It could be an adverse reaction to chemicals in your environment that's giving you the blues.
By Emily Main , Rodale's organic life
[post_ads]It can be something simple. Your coworker's perfume, that lingering smell of someone's overpowering fabric softener, the secondhand smoke floating through a crowded concert hall—for most of us, those are just annoyances that could put a damper on a fun night out or make your workday temporarily unpleasant. (Here are 12 everyday places toxic fragrances lurk). But for others, they're actually seriously debilitating.
(On just a quarter-acre of land, you can produce fresh, organic food for a family of four—year-round. Rodale's The Backyard Homestead shows you how; get your copy today.)
"Some may have a mild irritation to something, but others have
tremendously adverse reactions to very low levels of chemicals,
chemicals most of us can't even smell," says Dr. David Katerndahl, a
professor of family and community medicine at the University of Texas
Health Science Center at San Antonio. It's a condition called chemical
intolerance, he says, and according to a study published in the Annals of Family Medicine, the number of people who suffer from it is higher than most medical professionals suspect.
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Avoiding Chemicals in a Toxic World
A chemical intolerance is more than just being annoyed by your
coworker's cologne or having an allergic skin reaction to your
fragranced laundry detergent. (You can stop that, too, though: Here's 6 ways to nix the toxic chemicals from your laundry routine. The
cause may be genetic, he says, or simply a result of constant low-level
exposure over a lifetime that causes an intolerance to build up, which
might explain why chemical intolerance is typically diagnosed after the
age of 30. People with intolerances to a number of chemicals suffer from
multiple chemical sensitivity, or MCS.
[post_ads]According to previous studies, 13 to 33 percent of the public claims
to be "unusually" sensitive to chemicals, but just 2 to 13 percent can
be classified as chemically intolerant. But according to Dr.
Katerndahl's study, 20 percent of the 400 adults he surveyed qualified
as chemically intolerant. And that has huge implications for the health
care system. Generally, he says, chemically intolerant adults make more
visits to emergency rooms—an average of 23 more per year—than healthy
adults.
The chemically intolerant adults in his study were also more likely
to suffer from allergies, and they were more likely to meet the criteria
for major depressive disorder and alcohol abuse. Panic attacks, he
adds, are some of the most severe side effects. "It's a sudden
overwhelming sense of dread or fear. People often think they're having a
heart attack, so they go to ER with no idea what's happening to them,"
he says. The alcohol abuse could even be a coping mechanism, and not
necessarily a side effect of the intolerance.
"People may turn to alcohol or drug abuse as a way to deal with the
anxiety," he says. A few other conditions you're more likely to have if
you're chemically intolerant: heart problems, bronchitis, asthma,
pneumonia, sinusitis, hypothyroidism, autoimmune diseases, irritable
bowel syndrome, and migraine.
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Getting diagnosed with a chemical intolerance might not be easy,
either. It's an area that hasn't seen much research since Gulf War
syndrome, the first condition linked to multiple chemical sensitivities
that physicians believe was caused by pesticide exposures during the
Persian Gulf War, and many psychiatrists and specialists tend to
disregard both chemical intolerance and multiple chemical sensitivities
because they're difficult to define, he says. In many cases, people with
chemical intolerance or multiple chemical sensitivity are told they
suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia, another condition
pegged to unexplained chronic pain. "But many primary care physicians
are interested in it, because they see so many patients in primary care
settings that have different complaints."
[post_ads]All this boils down to the fact that our increasingly chemically
saturated world is taking a toll. According to the United Nations, the
chemical industry is one of the largest sectors of the world economy,
and the production of chemicals is increasing at a rate of 3 to 4
percent each year. In the U.S. alone, there are more than 80,000
industrial chemicals used to produce consumer products, furniture,
building materials, and pharmaceuticals, along with thousands of other
applications, like antibiotics and pesticides in agriculture (For more
on that, here’s when we started using so many pesticides and antibiotics in farming.)
There's no single chemical or group of chemicals that Dr. Katerndahl
says is pegged to either chemical intolerance or multiple chemical
sensitivity; both conditions are very specific to the individual
patient. Thus, your best bet is to avoid potentially bothersome
chemicals as much as possible so you aren't made miserable by a chemical
intolerance later in life.
Unfortunately, "There's no medication that can help you with this,"
he says, but to get started you can clear some toxic products out of
your beauty and fragrance products, cleaning and laundry supplies, and
your home.
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3 steps to start getting toxins out of your life
You'll never be able to avoid every chemical out there, but these steps can help you cut down on the most pernicious exposures in your home.[post_ads]1. Go organic. Pesticides used in chemical farming, particularly organophosphates, have been shown to trigger gastrointestinal and heart problems in people with multiple chemical sensitivities. Even if you don't suffer from a chemical intolerance, you're protecting yourself from chemicals linked to hormone disruption, nervous system disorders, and learning problems in children. Also, check your bathroom and beauty products. Here are 5 most toxic beauty products you’re using—and the best organic alternatives.
2. Say no to plastic. Whether it's hormone-disrupting bisphenol A lining your soup can or that vinyl shower curtain in your bathroom, all plastics contain a huge array of dangerous materials, including brain-damaging flame retardants, cancer-causing UV stabilizers, hormone-disrupting antibacterial chemicals, and dozens of other chemicals that are protected as trade secrets that have never been studied for health impacts. All those chemicals can leach out of plastics into your food and water or into household dust that you inhale, so opt for glass tupperware and food containers, rather than plastic. You can aslo find nontoxic home goods, and even mattresses, at many stores.
3. Learn how to make it yourself. The only way to know what's in (and is not) in a product is to make it yourself. Learn how to control pests with things like borax and white vinegar and to make your own homemade cleaning products. Personal care products are loaded with chemicals that have never been tested (and some that have, and have been shown wanting), and they're easy to replace with homemade organic beauty products. For tons of DIY recipes, check out our stories on everything from homemade shampoo (and organic shampoo!) to homemade yogurt.
