FOOD INTOLERANCE NETWORK
FACTSHEET
Fumes & Perfumes
Exposure to fumes and perfumes can affect food sensitive people in a
variety of ways including headaches, lethargy, forgetfulness, respiratory
problems, asthma and behaviour problems in children. Some chemicals act as
sensitisers, that is, exposure can make you more sensitive to other chemicals.
You can't avoid all chemicals, but you can reduce your total load. If this
information seems overwhelming, go slowly. Get your food sorted out first.
Indoor air
When you think air pollution, do you think smokestacks and traffic?
Think again. Invisible chemicals in our homes or offices mean our exposure to
toxic pollutants can be up to 50 times higher inside than it is outdoors.
Ironically, investigation of indoor air quality was started by the
tobacco industry, hoping to divert attention from the dangers of passive
smoking. For the last twenty years, experts have been finding out about the
effects of invisible chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Found
inside buildings, VOCs are associated with sick building syndrome - a range of
symptoms which include eye, skin and throat irritation, headaches, lethargy,
dizziness and nausea - and are known to aggravate asthma.
Thousands of different VOCs have been identified. Carpets, floor tiles,
solvents, paints, varnishes, new furniture, glues and wall coverings all emit a
complex mixture of organic compounds.
Workplace air
Formaldehyde is one of the most common VOCs. In buildings, it is used in
pressed wood products, particleboard and plywood, foam, plastics and
insulation. A West Australian study found concentrations of formaldehyde in
office buildings were within safe levels, but temporary classrooms - which
typically make extensive use of customwood - were more than 25 times the level
of the safety standard. Testing the belief that the effects of VOCs can be
overcome by the use of indoor plants, researchers found you'd need an indoor
rainforest to reduce formaldehyde levels even a little.
Workplace air: what you can do:
everyone is entitled to a safe workplace under the Work Health Act. If your
workplace makes you sick, there are standards to protect you. More information
from Total Information Centre at www.tec.nccnsw.org.au .
From a medical journal
Following severe complaints about air quality in an office building in
Homes
Sick building syndrome isn't confined to offices. New houses can be a
major problem. Homes less than one year old in a
'But it only took them two days to put the kitchen in,' said one woman
whose son suffered headaches and lethargy for months after the installation of
a new kitchen. VOCs in wood, glues, solvents and paints used in houses and
house renovations can gas off for years but are particularly high in the first
six months. Some people are more sensitive to the effects than others.
Homes - what you can do: avoid
new homes and home renovations. Choose non-toxic paints and materials, for
example, Berger Breathe Easy range, Daisy Paints from WA, Bio Paints
(Bridgewater, South Australia, phone 1800 809 448) and www.checnet.org
. If you have to renovate, ventilate. Keep windows open.
Cars
New cars can be even more of a health hazard. An Australian analysis of
three new cars found levels of VOCs nearly 130 times as high as the recommended
Australian exposure limit. The high levels lasted for up to six months.
Cars - what you can do: buy
a car which is already six months old. If you buy a brand new car, ventilate.
Leave the car parked with the doors and windows open in the sun whenever
possible during the first six months, and leave the windows open when driving.
Remember, some people and especially children react to the fumes of petrol at
filling stations.
Carpets
Carpets are the biggest source of dust in a house. A house with hard
floors and a few rugs will have about one-tenth the dust of the same house with
wall-to-wall carpets. As well as dust mites, moulds, pet hair, and cigarette
smoke, carpets are a reservoir for VOCs from cleaning products, solvents,
deodorisers and air fresheners, heavy metals like lead and cadmium, and
pesticides. Toxic chemicals used in the manufacture of new carpets and some
vinyls include tributilin (particularly high in dust-mite treated carpets),
permethrin, brominated flame retardants, and phthalates.
From a medical journal
A mobile unit for environmental quality testing in
Carpets - what you can do: avoid
carpets. Choose ceramic tiles or wooden floors with nontoxic varnishes. If you
are stuck with old carpets, start a clean up program: put in a high quality
doormat, take your shoes off and leave them at the door, use a power-head
vacuum cleaner and vacuum twice a week, for three weeks, make 25 passes a week
over the carpet within a metre of the front door, 16 passes over the areas
which receive a lot of foot traffic and 8 passes over the rest. After that,
halve the passes. If you are an asthmatic, leave the house while someone else
vacuums for you. Do not have your carpet or lounge cleaned with
commercial carpet shampoo.
Furnishings
Regard any new furnishings with suspicion. Furniture made from
particleboard can emit the same VOCs as buildings. A stereo system with
speakers can contain many glues and solvents. New mattresses and children's
waterproof mattress covers have been found to emit chemicals which will affect
the chemically sensitive. Likewise, new computers. Permanent press drapes,
sheets and even clothes contain formaldehyde.
Furnishings - what you can do:
buy good used furniture or leave items like stereos and computers outside to
gas off for a while. When buying a new mattress, explain your concerns. Request
a non-smelly mattress. Some new mattresses are much worse than others. Ask
staff to remove the plastic covering and leave the mattress to gas off for a few
days at the warehouse before it is delivered. Keep windows open at first. Avoid
permanent-press, moth proof or wrinkle free sheets, clothes and drapes. See
also Factsheet on Toxic furniture - effects of flame retardants.
- A nine
year old boy suffered from snoring and sleep apnea. An elimination diet
revealed that a few food additives were responsible - sunset yellow (110),
the bread preservative (282) and MSG (621). When he later developed the
problem while avoiding his food triggers, a new mattress turned out to be
the cause.
- A woman
with long term painful eczema especially on her face found her condition
settled on the elimination diet - but always worsened on the weekend.
Eventually she realised the eczema was aggravated when she sat on her sofa
which had been commercially cleaned. Months later the carpet was cleaned
in her office at work and her eczema flared up again, necessitating a long
period of sick leave.
Personal products and fragrances
At first, researchers thought VOCs were only associated with building
materials. Then they realised that buildings full of people had twice the level
of VOCs. Freshly dry-cleaned clothes emit trichloroethane, the solvent used by
dry-cleaners. Nail polish and even the plastic liners on disposable nappies
have been found to emit chemicals which can affect sensitive people. There are
chemical residues of shampoos and soaps. Pleasant smelling chemicals in
air-fresheners, deodorants and fabric conditioners include volatile chemicals
like limonene, pinene, terpinene and camphor. Some perfumes contain hundreds of
different VOCs. Fragrance sensitivity has been suggested as an occupational
hazard, especially among health workers, metal workers and food handlers. For
example, exposure to scented gravel in cat litter boxes has been implicated in
occupational asthma. Women are more likely to be affected than men.
Personal products - what you can do:
avoid drycleaning. Avoid air fresheners. Avoid aerosol deodorants. Avoid
ironing sprays and fabric conditioners. Buy cloth nappies instead of
disposables. Avoid perfumes. In the
From a medical journal
For unknown reasons, a patient at a medical clinic sprayed perfume in a
medical assistant's face at close range. The assistant had no history or family
history of allergies or asthma other than pollen-induced hayfever. She suffered
an immediate anaphylactic reaction and was admitted to hospital where she
recovered. For months afterwards the assistant needed daily bronchodilator
medication for persistent shortness of breath and has developed a persistent
sensitivity to perfumes. The patient was arrested and charged with assault. Lessenger
JE Occupational acute anaphylactic reaction to assault by perfume spray in the
face J American Board of Family Practitioners 2001;14:137-40
Household cleaners
There are approximately 70,000 chemicals registered for use as cleaning
products. Formaldehyde is just one example. It is a common ingredient in
disinfectants, furniture polishes and water softeners. Some other known toxic
chemicals in household products include methanol, ammonia, chlorine, butyl
cellosolve, cresol, glycols, hydrochloric and phosphoric acids, naphthalene,
PDCBs, perchloroethylene, phenols and TCE (tricholoethylene). Propellants like
propane and butane are irritating to the lungs. The average American household
has 45 aerosol cans. Washing powders and pre-soakers with enzymes are a
well-known cause of adverse reactions including occupational asthma.
Household cleaners - what you can do:
wash windows with water, remove most of the water with a squeegee and then
polish to a shine with a soft clean cloth. No need for toxic window cleaner.
You can do most household cleaning with soda bicarbonate, vinegar, dishwashing
liquid and dishwashing detergent. Soaking clothes overnight in pure soap flakes
will get them just as clean as more toxic detergents. More information: Clean
House, Clean Planet, or www.checnet.org Remember,
some children react to chlorine in swimming pools during swimming lesons.
Pesticides
Chlorpyrifos used to be most commonly used pesticide in the
'Public health is not protected when the urine of virtually every child
in this country contains residues of these [neurotoxic] chemicals.' - from
In Harm's Way: Toxic threats to child development a report by Greater
Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility available at: www.igc.org/psr
Children are are more vulnerable to the effects of chemicals because,
weight for weight, they breathe, drink and eat more, with a consequently higher
update of potentially toxic substances. It is estimated that there are more
than 15,000 neurotoxic synthetic chemicals, almost all developed in the last 50
years.
In
The average
Young children are also most at risk for exposure to pesticides in foods
because they have a proportionally high intake of fruit and in their diet.
Fresh fruit and vegetables, especially apple juice and apples, were the foods
which contained the highest levels of pesticides in a survey of residues in
children's diets.
Pesticides: what you can do:
Wash your hands frequently. Studies
show that many synthetic chemicals vaporise and then settle on indoor surfaces
- counters, tables, clothes, furniture, toys - where they can be readily picked
up by those who touch them. Develop the habit of handwashing in children.
Never assume a pesticide is safe.
Anything designed to disrupt living organisms - plant or animal - may also
prove harmful to humans in unexpected ways.
Limit uses and exposure. Spraying
for pests should never be done routinely or as a first option. With
integrated pest management (IPM), pests are monitored and controlled by less
toxic means. Use toxic chemicals only used as a last resort. Use barriers -
block up crevices - to deny pests entry to houses.
Insects and rodents:
fly swats, mouse traps, sticky fly paper and flyscreens are mechanical means to
deal with insects and rodents.
Mosquitoes:
use screens, wear protective clothing and stay indoors at dusk.
Cockroaches:
seal crevices, clean up foods scraps thoroughly and store food in pest-proof
containers, use sticky baits - not baits with chlorpyrifos. You can use an
insect growth retardant on cupboard hinges.
Fleas: wash
bedding frequently. Here are two natural anti-flea suggestions from the
internet. Slice up two lemons and pour nearly boiling water over them, then
soak overnight. The next day, strain the liquid and pour into a spray bottle.
Spray the dogs liberally and then massage the solution into their coats. If you
are sensitive to inhaled salicylates, use this alternative: wash dog with
low-fragrance shampoo and soap up liberally, leave suds for 8 minutes then
rinse off - this is supposed to kill fleas.
Headlice: this
method worked for us when my kids were little. It combines the drown-the-pests
principle with the known toxicity of soap plus mechanical removal by combing.
Shampoo with your regular shampoo, rinse, shampoo again and leave with a towel
around your child's head for twenty minutes, then rinse. Apply your regular
conditioner and comb well with a white nit comb so you can see what you catch.
Swim or wet hair in the shower, condition and comb nearly every day for two
weeks or until you stop catching anything. Wash bedding and towels in hot water
or dry in dryer.
Garden pests:
use Tom Ogren's recipe for homemade insecticides by mixing three teaspoons of
liquid soap, three teaspoons vegetable oil and four litres of warm water. Add a
few drops of hot pepper sauce if you have warm-blooded pests like rabbits. www.allergyfreegardening.com
Weeds: follow
this recommendation from the US Department of Agriculture. Fill a spray bottle
with household vinegar and spray weeds, preferably on a sunny day.
Food: peel all
fruits and vegetables thickly or buy organic. Limit fruit juice or buy organic.
Filtered water is the best drink.
More information:
visit the entertaining virtual house at the Children's Health and Environment
Coalition website. You can click on each item for articles and nontoxic
alternatives, www.checnet.org
From a medical Journal
Pyrethrin insecticides (eg permethrin) are an extract of the
crysanthemum flower and are considered to be much safer than organophosphates
like chlorpyrifos (Dursban). However, pyrethrins are known to trigger asthma
attacks. This paper reports the case of a 37 year old woman with a 10 year
history of mild asthma, no allergies, no family history of asthma or allergies,
no asthma exacerbations for nearly three years, and no medications. The woman
developed severe shortness of breath a few minutes after beginning to wash her
dog for the first time with a pyrethrin shampoo. Seconds later she developed
gasping respiration, collapsed and could not be revived. Wax PM and Hoffman
RS Fatality associated with inhalation of a pyrethrin shampoo. Clinical
toxicology 1994 32(4), 457-460.
References
Edwards, R. 'When a new house is positively sickening' New Scientist
Newswire, 'Sick Auto Syndrome', New Scientist
Renner, R. 'Curse this house', New Scientist
Immig, J. 'The Toxic Playground', Total Environment Centre, 2000. www.tec.nccnsw.org.au.
Children's Health and Environment Coalition website: www.checnet.org
Pappas GP and others, The respiratory effects of volatile organic
compounds. Int J Occup Environ Health 2000;6(1):1-8.
Colborn T and others, Our Stolen Future, Abacus, 1996, www.ourstolenfuture.org
Anderson, R and Anderson J. Sensory Irritation and multiple chemical
sensitivity, Toxicology and Industrial Health 1999;15:339-345. See abstract
below.
Many of the symptoms described in Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and
multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) resemble the symptoms known to be elicited
by airborne irritant chemicals. Irritation of the eye, nose, and throat is
common to SBS, MCS, and sensory irritation (SI). Difficulty of breathing is
often seen with SBS, MCS, and pulmonary irritation (PI). We therefore asked the
question: can indoor air pollutants cause SI and/or PI? In laboratory testing
in which mice breathed the dilute volatile emissions of air fresheners, fabric
softeners, colognes, and mattresses for 1 h, we measured various combinations
of SI and PI as well as airflow decreases (analogous to asthma attacks). Air
samples taken from sites associated with repeated human complaints of poor air
quality also caused SI, PI, and airflow limitation (AFL) in the mice. In
previous publications, we have documented numerous behavior changes in mice
(which we formally studied with a functional observational battery) after
exposure to product emissions or complaint site air; neurological complaints
are a prominent part of SBS and MCS. All together, these data suggest that many
symptoms of SBS and MCS can be described as SI, PI, AFL, and neurotoxicity. All
these problems can be caused by airborne irritant chemicals such as those
emitted by common commercial products and found in polluted indoor air. With
some chemical mixtures (e.g., emissions of some fabric softeners, disposable
diapers, and vinyl mattress covers) but not others (e.g., emissions of a solid
air freshener), the SI response became larger (2- to 4-fold) when we
administered a series of two or three 1-h exposures over a 24-h period. Since
with each exposure the intensity of the stimulus was constant yet the magnitude
of the response increased, we concluded that there was a change in the
sensitivity of the mice to these chemicals. The response was not a generalized
stress response because it occurred with only some mixtures of irritants and
not others; it is a specific response to certain mixtures of airborne
chemicals. This is one of the few times in MCS research that one can actually
measure both the intensity of the stimulus and the magnitude of the response
and thus be allowed to discuss sensitivity changes. The changing SI response of
the mice might serve as a model of how people develop increasing sensitivity to
environmental pollutants. Intensive study of this system should teach us much
about how people respond to and change sensitivity to airborne irritant
chemicals.
www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info
The information given is not intended as medical advice. Always consult
with your doctor for underlying illness. Before beginning dietary investigation,
consult a dietician with an interest in food intolerance
Update
March 2005.
