Chemical Sensitivity refers to hypersensitivity to many chemicals/pollutants. It’s something that the mainstream world generally rejects, often saying that it is psychosomatic, and that it’s a psychological disorder, not a physiological condition. Regardless, it’s something that adversely affects many people. It’s something that I experience. I’d like to make a few observations about it.
Chemical Sensitivity is just a way to talk about related experiences. There is no set of criteria that defines Chemical Sensitivity. Everyone who experiences hypersensitivity to chemicals has their own experiences, and I can’t talk about anyone else’s experiences. I can talk about my own experiences, though, which is what I will do.
There was no one pivotal point at which I started to be hypersensitive to chemicals. It has happened gradually over time. I can recall a time during which I did not feel particularly hypersensitive. There was a time, maybe ten years ago when I could walk through a department store or past a laundromat without feeling as though I just got pummeled. Over time I started to notice that there were certain things that were irritating to me that weren’t irritating to others. I started to notice that I could go into a room such as a meeting hall, and I would immediately know if someone in the room was wearing perfume even if no one else around me could tell. That was just the start, though. Over time my ability to tolerate synthetic perfumes decreased. Laundry illustrates the progression. Years and years ago I used to do laundry with synthetic detergents with synthetic perfumes. Eventually that bothered me, and I started doing laundry with non-synthetic detergents with non-synthetic perfumes (such as perfumes from plants.) That worked for a while. However, eventually I couldn’t tolerate doing my laundry in machines in which synthetically-perfumed detergent had been used just prior. I would have to run the washing machines once before washing my clothes, and then I would hang my clothes to dry. That worked for a while. However, eventually even just running the washing machine once before washing my clothes didn’t make it tolerable. I moved to places where I had my own washing machine. Then it got to a point where I couldn’t tolerate even the plant-based perfumes. I had to change to non-perfumed detergent.
That same sort of pattern has played out not only with laundry. I find that I can tolerate many places less and less. There are a few bookstores in the town where I recently lived. I couldn’t even go into one of the bookstores because there was a perfume of some sort that would make my face burn if I just walked into the store. There was one bookstore I would go into frequently, and I could tolerate it for the most part. However, it was a small store, and if anyone walked into the store wearing perfume I had to exit. You’d be surprised how often that happened.
I find that I cannot tolerate any synthetic perfumes, a lot of non-synthetic/plant-based perfumes if they are concentrated enough, propane, gasoline, kerosene, heating oil, chemical cleaning products, many “natural” cleaning products, new carpet, plywood, particle board, new laminate flooring, non-organic linens/bedding/clothing, paint, PVC, vinyl, a lot of plastic. If I have to get something new made of plastic I usually have to let it sit outside or in its own room for days or weeks before I can tolerate being around it.
What happens? It depends, though usually it consists of burning nose and eyes, difficulty breathing, and anxiety.
Could it be entirely psychosomatic? Perhaps. It’s possible. I don’t know. What I do know about it is that the experiences are real, and the results are real. I really don’t go to the perfumed bookstore. I really do avoid going near laundromats (I can smell a laundromat a quarter mile away.)
Hypersensitivity to chemicals results in a few things that you might not expect. One of the most significant results is that finding housing can be difficult. I’ve moved eight times since 2006. I lived in an apartment a few years ago that I couldn’t tolerate in part because of the shampoo belonging to the downstairs neighbor. That sounds ridiculous. Yet ridiculous or not, that was one of the things I couldn’t tolerate about that apartment. I recently lived in an apartment where despite my having done everything I could to seal everything I could find the upstairs neighbors’ cleaning product fumes would find their way into my apartment and the laundry perfumes from the basement would also find their way to my apartment.
For a lot of people with chemical sensitivities the housing issue gets increasingly difficult. There are plenty of stories of people moving from house to house, apartment to apartment, until they finally decide to move into an all-metal trailer that they pull with their car because it’s the only place they can be in for more than a few hours.
Is it psychosomatic? Maybe a better thing to ask is whether or not it is wrong to be intolerant of known toxins. Maybe rather than disregarding chemical sensitivities it would be better to see it as a warning. Maybe those who are chemically sensitive are like canaries in the mine (which is a terrible, yet very real image of exploitation.) Maybe rather than disregarding chemical sensitivity it would be better to ask how to remove the toxins. (A good start would be to stop making the toxins.)
This same criticism applies to those who are chemically sensitive too. Many people, when experiencing hypersensitivity to chemicals, do everything they can to try and get away from the chemicals in their own life. That is understandable. I entirely understand that. I already said that I have moved eight times in just a few years. When you feel as though you are being attacked it makes sense to try to get away from the attack. The issue I have with that (and I’m leveling this criticism at myself as well) is that just trying to get away from the attack doesn’t stop the attack. In fact, it just yields more ground to the attacker. Monsanto is killing us, and we’re running away. Eventually there will be nowhere to which we can run. What will happen then? Will there be enough of us, will there be enough time, will we have enough power to fight?