Are scented candles triggering migraines for you? Do car air fresheners make you queasy? Ever felt dizzy near the insecticide section in a store?

You might be experiencing the symptoms of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), an increasingly common condition in our toxin-laden world.

Dive into this episode to unravel the intricacies of MCS. Gain insights on how to purify your surroundings, reduce the toxic strain on your body, and discover healthier ways to introduce pleasing aromas to your living spaces and self. Embrace a life where fragrance doesn't come at the cost of well-being.

Read the full transcript:

0:01
This is Laura Lummer, the breast cancer recovery coach. I'm a healthy lifestyle coach, a clinical Ayurveda specialist, a personal trainer, and I'm also a breast cancer survivor. In this podcast, we talk about healthy thinking and mindfulness practices, eating well, moving your body for health and longevity. And we'll also hear from other breast cancer survivors who have reengaged with life, and have incredible stories to share. This podcast is your go to resource for getting back to life after breast cancer. Welcome to Episode 27 of the breast cancer recovery coach, I am Laura Lummer. And you're listening to please unplug that air freshener. multiple chemical sensitivities are for real. And today we're going to talk about what multiple chemical sensitivities are. But first of all, I want to thank you so much for your continued support of this podcast. Thank you to everyone who's been leaving reviews and giving stars and taking the time to do that. I know we're pressed for time. And you really do have to make the effort to go out of your way. So it really means a lot to me, I appreciate that you're doing that. And for those of you who do listen to the show, if you haven't yet left a review or given a couple stars to the show, well, hopefully more than a couple. I hope that you can take the time to do that because the more ratings we get the breast cancer recovery coach, then the easier it is to move up in rankings and to be found by other people who may need to hear the information on this show. So thank you again, and if you do get something out of it, hopefully you'll take the time to give us a rating today. So I do want to start the show off with a personal note before we get started on the chemical sensitivities. If you listen to episode 25 on young survivors, you heard me interview Janelle generis and Janelle was generous enough to squeeze in that interview. During a time when her schedule was very busy because she was getting prepared to undergo a surgery to replace one of the implants from her original reconstructive surgery, she had been having some issues and some pain was something that's been going wrong with that implant. And so when they went in to fix it, I'm sorry to say very, very sorry to say that during her procedure, her surgeon was concerned by the appearance of some of the tissue that he saw. And after the post surgical pathology and several other diagnostic tests and scans were done, she was diagnosed with recurrence of breast cancer. So I'd ask anyone who's listening to this episode to please send Janelle your positive thoughts, your prayers over the next few months as she undergoes treatment for this recurrence. I am a really big believer in the power of positive energy and the synergy of having a lot of people concentrating on one positive outcome. And Janelle, if you listen to the show, I'm sure you could tell in her interview that she is a force to be reckoned with. She is a strong, she's full of energy. She's young, she's enthusiastic, and she really is one of those people who just lights up a room when she walks in. So I hope that you will come together with me in support of her swift remission and recovery, and just send some good energy her way. Thank you for that. So today, we are going to talk about multiple chemical sensitivities, and some of the steps that you can take to help yourself if you think that you're experiencing this, or steps that you can take to avoid having multiple chemical sensitivities if you don't already have it. And we're also going to talk about ways that you can replace some of the toxins that lead to this condition with safer, more natural and effective products. So have you ever had the experience where you got into someone else's car or into a cab or an Uber, and the air freshener was so intense that you felt nauseous or you started to get a headache, or maybe you went into a friend's house and in an attempt to make her house warm and cozy and welcoming. She has scented candles, lit and burning in every room in the house. And as soon as you walk in, you're hit with a nice scent. But at the same time, this overwhelming clammy feeling brain fog even if you're an asthmatic, even sometimes restriction in the lungs. Or even if you sit next to someone at work or on a train or god forbid you're stuck on an airplane next to someone with the smell of perfume or aftershave or shampoo that literally makes you sick. Has this ever happened to you? Because it has happened to me and in fact, a recent experience that I had is what prompted me to talk about this on this podcast. I teach lunchtime yoga at some local businesses as a part of their corporate wellness programs are Just as a benefit to their employees. And the other day, when I got to one of these companies to teach a class, someone had plugged in some type of scented air freshener. And it was so overpowering that I felt nauseous and clammy. And by the time I left the class, I had a headache and I just felt overall like crap. Now, before I had cancer, I did have sensitivity to some chemicals like paint or insecticides, really strong things, I would react to them more so than maybe the people around me and just feel very nauseous, even hair colors and things like that hair dyes. But since going through chemotherapy, that sensitivity, especially to scented products has increased tremendously. Now with the rise in companies that market scented products like plugins, and Maltese and scented candles, and with a deluge of new fragrance chemicals in the marketplace, more and more frequently, people are having negative reactions to these products. And it's happening so much that it's become known, and it is being diagnosed as multiple chemical sensitivity. And I'll call it MCs. Now, if you ask anyone who knows me, they'll tell you that I love things that smell good. I'm a Lushy through and through. And that means not that I drink a lot, but that I'm seriously obsessed with products from a company called lush, which is a handmade bath, skincare and cosmetic products company. So I'll get into the difference between loving and enjoying fantastic smelling products, and using fragrance products that trigger chemical sensitivities in just a few minutes. So if you've never heard of MCs, multiple chemical sensitivity, or if you don't experience yourself, let me give you some insight and some statistics on this. In an article titled national prevalence and effects of multiple chemical sensitivity, which was published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in March of 2018, the author of that study and Steinman published her findings, as she looked at 11 137 randomly selected individuals. And what she found was that there was a national prevalence in the United States of more than 12% of individuals who have been medically diagnosed with MCs, that's a three fold increase over the span of just 10 years to similar studies that looked at this. The study also found a national prevalence of more than 25% of people self reported that they had chemical sensitivity, which is a two time increase over the past 10 years to similar studies. So if you're one of those individuals who starts to feel crummy, just walking down the grocery aisle that that has cleansers in the grocery store like I do, you're not crazy, and you're not alone. According to Johns Hopkins, some of the symptoms reported by individuals who experience MCs are headaches, rashes, asthma, most muscle and joint aches, fatigue, memory loss and confusion. And that's just a few of them. The symptoms can range in severity and some can be very debilitating, depending on the person. If you look into MCs, and I hope that you will, you'll find that there are people who have even had to quit their jobs because of the effects of fragrances or other chemicals in the workplace and how sick it makes them.

8:35
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is such a growing issue that even the American Lung Association encourages fragrance free workplaces and schools because it does trigger respiratory difficulty. And you can find sample policies for implementing fragrance free workplaces or fragrance free school environments on their website. I'll even post a link to one of those sample policies in the show notes for this episode. Also in the research by Anne Steinman, she found that more than 50% of people with MCs experienced respiratory distress when they were exposed to fragrance to consumer products. 50% also experienced migraine headaches, 38% experienced skin problems and nearly 32% actually had asthma attacks. So what is causing this trend and why are we just hearing about it now? Where's this coming from? Well, Walter crinan, who's a naturopathic physician and a professor at Southwest College of naturopathic medicine, and also the author of clean green and lean says that our bodies accumulate toxic loads in our day to day lives as we're exposing ourselves to chemicals everywhere from our carpet, to our personal care products, and that it just comes to a point that he refers to in his book as the straw that breaks the camel's back, where you have so much toxic overload that your body just begins to react with allergies and other negative symptoms that we don't have like the ones I just listed a few minutes ago. Now, do you think that that load that toxic load on our bodies could be especially high if we're exposed to radiation, chemotherapy or other drug therapies? Because the studies show that it can be high doses of chemical exposure that begin to create this multiple chemical sensitivity in a person? Well, I didn't find studies on any correlations. But it makes sense if you consider the findings from the study by the National Academy of Sciences, the study is titled considerations for the diagnosis of chemical sensitivity. And in this publication, it suggests that a person's total pollutant load has to be considered. And this includes physical and emotional factors along with any toxic exposures they've had, and any biological issues that the person may be dealing with, like infections, or parasites or any kind of disease. This study says that these factors combined with an individual's diet and their unique biochemistry will determine how much detoxification their bodies can handle from pollutants. And therefore how intense the reaction to chemical exposures will be. It goes on to say that not only do your genetics play a part in this biochemical sensitivity, but your unique reaction is influenced by toxic body burden, get this that you experienced as a fetus, and your present toxic body burden, and your present state of nutrition when you're exposed to whatever chemicals might trigger this sensitivity. So I think that's fascinating. And it's one reason why you should never underestimate the power of good nutrition and the importance of keeping processed food and all those additives out of your diet to lessen your chemical burden. But what I also love about that is that we now know through science, that your body right now today is being influenced by the state of your mother's body when you were in her womb. And I love this because it reinforces the I invented concept of how your body's energy is influenced by the state in which it was born, and what was happening in your parents bodies at the point of conception. And it just fascinates me whenever Western science validates what has been known in Ayurveda for 1000s of years. And I will go into any detail on this show. But we're also saying that the state of your mother's body while you're in the womb can have a huge influence on coronary artery disease and diabetes later in life. Some really cool stuff to think about. So what can you do if you're someone who suffers from MCs? Well, I first want to clarify something having multiple chemical sensitivities does not mean that you don't like things that smell that have fragrance, like the sense of night blooming Jasmine or chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven, doesn't mean that at all. What it means is that you are having a reaction to chemicals, volatile chemicals that produce artificial sense. Things like phalates styrene resorcinol These are commonly used chemicals in fragrances that are known scientifically proven to be endocrine disruptors or to affect the way that our hormones work in our bodies. chemicals like pirating, benzo feenphone known cancer causing carcinogens. And I could go on and on because there are about 3000 different chemicals used commonly in the fragrance industry. This is according to the International fragrance Association, and their document the list of transparencies and chemicals. And you can find this list on women's voices for the earth.org along with a downloadable PDF called unpacking the fragrance industry. This is a safety report that goes into a lot of detail on the fragrance industry. And again when I'm saying fragrance, don't just think of perfume. We're not just talking about perfume, but anything scented and this can be a laundry soap, dish soap, dishwasher soap, things that you polish your furniture with, of course scented candles and scented multiples. Think of anything that has a fragrance soaps that you wash your hands with all of these things can contain these chemicals. So I'll post the links to these resources on my website for this podcast for those of you who want more detailed information because these documents do go into a lot of information on what these chemicals are, what products you might find them in and what they're known to create, whether it's cancer or some other kind Have disruption in the body. So here's what you can do if you have MCs. eliminate as many toxins from your environment as possible, you can check the labels on products. However many chemicals that are used to create fragrance are not required to be listed on the labels. Most of the time, you'll just see the word fragrance listed, because companies can use this labeling loophole to protect their proprietary formulas, which I completely understand. However, in my opinion, if you have a potential toxin in your formula, I think that ingredient at the very least should have to be listed. But then I don't run the world. So what can we do? What you can do is look for products that do list all of their ingredients, these are generally going to be safer for you because the manufacturer has nothing to hide. A good resource for some non toxic home cleaning supplies is thrive market.com. There's also method home.com, which has product lines for the home and the body. And each of the products that they list on their website has this comprehensive list of ingredients with it. And in this list, you can see what that ingredient is used for why it's in that product. There's also Mrs. Meyers Clean Day, which offers quality cleaning products filled with essential oils. And again, it gives a comprehensive list of each ingredient used in their product line with an explanation for why it's in there. Essential oils are also great resources, Flora cobia. My go to essential oil company has a beautiful line of oils and serums for skincare along with valuable resources on using essential oils to care for your body. beauty counter is a tremendous resource I've talked about many times for safer and effective skincare, and especially for safe sunscreens. And they do definitely have a focus on not adding synthetic fragrances. Now if you've never used essential oils as cleaning agents, or you just don't use them in your day to day lives, but especially as cleaning agents, you should know that they don't leave oil everywhere, so the name might be a little misleading if you're not familiar with them. Essential oils have powerful anti bacterial, anti microbial antifungal properties. And remember that essential oils are the immune system of the aromatic plants that they're extracted from. So their job is to kill outside invaders and to keep the plant healthy. They're called essential because they're the very essence of the plant. Essential oils are wonderful to use for home fragrance. So you can blend different oils together to get the sense that you like and while you diffuse them. Your home and your respiratory system are also getting the health benefits of these oils. Contrary to other home fragrances that we talked about with chemicals in them that can trigger respiratory distress. I keep oil diffusers running in my house to support my asthmatic kids respiratory health. by diffusing oils like Tulsi which is also known as holy basil. I'll add eucalyptus Cypress even sometimes peppermint, so you can't have fragrance both in your home and in your body without the use of harmful chemicals. You do need to educate yourself though. Essential oils are very powerful and most of them should only be applied to the skin with a base oil so that it prevents irritation. So make sure that you read up on what you're going to use or that you refer to the expertise of someone who works with essential oils. You also want to be sure that you use a reputable resource when you purchase essential oils, especially if you're going to put them on your skin. These oils can often be very expensive to produce. And in order to keep the price point low enough to sell a high volume of product. Sometimes manufacturers will adulterate these oils by adding either lower quality oils, alcohols or even solvents, which is exactly what we're trying to eliminate from our environment. Some of the most commonly adulterated essential oils are sandalwood and Rose because of their high price to get a really good quality pure oil. rose essential oil can actually cost up to $250 a DRAM and a DRAM is less than a quarter of an ounce. It's like the size of one of those sample perfume vials that you get. When you go to the beauty counter right in the department store. It can take up to 60 roses to produce one drop of rose essential oil through Steam distillation. So you can imagine how much work and cost goes into growing that many roses. If you've ever grown roses like I've attempted to do, it takes a lot of effort and time and money to get those things to bloom beautifully and to get a lot of blossoms on them. So also popular oils like lavender, peppermint, thyme, oregano. These are some really commonly used super popular oils, and they're commonly adulterated to keep the prices low because they're sold in such high volume. So if you've tried using essential oils, and you're sitting here listening to me saying no way I reacted to them anyway, you might want to double check to see the quality of that oil, considered the resource for it and consider whether or not it could have been adulterated. Or maybe it's even listed as having some additives in it.

20:33
So I can remember a time when organic produce just wasn't even a thing. You never heard the term it, you didn't even have that option there just wasn't organic, they were just producing the produce department. And then as the awareness of the harm that could be caused to us by pesticides grew, the demand for organic foods also grew. At first, you really had to look for those products. Remember, you had to go what was termed a quote unquote health food store if you want to find anything organic. But now you can find organic selections in nearly every grocery store, at least you can here in Southern California, organic products are everywhere. They're at Ralph's. Kroger even has their own line of organic products in totality, not just produce, but products throughout the store. And hopefully, as we support more natural products, and the use of essential oils, or natural, non toxic chemicals for home and body care, we'll also see an increase in the availability of safer products for us. We all know that the almighty dollar drives business trends, and each time we make a decision as consumers we influence that trend. So if you experience MCs or if you don't want to experience NCS, we really have to consider where we place our dollars when we make purchases. So if you do experience multiple chemical sensitivity, or if you have resources for safer, more natural products that do help detoxify our environment, I'd love to hear about it. You can find me on Facebook and Twitter as Laura Lummer on Instagram as the breast cancer recovery coach. So please look for me and let me know your thoughts, share your thoughts with me and become a part of our community. If you haven't gone to my website and downloaded my free book, the six habits of healthy happy breast cancer survivors. I hope that you'll do that check out the website. I know that I'm currently working on some downloadable programs, I do have some openings for one on one coaching right now. If you're in a place in your life where you need that additional support to try to create your healthiest lifestyle, you can contact me directly through my website, Laura lummer.com I hope you download the book and enjoy it and I hope that you do become a part of the community of thriving breast cancer survivors not just surviving ones. So clean up your environment, throw out those chemicals and I'll talk to you again in two weeks and until then remember to let your lifestyle be your medicine.

23:06
You've put your courage to the test laid all your doubts your mind is clearer than before. Your heart is full and wanting more your futures Give it all you know has you been waiting on

23:36
this is your this is your

23:55
this