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by Janelle Sorensen, Chief Communications Officer, Healthy Child Healthy World

Ever since I quit using conventional cleaners and heavily scented care products, I get an almost immediate headache when I’m exposed to them for too long. It’s given me a new level of empathy for people who suffer from severe chemical sensitivities or asthma or allergies that are triggered by these common toxic exposures.

Healthy Child recently received a question from a community-member asking if we had any tips for navigating this situation in public spaces and we realized we’ve never discussed it before. So, we asked our lovely Facebook community to weigh-in. Here’s what they had to say:

• Holly RUN!
• Maddeline I try to raise awareness of the problems of synthetic fragrances and chemicals. Let them know its not just me effected by them but they are bad for everyone. Besides that the only thing you can do is avoidance.
• Lisa I am chemically sensitive so modern day life is a nusiance for me. Perfume, cigerette smoke, car exhaust, BBq smoke and anything fragranced can really make me sick. I avoid these things as much as possible. Sometimes I wear a special mask that keeps out the chemicals.
• Greta I leave public places with wretched smells.
• Linda I'm almost completely housebound (and thankful to have a safe enough place to live now, since most places are too chemically contaminated with cleaning product, air"freshener" or cheap and toxic materials.... I have to wear a mask whenever I take the garbage and recycling out because of so many toxic chemicals exhausting from people's dryer vents (and now the fake logs are being burned in fireplaces). I can't even get to a Dr., their offices are too toxic. I have to ask people to pick up and deliver everything I need. Most of my life is online. Humans just aren't safe to be around because they use so many toxic products, believing them to be safe...
• Wendy Fuchs I completely avoid the obvious places like Bath and Body Works. Lately I've had trouble in homes of friends and family due to hand soap. I've learned to just skip it, or use baby shampoo if they have it.
• Rachelle i am pretty much in the same boat as Linda except i have my supportive twin sister to shop for me. i am housebound. i can not go to any public place without getting really sick. i wear a respirator that blocks most everything but i still have problems. just sitting at my doctors office makes my brain start to shut down(feels like i am falling sleep sometimes, though i am not) i don't think i'd be doing anything except lying in bed if it were not for my respirator. the only public place i can be in is the internet hehehe
• Dianna My best friend is very sensitive to all smells, we go places and he wears a paper mask. Unfortunately he is also skin sensitive and only detergent he can use is Tide regular and then his allergies kick in if he doesn't let his clothes hang for a few days. Perfumes are a NO NO for my son and me, instant headaches. The poured flooring makes me throw up so new stores never see me if they use that type. I have tired going in a year or even three years later and I am out the door as soon as I walk in. Love my Dr. office, sign on the door ask people to remove perfumes so others can breathe. As soon as you walk in the door there are damp washcloths in sealed bags so people can wipe the areas they applied the perfume to, put the used clothes back in the bags and then in the container provided for used one.
• Eboni It's so hard, but my main concern is how to cope when you live with others who use these poisons. They know I can barely breathe and have a provable physical reaction, but don't care. I've suggested compromises, but it's super hard.
• Kath we've a3yr old that reacts majorly to everything so its in&out as fast as possible!
• Penny My son does. He has a serious eczema that makes blisters if he gets around anything scented with something non-organic. So we just take this spray (bonner's sanitizing spray) and spray anything he is going to touch ahead of time and keep him mostly covered with clothes.
• Tina Not well! I try to run all errands on the same day because I know when I get home I will have to get in the shower and wash my hair as perfumes from others linger on me just from walking past them. Clothing stores are the worst with all those chemicals used on fabrics. I haven't been to a mall in a long time. Other people are ignorant of the fact that the toxins they use affect other people. There really needs to be some public education about this. I don't want to be home bound. I have as much right as anyone else to go out and have a little fun but I am limited by poisons out there and my sensitivity to them. Cigarette smoke is terrible and even though most places don't allow it inside, the people outside will smoke right next to the door so you have to walk thru it to get inside. I have made my feelings about this known to many people and they just don't seem to care. Even made a big stink about it to this young couple who came over by me when I was nine months pregnant and they were smoking. How rude! We are long past due to have people do something about this.
• Becky My mother is mutiple chemical sensitive and it started w/ just getting mildly dizzy from scented candles and perfumes-- now, she reacts from the fumes from laundry vents (fabric softeners plus perfumed detergents) and lawn chemicals in the air... She has found that it is very important to avoid products with perfumes or fragrances (which means they have chemicals that are known endocrine disruptors...). To learn more, she recommends Googling Anne Steinemann wrt toxic laundry chemicals... Also, the Massachusetts Nursing Association and Duval Patrick's Proclamation of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Week are interesting sources for finding organized support for increasing awareness. My mother also contributes to a few blogs on the topic: Leah Collective, Beyond Pesticides, and Natural Lawns. I am a sustainability consultant and firmly believe that more awareness and action is needed to curb use of synthetics. Protect yourself--and the future!
• Melissa It is great to see signs up in many public spaces to inform that they are "scent free". However, many people that douse themselves in heavy fragrance disregard the signs (or don't smell themselves due to desensitization.) We only use natural cleaning and laundry products at home so the worst offenders are definitely laundry detergents and fabric softeners. I instantly start to feel nauseous and get a headache.
• Becky All, advocacy is so important! It DOES have impact, you can do more than simply removing yourself from situations. It takes little time--such as making a brief statement on this blog or on FB

And, it is important to reach out to your Senator to make sure s/he supports Senator Frank Lautenberg's Safe Chemicals Act of 2011.

Thanks everyone!

Have more tips to share? Please leave them in the comments!

And, remember to join us on Facebook to read the rest of the recommendations we received and to keep on learning and connecting!

Photo courtesy allspice1 / CC BY 2.0

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