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Complementary information: Neurotoxin Concerns, Controversy Escalate By Elizabeth Pennisi The Scientist 4[3]:1, Feb. 05, 1990 "Scientists are realizing that substances in the environment can have devastating effects on the human nervous system" "... Those substances are everywhere: organic solvents in the workplace, chemicals in perfumes, pesticides used on lawns, natural and added chemicals in foods, or prescribed or illegal drugs. The brain is the body's kingpyn organ; yet, once damaged or destroyed, nerve cells cannot be replaced. Already, the congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) estimates that the care and treatment of neurological disorders and accompanying loss of productivity can cost the U.S. as much as $300 billion a year. No one knows how much neurotoxins contribute to that cost. The longer we live, the more evident the damage, and the more burdened the health care system will become to people with behavioral, mental, and neurological problems. "The measure of the problem is huge," says Spencer. {Peter Spencer, director and senior scientist at the Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland} ..." http://www.the-scientist.com/yr1990/feb/pennisi_p1_900205.html "Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS): What It Is, What It Is Not, And How It Is Manifested" By Shelia Bastien, PhD; © July 20, 1995 http://ehnca.org/www/newreact/sbastien.htm "Acute toxic effects of fragrance products." By Rosalind C. Anderson, Julius H. Anderson, Anderson Laboratories Archives of Environmental Health; March-April, 1998 1999 - EHN's FDA Citizens' Petition, Docket Number 99P-1340 http://www.ehnca.org/www/FDApetition/bkgrinfo.htm 2000 - GreenPeace UK The Chemical Home - PERFUME http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/Products/Toxics/chemicalhouse.cfm?producttypeid=5 2001 - Safe Notification and Information for Fragrances Act (SNIFF) Spend a little extra energy to write to your representative and ask her/him to co-sponsor Rep. Jan Schakowsky's bill HR 1947, Safe Notification and Information for Fragrances Act (SNIFF), introduced in the House, May 22, 2001. SNIFF is co-sponsored by Rep. Shelley Berkley (D NV) on May 22,2001 and by Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) on July 18, 2001. Also, write to your state senators and ask them to introduce a similar bill in the Senate. http://ehnca.org/www/ehnlinx/s.htm#SNIFF You can follow this bill through THOMAS Legislative Information on the Internet at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.html..Key in HR 1947 in the box labeled "By Bill Number" and click the search button. (This number changes from one Congress to the next.) If you don't have contact info for your representative or senators, visit EHN's WriteNow! at http://ehnca.org/www/ehnhompg/writenow.htm#Government, or the House at http://www.house.gov/ and the Senate at http://www.senate.gov/ It is reportedly better to write your representatives and senators via snail mail ... too much spam on the net. Their mailing addresses can be found via the links above. NOTE: Following the anthrax poisonings of fall 2001, it may be better to e-mail your senators and representatives. Early 2000s, but not sure of date . . . US Department of the Interior "Traditional Versus 'Green' Cleaning Products" Among other really good points, you'll find: "Must not contain petrochemical-derived fragrances." http://www.doi.gov/greening/sustain/trad.html Feb. 6, 2002 -- "Scents and sensitivities What to know before buying a Valentine*s Day perfume" By Francesca Lyman; MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR And, I might add, Mother's Day or Father's Day perfume, et al. In this article, the industry admits it has begun the first study to test fragrances for effects upon inhalation and for systemic effects . . . as it also claims it always thoroughly tests before marketing. Mirrored for you through the kind permission of Ms. Lyman and MSNBC. -- barb http://ehnca.org/www/FDApetition/flscents.htm Had been at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/702445.asp July 10, 2002--Not Too Pretty A report on phthalates, including information about their effect on developing male fetuses. This is a MUST read. -- barb http://www.NotTooPretty.org September - October 2002 -- Fragrance: emerging health and environmental concerns Betty Bridges; 361-371 Abstract PDF Full Text (Size: 125K) Published Online: 16 Apr 2002 DOI 10.1002/ffj.1106 http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/issuetoc?ID=93513907 Available on Betty's siteFPIN http://www.fpinva.org/FragranceReview.htm Feb. 12, 2003 -- "What the nose knows" "Think Twice before buying a loved one perfume, cologne" By Francesca Lyman, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR http://www.msnbc.com/news/871197.asp October 2003 -- DEHP (a phthalate) now on California's Prop. 65 list of carcinogens and reproductive toxins http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/CRNR_notices/list_changes/6Ddehpnot.html More info about DEHP -- National Library of Medicine's Tox Town Chemical: Phthalates ... " What are phthalates? "Phthalates are a group of chemicals used to soften and increase the flexibility of plastic and vinyl. They are used in hundreds of consumer products. "Phthalates are used in cosmetics and personal care products, including perfume, hair spray, soap, shampoo, nail polish, and skin moisturizers. They are used in consumer products such as flexible plastic and vinyl toys, shower curtains, wallpaper, vinyl miniblinds, food packaging, and plastic wrap. "Phthalates are also used in wood finishes, detergents, adhesives, plastic plumbing pipes, lubricants, medical tubing and fluid bags, solvents, insecticides, medical devices, building materials, and vinyl flooring. "Phthalates had been used to make pacifiers, soft rattles, and teethers, but at the request of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, U.S. manufacturers have not used phthalates in those products since 1999. ..." http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/chemical/phthalates.html DEHP Articles appearing in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Oakland Tribune Cal-EPA to pass rule on chemical used in plastics Agent found in hospitals, toys, may cause birth defects Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer Tuesday, October 21, 2003; ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/10/21/MNGCE2FSE81.DTL Printer friendly http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/10/21/MNGCE2FSE81.DTL&type=printable Compound in plastic deemed toxic By Douglas Fischer Oakland Tribune STAFF WRITER; Friday, October 24, 2003 "...Softeners such as DEHP are found in everything from water bottles to nail polish to shower curtains. DEHP alone is found in dozens of consumer products, from toys to perfume -- including, as some health advocates note, Christian Dior's 'Poison.' ..." http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~1720366,00.html Print version http://www.oaklandtribune.com/cda/article/print/0,1674,82%257E1865%257E1720366,00.html EWG files petition with FDA: SKIN DEEP -- June 4, 2004 I'd add: . . . And BEYOND!, for these chemicals go into your body via absorption and inhalation. Fragrances adversely affect user and nonuser, who really is an nonconsenting secondhand user. -- barb http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep/report/executive_summary.php Printer friendly http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep/report/executive_summary.php?print_version=1 EWG's Fragrance/Perfume/Cologne Products http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep/listproducts.php?ewg_cat=Fragrance/Perfume/Cologne EWG's Health concerns for Fragrance/Perfume/Cologne http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep/healtheffectbycategory.php?ewg_cat=Fragrance/Perfume/Cologne 2005 - Radio DJ wins $10.6 million in stink over perfume Tuesday, May 24, 2005 http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0505/24/A01-191461.htm Yet, in July 2005, the Dept of Justice and the EEOC were not aware of this important perfume poisoning case, which is so like my own. Read ADA Update: 15 Years Later July 19, 2005. . . ADA Update: 15 Years Later July 19, 2005 John Wodatch, Chief-Disability Rights Section, U.S. Department of Justice; Sharon Rennert, Attorney Advisor, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission "... Weber's lawyer, Raymond Sterling, said his client doesn't have problems with "natural smells" but does with the chemical basis of the perfume -- a fact he says was confirmed by three doctors at the weeklong civil trial. ..." http://www.adagreatlakes.org/ProgramsAndServices/AudioConferencing/Archives/FY2005/default.asp?Category=5&Session=10 For more information please see EHN's section, Fragrance Info at http://ehnca.org/www/ehnlinx/f.htm#Fragrance ÝÝÝÝ --- Oh, What A Goose . . . The unwary consumer of fragrance products is the goose who has been laying the golden eggs for the industry . . . As I see it, like Aesop's Fable, the story is one of greed. The industry has envisioned expanding and expanding, pumping fragrances throughout hotels, stores, workplaces, permeating paper and cloth, ad nauseam, raking in multibillion dollars upon multibillion dollars. Unlike the story in Aesop's Fable, it isn't only the goose who lays the golden eggs who gets done in, as . . . . . . We ALL are stakeholders when it comes to breathing! -- barb

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