School Bans Perfumes After Reactions

School Bans Perfumes After Reactions
http://thetruthaboutmcs.blogspot.com/2011/09/school-bans-perfumes-after-reactions.html

School Bans Perfumes After Reactions: MyFoxPHILLY.com

30% of the population report allergies to fragrances according to scientific research. The school is doing the right thing for both the teacher and the students. Only one correction: The reported said the teacher is allergic to the "smell" of perfume. It's not the smell of perfume that causes allergies. It's the chemicals that make up the perfume ingredients and smell. Parents and students may not associate their headaches, allergies, asthma, and learning problems with fragrances in the classroom; however research shows that fragrances contain many toxic chemicals which affect children's neurological function. Some ingredients in perfumes have even been found on the Environmental Protection Agency hazardous waste list. Let's keep the hazardous waste out of classrooms! Kudo's to Chester Elementary School!

Key Words: multiple chemical sensitivity, chemical sensitivity, chemical sensitivities, multiple chemical sensitivities, MCS, EI, environmental illness, sick building syndrome, idiopathic environmental intolerance, fibromyalgia, chronic fatiuge, FM, CFS, mold illness, clinical ecology, alternative medicine, environmental medicine, neuropathy, encephalopathy, toxic, chemical

Dr. Doris Rapp - Children's Allergies to Food & Environment

Dr. Doris Rapp - Children's Allergies to Food & Environment
http://thetruthaboutmcs.blogspot.com/2009/11/dr.html

Dr. Rapp is dedicated to sharing important information about harmful environmental factors that can affect how children and adults feel, think and act in our high-tech, high-stress, high-profit world. ...

Key Words: multiple chemical sensitivity, chemical sensitivity, chemical sensitivities, multiple chemical sensitivities, MCS, EI, environmental illness, sick building syndrome, idiopathic environmental intolerance, fibromyalgia, chronic fatiuge, FM, CFS, mold illness, clinical ecology, alternative medicine, environmental medicine, neuropathy, encephalopathy, toxic, chemical

Sensitization to 26 fragrances to be labelled according to current European regulation. Results of the IVDK and review of the literature.

Contact Dermatitis. 2007 Jul;57(1):1-10. Links

Sensitization to 26 fragrances to be labelled according to current European regulation. Results of the IVDK and review of the literature.

Schnuch A, Uter W, Geier J, Lessmann H, Frosch PJ.

Zentrale des IVDK, Institut an der Universität Göttingen, Germany. aschnuch@med.uni-goettingen.de

To study the frequency of sensitization to 26 fragrances to be labelled according to current European regulation. During 4 periods of 6 months, from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2004, 26 fragrances were patch tested additionally to the standard series in a total of 21 325 patients; the number of patients tested with each of the fragrances ranged from 1658 to 4238. Hydroxymethylpentylcyclohexene carboxaldehyde (HMPCC) was tested throughout all periods. The following frequencies of sensitization (rates in %, standardized for sex and age) were observed: tree moss (2.4%), HMPCC (2.3), oak moss (2.0), hydroxycitronellal (1.3), isoeugenol (1.1), cinnamic aldehyde (1.0), farnesol (0.9), cinnamic alcohol (0.6), citral (0.6), citronellol (0.5), geraniol (0.4), eugenol (0.4), coumarin (0.4), lilial (0.3), amyl-cinnamic alcohol (0.3), benzyl cinnamate (0.3), benzyl alcohol (0.3), linalool (0.2), methylheptin carbonate (0.2), amyl-cinnamic aldehyde (0.1), hexyl-cinnamic aldehyde (0.1), limonene (0.1), benzyl salicylate (0.1), gamma-methylionon (0.1), benzyl benzoate (0.0), anisyl alcohol (0.0). 1) Substances with higher sensitization frequencies were characterized by a considerable number of '++/+++' reactions. 2) Substances with low sensitization frequencies were characterized by a high number of doubtful/irritant and a low number of stronger (++/+++) reactions. 3) There are obviously fragrances among the 26 which are, with regard to contact allergy, of great, others of minor, and some of no importance at all.

PMID: 17577350 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17577350&itool=iconabstr&itool=pubmed_DocSum

Healthy Buildings: Impact on Nurses and Nursing Practice

Healthy Buildings: Impact on Nurses and Nursing Practice

Robin Guenther, FAIA; Anna Gilmore Hall, RN, BUS, CAE

OJIN: The Online J Issues Nurs.  2007;12(2) ©2007 American Nurses Association

Posted 08/15/2007

Abstract and Introduction

Abstract

Mounting evidence indicates that buildings can be a significant cause of human illness and environmental degradation. According to the United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency, indoor air pollution is one of the top five environmental risks to public health in the US. This may be related, to a large extent, to the fact that US citizens spend as much as 95% of their time indoors. Health care leaders, designers, and architects, recognizing the connection between health and the buildings in which much time is spent, are engaging in sustainable design and construction for healthy, 'green´ buildings. The purpose of this article is to assist nurses in understanding the impact that unhealthy buildings can have on nurses and nursing practice and to provide tools and resources to assist nurses in transforming the health care industry with the goal of creating healing environments and reducing the negative environmental impact of the health care industry. First definitions, current initiatives, and motivations related to sustainable designs will be presented. Next sustainable health care design strategies, such as site planning, clean transportation, water conservation, healthy materials selection, indoor environmental quality, and also the benefits of sustainable design will be discussed. The article will conclude by sharing a variety of resources nurses can use to create healing environments in health care settings.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/561369_print

Ambient Air Pollution and Low Birth Weight in Connecticut and Massachusetts

Ambient Air Pollution and Low Birth Weight in Connecticut and Massachusetts

08/14/2007

Michelle L. Bell; Keita Ebisu; Kathleen Belanger

Fulltext: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/561116_print

Background: Several studies have examined whether air pollution affects birth weight ; however results vary and many studies were focused on Southern California or were conducted outside of the United States.

Objectives: We investigated maternal exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < 10, < 2.5 μm (PM10, PM2.5) , sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide and birth weight for 358,504 births in Massachusetts and Connecticut from 1999 to 2002.

Methods: Analysis included logistic models for low birth weight (< 2,500 g) and linear models with birth weight as a continuous variable. Exposure was assigned as the average county-level concentration over gestation and each trimester based on mother's residence. We adjusted for gestational length, prenatal care, type of delivery, child's sex, birth order, weather, year, and mother's race, education, marital status, age, and tobacco use.

Results: An interquartile increase in gestational exposure to NO2, CO, PM10, and PM2.5 lowered birth weight by 8.9 g [95% confidence interval (CI) , 7.0-10.8], 16.2 g (95% CI, 12.6-19.7) , 8.2 g (95% CI, 5.3-11.1) , and 14.7 g (95% CI, 12.3-17.1) , respectively. Lower birth weight was associated with exposure in the third trimester for PM10, the first and third trimesters for CO, the first trimester for NO2 and SO2, and the second and third trimesters for PM2.5. Effect estimates for PM2.5 were higher for infants of black mothers than those of white mothers.

Conclusions: Results indicate that exposure to air pollution, even at low levels, may increase risk of low birth weight, particularly for some segments of the population.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/561116?src=mp

Fragrance compound geraniol forms contact allergens on air exposure

Chem Res Toxicol. 2007 May;20(5):807-14. Epub 2007 Apr 12.

Fragrance compound geraniol forms contact allergens on air exposure. Identification and quantification of oxidation products and effect on skin sensitization.

Hagvall L, Bäcktorp C, Svensson S, Nyman G, Börje A, Karlberg AT.

Department of Chemistry, Dermatochemistry and Skin Allergy, Göteborg University, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.

Fragrances are common causes of contact allergy. Geraniol (trans-3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadiene-1-ol) is an important fragrance terpene. It is considered a weak contact allergen and is used for fragrance allergy screening among consecutive dermatitis patients. Analogous to other monoterpenes studied, such as limonene and linalool, geraniol has the potential to autoxidize on air exposure and form highly allergenic compounds. The aim of the present study was to investigate and propose a mechanism for the autoxidation of geraniol at room temperature. To investigate whether allergenic compounds are formed, the sensitizing potency of geraniol itself, air-exposed geraniol, and its oxidation products was determined using the local lymph node assay in mice. The results obtained show that the allylic alcohol geraniol follows an oxidation pattern different from those of linalool and limonene, which autoxidize forming hydroperoxides as the only primary oxidation products. The autoxidation of geraniol follows two paths, originating from allylic hydrogen abstraction near the two double bonds. From geraniol, hydrogen peroxide is primarily formed together with aldehydes geranial and neral from a hydroxyhydroperoxide. In addition, small amounts of a hydroperoxide are formed, analogous to the formation of the major linalool hydroperoxide. The autoxidation of geraniol greatly influenced the sensitizing effect of geraniol. The oxidized samples had moderate sensitizing capacity, quite different from that of pure geraniol. The hydroperoxide formed is believed to be the major contributor to allergenic activity, together with the aldehydes geranial and neral. On the basis of the present study and previous experience, we recommend that the possibility of autoxidation and the subsequent formation of contact allergenic oxidation products are considered in risk assessments performed on fragrance terpenes.

PMID: 17428070 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/crtoec/2007/20/i05/pdf/tx700017v.pdf