often these tests do not take into consideration the context of mixing one product with others that we may regularly come into contact with. The cumulative effect of years of routinely using a variety of products containing many different chemical combinations has not been determined.

Consequently, knowing where to start in trying to improve our personal environment is not always obvious. A simple and often effective place to start is to stop using products containing strong fragrance; for example, perfumes and fabric softeners. Eliminating these from regular use can substantially alleviate allergy symptoms and asthma.