The Good News of 2025

Let’s end 2025 by celebrating a couple of pieces of good news in the education and advocacy department.

The first event I want to highlight took place in June, when, at its annual meeting, the American Medical Association (AMA) formally addressed the issue of fragrance sensitivity. The resolution they passed (H-135.902) did the following:

1.      Recognized that for individuals with fragrance sensitivity and related disorders, environmental exposures have the potential to substantially limit major life activities

2.      Promoted the wide adoption of fragrance-free policies, by healthcare facilities, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations

3.     Encouraged research on fragrance sensitivity, in order to determine the impact of fragrances on health, improve diagnostic tools, and evaluate the impact of fragrance-free interventions

4.     Supported better labeling and disclosure of fragrance ingredients in personal care products, cosmetics, and drugs

It remains to be seen how much impact this resolution will have, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. If nothing else, individuals with chemical intolerances may be able to use it in their attempts to advocate for safe healthcare access in their own contexts and environments. It seems to me that theoretically, it could be used to advocate for safer churches, as well, since the resolution mentions nonprofit organizations.

The second piece of good news took effect on October 1. At that time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave Gulf War Illness (GWI) an official medical diagnosis code. This is obviously good news for veterans with Gulf War Illness, but it may also be a step toward the validation of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). Here’s why:

Dr. Beatrice Golomb led the effort to get GWI recognized. For many years, her research has concluded that both GWI and MCS are caused by chemical exposures which cause oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. She also believes that some people are genetically more susceptible to adverse effects from chemical exposures.

In an article published in Scientific Reports in July of this year, Golomb reported that variations in the SOD2 gene significantly predicted chemical sensitivity. She states clearly that “this supports chemical sensitivity as a physiological, not a psychogenic condition.” Because of Golomb’s work with both GWI and MCS, and her focus on their similiarities, I can’t help but see the acknowledgement of GWI as an official, biological illness as a positive sign for both communities.

I’m very grateful to Dr. Golomb for her work, and to all who were involved in the process that led to the AMA passing its resolution. Change is slow, but we can go into 2026 with the knowledge that it’s possible.

Red Alert: Generational Poisoning

A couple of months ago I wrote a post entitled Do It For the Grandkids discussing how epigenetic changes caused by chemical exposures can have effects that are transmitted for generations. I hadn't planned to revisit the topic so soon, but the issue keeps coming to my attention in various ways, and it's important enough that I feel inclined to address it again.

An article entitled Red Alert for Humanity: Chemical Damage Can be Inherited by Offspring Through Unlimited Generations highlights a study in which exposure to a common fungicide caused neurological and behavioral changes that were passed on indefinitely. I don’t consider myself much of an alarmist by nature, but the “Red Alert” label does seem to fit. This is serious business. The article makes the following points:

• People are being affected by chemicals to which they were never exposed. We are a product of our ancestors' exposures, and future generations will be affected by what we are encountering today.

• The conventional wisdom has been that damaging effects of chemical exposures are limited to the generation that experienced them. This is proving not to be the case.

• The transgenerational transference of the effects of chemical exposures appears to continue indefinitely. The human genetic code is being permanently altered.

• The study's lead researcher believes that cumulative effects of chemical toxins may be a key contributing factor to the rise of diseases and conditions like autism, obesity and infertility.

This study and many others link epigenetic changes not only to health, but to behavioral effects. When gene expression is altered by the environment, growth and activity of neurons in the brain can also be altered. This can, in turn, affect behavior. Some of the attributes that have been linked to epigenetic differences include impulsivity, risk-taking, disinhibition, anxiety levels, stress response, learning, attention, eating disorders, addiction risk, and memory. Failing to take the issue of chemical toxicity seriously can have wide-ranging and extremely long-lasting effects. The sirens are blaring and the red lights are flashing. Let's pay attention.

Do It for Your Future Grandkids

There are many reasons that the issue of chemical toxicity tends not to be taken very seriously by most people. Perhaps the most natural and common reason is that the issue doesn't feel personal. People don't associate their health symptoms with chemical exposures and generally assume they're handling everyday toxins just fine.

Yes, there are certainly biological differences in the way people's bodies process chemicals, and some people do have stronger detoxification systems than others. I truly believe, however, that everyone alive today is being affected by chemicals in the everyday environment to one degree or another. We're also evidently affecting the next couple of generations as well.

Chemicals can impact the human body in a number of different ways. They can directly affect organs and systems, they can mutate genes, or they can change the way genes express themselves. The latter are known as epigenetic changes and, like mutations, can be passed on to future generations.

A recent article entitled How Your Great Grandmother’s Chemical Exposures May Affect You discussed a study in which exposure to common chemicals was associated with ovarian diseases that lasted for three generations. We've long known that when a pregnant mother is exposed to certain chemicals that her child may be affected. It's becoming increasingly clear, however, that an exposure may not only affect her child, but her future grandchildren, and even their children as well. (There is also a growing awareness that a father's exposure to chemicals before a child is conceived can have significant implications. A World Health Organization publication, for instance, notes that "exposure of either father or mother to pesticides before conception . . . has been associated with an increased risk of fetal death, spontaneous abortion and early childhood cancer.")

An article entitled Epigenetics: Chemicals Turn Genes On and Off at the Wrong Times notes that epigenetic changes have been linked to a wide range of diseases and conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, breast cancer, Alzheimer's disease, prostate cancer, Parkinson's disease, learning disabilities and asthma. This is serious business. It's easy for those of us past childbearing age to think the issue isn't relevant for us, but the truth is that our product choices affect others.. The personal care products we choose and the cleaning supplies, bug sprays and other products we use in our homes and churches may cause significant harm to the people around us and to individuals yet unborn. We are interconnected. Our product choices matter.

How Does Someone Become Chemically Sensitive?

It seems likely that chemical sensitivity has a variety of etiologies, similar to the way that nausea may be caused by such diverse factors as food poisoning, chemotherapy, and pregnancy. At the heart of the matter, however, is generally a problem with the body's detoxification system. When people are unable to fully process toxins they accumulate and cause damage and symptoms.

Despite the determined efforts of some to paint MCS as a psychological disorder, there is no shortage of evidence proving it to be a very real physical condition. For instance:

• Animal models point to a physical cause. Studies show that animals exposed to repeated low levels of chemicals over a period of time can become extremely reactive and sensitive to minute traces of those chemicals.

• People who became sick after exposure to certain chemicals in Operation Desert Storm were found to have lower amounts of a specific enzyme than others who had higher amounts and weren’t sickened.

• Women with a genetic profile involving two genes associated with detoxifying toxic compounds were found to be over 18 times more likely to have MCS compared to women with a different genetic makeup. Women with variations in just one of the implicated genes were also more likely to develop chemical sensitivities.

• Genetic abnormalities can themselves be caused by chemicals. Many chemicals are capable of mutating genes or turning them on or off.

• Lab tests of some MCS sufferers reveal abnormal activity in one or more of the eight enzymes involved in heme production. (Heme is the primary component of hemoglobin in red blood cells.)

• Nasal abnormalities consistent with chronic inflammation have been found in patients with MCS. Damaged mucosa enhances absorption of inhaled chemicals, and often permits rapid entry into the brain.

• Testing often shows people with chemical sensitivities to be “pathological detoxifiers” in which Phase I of liver detoxification is faster than Phase II, leading to a buildup of toxic metabolites in the body.

• Groups of independent researchers have found distinct abnormalities of brain metabolism in people with MCS. The neurotoxic pattern is very different from the abnormalities reported in psychiatric disease.

• Tests measuring blood flow to the brain (SPECT scans) show differences between MCS patients and normal controls. MCS patients demonstrate severe deterioration when they are challenged by chemicals in concentrations found in everyday situations.

Certain people may be more likely than others to become chemically sensitive, but no one is immune to the danger. We all have finite bodies capable of detoxifying a limited chemical burden, and it's impossible to know who might be one exposure away from exceeding that limit. Although it's wise to reduce and eliminate all chemical exposures, some substances are especially likely to set people on the road to MCS. These are known as "sensitizers." Pesticides and formaldehyde (found in many personal care, cleaning, building, and furniture products) are known sensitizers that are very important to avoid.

People with chemical sensitivities need your help to function in this world. Those without chemical sensitivities need your help to stay that way. You, yourself, may be one chemical exposure away from developing MCS. Reducing chemical exposures is the right thing to do for everyone's sake.

For more information:
http://www.environmentalhealth.ca/Ross2000.html
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041008X99987033 http://www.nettally.com/prusty/case-control%20study.pdf http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/epigenetics-workshop http://www.mcsrr.org/factsheets/porphyri.html http://www.mcsbeaconofhope.com/meggsa2.html http://www.digitalnaturopath.com/treat/T355089.html