I've been working for the Census Bureau for the past couple of weeks. I worked on the 1990 and 2000 Census taking, so I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into and didn't expect to have any major problems with the work. My biggest concern was with the three full days of training. Something about sitting in an enclosed space with twenty-some-odd other people for eight hours a day was enough to make me question the wisdom of it all. As it turned out, it really wasn't too bad.
Census workers (enumerators) are divided up into crews with a crew leader who helps with the training and to whom we have to report every day or two. When the crew leader called me a couple of weeks ago to remind me of the training days, I told him about my MCS. I suggested that I would sit at the back of the room near a door and I would need to not be too close to other people. He said he had three people in the last training session who were also sensitive so he would do what he could to make the environment safe for me.
When I got to the first day of training, the room was pretty packed with twenty-four of us and no windows. However, the room did have an outside door, which the crew leader was willing to have slightly ajar for most of the session. I initially sat at the back, but there was a man nearby with some aftershave on that was causing a problem so I moved closer to the door. The crew leader had everyone introduce themselves, so when it was my turn I briefly explained the problem of my chemical sensitivity and what they could all do to help. The crew leader expressed his support and told me to move anywhere in the room that would feel safe for me or tell him what else could be done to accommodate my needs.
During the breaks that first day I had several people ask me about chemical sensitivity. Almost everyone knew someone else with MCS, and everyone who spoke to me was sympathetic and supportive. On the second day, I could detect no fragrance on anyone. So all in all, it turned out to be a good experience and I think I was able to educate some people. What was most surprising to me was that no one questioned the validity of my illness or complained about coming fragrance free. The Census crew leader and office staff who came asked me several times if I was alright and if there was anything else they could do to help. I have since learned that the U.S. Census Bureau has a fragrance-free policy in place for their permanent offices, so perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised. That kind of good surprise I'll take any day.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Water
Today is World Water Day (who knew?). For most of my life I didn't really think much about water. You just turn on the tap and get a drink, right? That's how it is if you live here the good old US of A, but in much of the world, drinking water is not taken for granted. According to a little news snippet I ran across today, more people in the world die every year from water-born illnesses (drinking unsafe water) than from violence. And those of us with chemical sensitivities know that even in the US, not all water is safe for us.
For example, chlorinated water is really a problem for me. I avoid it whenever possible. That pretty much precludes living on a public water system. But even with our own well, I know that our water is full of antibiotics, other prescription drugs and pesticides, because that's what other people flush down their toilets and what settles into the ground water from the farm fields around us. So we have our own filtering system, first, where the water comes into the house (who wants to take a shower in someone else's drugs?) and second, at the kitchen sink, where we get all of our drinking water. And, though the environmentalist in me balks at the thought of it, I drink only bottled water when I am travelling (and not the cheap stuff that was obtained from a municipal water source).
So, do you know what's in your water?
For example, chlorinated water is really a problem for me. I avoid it whenever possible. That pretty much precludes living on a public water system. But even with our own well, I know that our water is full of antibiotics, other prescription drugs and pesticides, because that's what other people flush down their toilets and what settles into the ground water from the farm fields around us. So we have our own filtering system, first, where the water comes into the house (who wants to take a shower in someone else's drugs?) and second, at the kitchen sink, where we get all of our drinking water. And, though the environmentalist in me balks at the thought of it, I drink only bottled water when I am travelling (and not the cheap stuff that was obtained from a municipal water source).
So, do you know what's in your water?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
A Lazy Blogger
There are about a half dozen blogs that I visit regularly. These are the blogs that I know will have new and interesting posts almost every day of the week, sometimes more than once a day. These blogs vary in their content but they all have one thing in common--they're group blogs. That is, they have several people who take turns posting (permabloggers) and they often add others (guest bloggers). Alas, Breathez is not a group blog. It's just me, trying to change the world, one blog post at a time. And, frankly, some days I just don't feel like changing the world. Some days I just want to crawl into my own little hole and pretend the world doesn't exist. And then there are those days (many of them) when I'm just plain lazy.
So this is my (hopefully) one and only apology to the blogging universe for not posting on a more regular basis. I AM passionate about social justice, especially for people with disabilities in general and MCS in particular. And if there are children involved, well, you'd better get out of my way. But that kind of passion is hard to maintain 24/7. My heart wouldn't be able to stand it, and, if I get riled about every little thing, how are people to know what's REALLY important to me?
So I'm still going to continue blogging, but maybe less often, because I'm tired and need to reserve my energy for some things coming up in my life--like working for the Census Bureau (because I really do believe that every one deserves to be represented in this great country and it's something I can do mostly outdoors) and taking a month-long trip across the country in May to visit family and see where my foremothers trod, not to mention helping a daughter and family move during the summer and playing with my grandchildren (including the three more due in the fall). There's just so much I want to do.
So this is my (hopefully) one and only apology to the blogging universe for not posting on a more regular basis. I AM passionate about social justice, especially for people with disabilities in general and MCS in particular. And if there are children involved, well, you'd better get out of my way. But that kind of passion is hard to maintain 24/7. My heart wouldn't be able to stand it, and, if I get riled about every little thing, how are people to know what's REALLY important to me?
So I'm still going to continue blogging, but maybe less often, because I'm tired and need to reserve my energy for some things coming up in my life--like working for the Census Bureau (because I really do believe that every one deserves to be represented in this great country and it's something I can do mostly outdoors) and taking a month-long trip across the country in May to visit family and see where my foremothers trod, not to mention helping a daughter and family move during the summer and playing with my grandchildren (including the three more due in the fall). There's just so much I want to do.
Monday, March 8, 2010
International Women's Day
Happy International Women's Day to everyone. Today people throughout the world are celebrating women. In the United States, the entire month of March is celebrated as National Women's History Month. As an amateur historian who specializes in women's history, this is truly right up my alley. Traditionally, women have been left out of much of written history, so finding their stories can be a challenge, but the rewards for searching are amazing. We have so much to learn from the women of the past. Their stories are an essential part of our own and of those of future generations.
For more information on women's history, go to the website of the National Women's History Project. I especially like the following quote, found on this website:
Each time a girl opens a book and reads a womanless history, she learns she is worth less.
Myra Pollack Sadker
For more information on women's history, go to the website of the National Women's History Project. I especially like the following quote, found on this website:
Each time a girl opens a book and reads a womanless history, she learns she is worth less.
Myra Pollack Sadker
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Church Update
As many of you know, our local church leaders decided some time ago to establish a "fragrance-free goal" for all of the LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) buildings in the Helena, Montana area (including Townsend, Boulder, Lincoln and White Sulphur Springs). In this area the Church owns four buildings and rents two smaller ones. I blogged about this as it was happening but several people have asked me for an update. So here's where we are now.
Each building now has permanent signs on every entrance door asking people who enter to please be fragrance-free. These signs were made with the plastic lettering that adheres directly to the glass and sit right at eye-level, so they are easy to read and quite obvious to any adult entering the buildings.
LDS buildings typically have what is referred to as an overflow area at the back of the chapel which is a buffer zone between the chapel and the cultural hall (gym) behind. Large folding (accordion style) doors separate this area from the chapel and can be opened when seating in the chapel is full. This area has separate entrance doors from the foyers on either side of the chapel. It was decided that though the goal is for the entire building to be fragrance-free, the overflow area would be particularly designated as fragrance-free. It was assumed that there would always be some people who either forget or don't know to come fragrance-free, so these people would be asked to sit well away from the overflow area. We now have permanent signs (made and sent to us by the Church building department in Salt Lake City) on the walls next to the doors to the overflow areas in all of our buildings. These signs ask that no one who is wearing any type of fragrance sit in the overflow areas.
"So how is all this working out?" some have asked. Actually, it is working pretty well. One thing that has helped is to have the large accordion doors to the overflow areas stay closed until just a minute before the meeting is to start. For the most part, that keeps people out of the overflow area unless they want to sit in the fragrance-free area. Of course, there are always stragglers (latecomers) who end up sitting in the back, but I have been able to sit in the overflow area (albeit in a chair off to the side in the very back corner) without any difficulty since the beginning of this year. It is SO much nicer than last year, when I was sitting alone in a classroom listening to the audio transmission of the service. There was one Sunday when the meeting started and no one had opened the big door, so I had to get up and opened it myself. It was very noisy and everyone stared at me as I did it, but I haven't had to do it myself since then.
We certainly have made progress, and I am appreciative of all the people who have worked to make it possible for those of us with chemical sensitivities to attend church meetings (we have identified at least 30 LDS Church members in this area). After our Sacrament service, we have auxiliary meetings for children and adults. I have not been able to attend these meetings safely, though I have tried a couple of times. The classrooms are just too small and there are still a few people who don't seem to really understand what fragrance-free means. However, I am not complaining. I may try to attend these other meetings again during the summer, when I can sit by an open window, but for now, I am very happy to be able to sit in Sacrament Meeting with the rest of the congregation. Education is an ongoing process. Leaders continue to remind people to come fragrance-free, and I take every opportunity to define that term in discussions I have with people. So we're getting there, and that's a good thing.
Each building now has permanent signs on every entrance door asking people who enter to please be fragrance-free. These signs were made with the plastic lettering that adheres directly to the glass and sit right at eye-level, so they are easy to read and quite obvious to any adult entering the buildings.
LDS buildings typically have what is referred to as an overflow area at the back of the chapel which is a buffer zone between the chapel and the cultural hall (gym) behind. Large folding (accordion style) doors separate this area from the chapel and can be opened when seating in the chapel is full. This area has separate entrance doors from the foyers on either side of the chapel. It was decided that though the goal is for the entire building to be fragrance-free, the overflow area would be particularly designated as fragrance-free. It was assumed that there would always be some people who either forget or don't know to come fragrance-free, so these people would be asked to sit well away from the overflow area. We now have permanent signs (made and sent to us by the Church building department in Salt Lake City) on the walls next to the doors to the overflow areas in all of our buildings. These signs ask that no one who is wearing any type of fragrance sit in the overflow areas.
"So how is all this working out?" some have asked. Actually, it is working pretty well. One thing that has helped is to have the large accordion doors to the overflow areas stay closed until just a minute before the meeting is to start. For the most part, that keeps people out of the overflow area unless they want to sit in the fragrance-free area. Of course, there are always stragglers (latecomers) who end up sitting in the back, but I have been able to sit in the overflow area (albeit in a chair off to the side in the very back corner) without any difficulty since the beginning of this year. It is SO much nicer than last year, when I was sitting alone in a classroom listening to the audio transmission of the service. There was one Sunday when the meeting started and no one had opened the big door, so I had to get up and opened it myself. It was very noisy and everyone stared at me as I did it, but I haven't had to do it myself since then.
We certainly have made progress, and I am appreciative of all the people who have worked to make it possible for those of us with chemical sensitivities to attend church meetings (we have identified at least 30 LDS Church members in this area). After our Sacrament service, we have auxiliary meetings for children and adults. I have not been able to attend these meetings safely, though I have tried a couple of times. The classrooms are just too small and there are still a few people who don't seem to really understand what fragrance-free means. However, I am not complaining. I may try to attend these other meetings again during the summer, when I can sit by an open window, but for now, I am very happy to be able to sit in Sacrament Meeting with the rest of the congregation. Education is an ongoing process. Leaders continue to remind people to come fragrance-free, and I take every opportunity to define that term in discussions I have with people. So we're getting there, and that's a good thing.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Chemicals in Fragrances
Lisa Frank at Enviroblog reported last week that the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) has published a list of ingredients that its members use to make consumer products. Of the 3,163 chemicals listed, 1 in 21 earned a "high" hazard score in the EWG's (Environmental Working Group) cosmetics database, 1 in 6 rated at least a "moderate" hazard score and 26 of them scored a perfect 10 (the highest score). Here's a list of those 26:
Aniline
BHA
Cyclohexanone
Dibutyl phthalate
Diethylhexyl phthalate
Hydroquinone
MIBK
Musk ambrette
Nano titanium dioxide
Nano zinc oxide (20-60nm)
Octoxynol-6
Octoxynol-7
Octoxynol-11
Octoxynol-12
Octosynol-13
Octoxynol-20
Octoxynol-25
Octoxynol-30
Octoxynol-33
Octoxynol-40
Octoxynol-70
PEG-3 Sorbitan oleate
PEG-6 Sorbitan oleate
Resorcinol
Styrene
Now, these names mean nothing to me, but I do trust the EWG. Lisa Frank pointed out in her blog post that phthalates are "potent hormone distruptors linked to reproductive system birth defects in baby boys," and octoxynols and nonoxynols also "break down into persistent hormone disruptors." Musk ambrette, which is toxic to the skin, brain and testes, has been banned from body care products by the European Union, but is apparently still in use in some fragranced products.
These chemicals may be present in any personal care and household products that contain added fragrance, and manufacturers don't have to list them as ingredients in these products. Usually, if ingredients are listed at all, these chemicals are grouped under the general heading of "fragrance." Scary, very scary.
Aniline
BHA
Cyclohexanone
Dibutyl phthalate
Diethylhexyl phthalate
Hydroquinone
MIBK
Musk ambrette
Nano titanium dioxide
Nano zinc oxide (20-60nm)
Octoxynol-6
Octoxynol-7
Octoxynol-11
Octoxynol-12
Octosynol-13
Octoxynol-20
Octoxynol-25
Octoxynol-30
Octoxynol-33
Octoxynol-40
Octoxynol-70
PEG-3 Sorbitan oleate
PEG-6 Sorbitan oleate
Resorcinol
Styrene
Now, these names mean nothing to me, but I do trust the EWG. Lisa Frank pointed out in her blog post that phthalates are "potent hormone distruptors linked to reproductive system birth defects in baby boys," and octoxynols and nonoxynols also "break down into persistent hormone disruptors." Musk ambrette, which is toxic to the skin, brain and testes, has been banned from body care products by the European Union, but is apparently still in use in some fragranced products.
These chemicals may be present in any personal care and household products that contain added fragrance, and manufacturers don't have to list them as ingredients in these products. Usually, if ingredients are listed at all, these chemicals are grouped under the general heading of "fragrance." Scary, very scary.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Ranting
I will apologize in advance for this rant, but there are just some things that need to be called out. The first is my ongoing battle with manufacturers who change the ingredients in their products, products I've been using (or eating) for a long time, but which I can no longer use with the new ingredients. This happens often with foods, which is why I read ingredient lists even on the products I have been using for years. It seems to happen less often with personal care items, but that's where I'm having issues this week.
Soon after I was diagnosed with celiac disease and MCS in 1998, I discovered the line of personal care products produced by Aubrey Organics. I have always had very sensitive skin and I need a good moisturizing lotion, no easy task to find when it has to be free of petro-chemicals, fragrance, almonds, sesame, wheat and lavender (all things to which I have been know to react). So I was thrilled to find Aubrey's Unscented Ultimate Moisturizing hand and body lotion. Not only was this lotion free of all the above-mentioned ingredients, but it actually kept me from looking like a dried up old prune. For the past couple of years I have been ordering this lotion by the case through my local natural foods store. When I went to reorder last month, I found that that the packaging had changed so I thought I'd better look at the ingredients. Sure enough, the ingredient list was very different.
When I called the customer service number at Aubrey Organics a couple of weeks ago, I was told that that the labeling had changed to meet new European labeling standards and that there was actually only one change to the ingredients, the addition of soy oil. To make this long story a little shorter, I ordered a couple of bottles to try and was REALLY disappointed. Not only is the lotion much less effective, but I seemed to be having a slight reaction to it. So I emailed the company to complain. The reply I received was very patronizing, but gave me the added information that they are now using lavender in the product, though it is listed as something else. So I grit my teeth (grrrrrr) and go on the search for another lotion. Meanwhile I'll just have to be a prune face.
My other rant topic is the mail. I came home from an afternoon with my grandsons yesterday to a pile of mail which my husband had picked up at the post office. (We have a PO box for our business.) As soon as I picked it up my head started to swoon (in not a good way). It smelled like someone had sprayed cheap cologne all over it. YUCK! I can only guess that either someone who handled the mail was wearing heavy scent or there was a piece of scented mail to which my mail was exposed in transit. Needless to say, it all got taken out to the garbage, except for the check from a customer which will have to go to the bank in a scent-proof bag.
So those are my rants for the week. Anyone else have a similar rant you want to add?
Soon after I was diagnosed with celiac disease and MCS in 1998, I discovered the line of personal care products produced by Aubrey Organics. I have always had very sensitive skin and I need a good moisturizing lotion, no easy task to find when it has to be free of petro-chemicals, fragrance, almonds, sesame, wheat and lavender (all things to which I have been know to react). So I was thrilled to find Aubrey's Unscented Ultimate Moisturizing hand and body lotion. Not only was this lotion free of all the above-mentioned ingredients, but it actually kept me from looking like a dried up old prune. For the past couple of years I have been ordering this lotion by the case through my local natural foods store. When I went to reorder last month, I found that that the packaging had changed so I thought I'd better look at the ingredients. Sure enough, the ingredient list was very different.
When I called the customer service number at Aubrey Organics a couple of weeks ago, I was told that that the labeling had changed to meet new European labeling standards and that there was actually only one change to the ingredients, the addition of soy oil. To make this long story a little shorter, I ordered a couple of bottles to try and was REALLY disappointed. Not only is the lotion much less effective, but I seemed to be having a slight reaction to it. So I emailed the company to complain. The reply I received was very patronizing, but gave me the added information that they are now using lavender in the product, though it is listed as something else. So I grit my teeth (grrrrrr) and go on the search for another lotion. Meanwhile I'll just have to be a prune face.
My other rant topic is the mail. I came home from an afternoon with my grandsons yesterday to a pile of mail which my husband had picked up at the post office. (We have a PO box for our business.) As soon as I picked it up my head started to swoon (in not a good way). It smelled like someone had sprayed cheap cologne all over it. YUCK! I can only guess that either someone who handled the mail was wearing heavy scent or there was a piece of scented mail to which my mail was exposed in transit. Needless to say, it all got taken out to the garbage, except for the check from a customer which will have to go to the bank in a scent-proof bag.
So those are my rants for the week. Anyone else have a similar rant you want to add?
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