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Position Statement from Allergy UK
Without chemicals, our quality of life today would be vastly diminished; indeed without chemicals, there would be no life at all.
As scientists, it is easy to be pedantic about terminology. We should be prepared to accept that, when most people talk about ‘chemicals in food and the environment’, they are really referring to those extra chemicals that are present but are not part of the natural substance itself; when they complain about ‘the chemicals in cleaning products’, they do not realize that without certain chemicals, the product wouldn’t work; and that without such chemicals we would not have drinkable water, sufficient edible food, energy, transport, clothes or just about anything else.
However, this lack of understanding and mastery of the correct terminology does not detract from the genuine concern that many people have, that things are somehow out of control. Their real concern is with the indiscriminate use of chemicals; with their daily exposure to vast numbers and mixtures of chemicals, mostly without their knowledge; and whether this is affecting their health. In an era of ‘choice’, the fact is that we have never had less choice about whether to ‘use’ chemicals or not; it is not possible to get water, food or air that is not contaminated by some extraneous chemical. We are all bombarded daily with volatile chemicals in our homes, offices, places of entertainment and whenever we are in contact with other people.
Many people are affected in some way by exposure to some of the chemicals we meet in everyday life. They suffer headaches from paint fumes or perfumes, rashes from additives in foods, or wheezing from the chlorine at the swimming pool. Mostly these symptoms are annoying rather than serious, and generally they are transient. It is well-known that certain chemicals can induce much more serious effects, either through toxicity or true allergy leading to anaphylaxis.
Some people claim to be severely affected by exposure to a wide range of everyday ‘chemicals’ in their food or environment. Although this ‘multiple chemical sensitivity’ (MCS) sometimes has psychological origins, there can no longer be any doubt that, for a small proportion of people, MCS is a genuine and terrifying illness. The genuine nature of MCS has been recognised by a number of officially-commissioned reports from independent scientists in the US and UK. Rigorous double-blind placebo-controlled chemical ‘challenges’ of patients claiming to suffer from MCS has shown that the ‘reactions’ suffered by a proportion of them to a range of chemicals are reproducible, measurable and convincing. The mechanisms of these ‘reactions’ are not necessarily understood, but this does not make them less valid.
No-one is advocating a return to a ‘pre-chemical’ society; this would be undesirable, and impossible. However we should be striving to restrict the use of chemicals to those areas where there is some clear and definite benefit to their use (which does not include ‘consumer choice’ as a sole valid reason for adding another chemical or scent to a product); and we need to strive to give people a choice about whether they want a product that is heavily reliant on chemical content, or one which might not look as polished, or work quite as well, but which has a reduced chemical load. We should not be waiting for legislation, or health concerns, or litigation to force us down this path.
Allergy UK is committed to supporting people with MCS. While accepting that chemicals sometimes get a ‘bad press’ unfairly, we are also committed to encouraging and working with manufacturers to develop products that have less of an adverse impact on the environment, on our health, and on those few people who do suffer from genuine chemical sensitivity problems.
Chemical Sensitivity Division
The Chemical Sensitivity Division has been established as a direct response to the number of people contacting Allergy UK for help with their chemical sensitivity and the following measures have been taken.
- A dedicated Helpline for people with Chemical Sensitivity which is totally separate from our normal Allergy Helpline. All the staff within the organisation have received intensive multiple chemical sensitivity training.
- We have engaged the services of a Nurse Consultant highly respected in the field of chemical sensitivity and environmental medicine and have an advisory panel of Doctors who have undertaken specific training in multiple chemical sensitivity or have many years of experience. All the fact sheets and information given is reviewed by these experts. For the majority of people in the United Kingdom treatment is only available privately except on rare occasions. The consequence of this means that Allergy UK will advise on chemical avoidance and provide a management programme for the removal and gradual re-introduction of chemicals. Our "Handy Hints" information fact sheet provides alternative non-chemical household tips to encourage people not to replace the chemicals once they have done without them for a period of time. The intention is to achieve a reduction in the chemical load within the indoor environment.
- Allergy UK is establishing an active support network which we hope will provide not only a listening ear and practical advice for one another but also be active in assisting us with our campaign to raise public awareness on the issues of being sensitive to chemicals.
We intend to campaign on a number of fronts:
- To have the illness accepted for treatment on the NHS
- To have the illness accepted as incapacitating and therefore eligible for benefits
- To encourage manufacturers to reduce the chemical load in their products
- We also intend to raise the profile of Chemical sensitivity particularly by providing education for the Medical Profession, Government, Industry and Commerce.
Please click here to see the prodcuts awarded the Allergy UK Chemically Friendly Award that may assist you in reducing your chemical load.