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http://www.mcsrr.org/pressreleases/prmcs98.html

9 September 1998

CONTACT: Albert Donnay, MHS

MCS Referral & Resources

410-889-6666

donnaya@...

618 Wyndhurst Avenue #2, Baltimore, MD 21210

Deceptive Draft Report on Multiple Chemical

Sensitivity Released For Public Comment by U.S.

Federal Interagency Workgroup on MCS: Workgroup

Provides Only Limited Information on 8 Federal

Agencies and Fails to Correct Numerous Errors &

Omissions Reported in Prior Review

Dr. Grace Ziem, medical director of MCS Referral &

Resources, a Baltimore-based non-profit organization,

and Albert Donnay, executive director, today called

for Congressional hearings into the federal

government's recently released " Draft Report on

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, " which they described

as grossly deceptive.

Dr. Ziem was one of 12 " MCS experts " whose comments

were sought by the Interagency Workgroup in an earlier

round of external peer review, but few of the errors,

misrepresentations, and omissions that she documented

have been corrected. " This confirms my suspicion that

the authors of this report are covering up both the

medical literature on MCS and the federal government's

own extensive experience with this disorder, " said Dr.

Ziem, who has personally treated dozens of federal

employees from many different agencies who developed

MCS while working in " sick " government office

buildings. Among the Draft Report's most telling

omissions are:

The MCS policies of at least 14 other federal

authorities that were not represented by the 8-agency

Workgroup, including the Departments of Justice,

Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and

Urban Development; the Agency for Health Care Policy

and Research; Equal Employment Opportunity Commission;

National Council on Disability; National Park Service;

and the Social Security Administration.

Research reported in 1998 by the US Dept of Veterans

Affairs (NJ Environmental Hazards Research Center)

finding MCS in 35.7% of over 1000 veterans randomly

selected from the Gulf War Registry. The Workgroup

mentions this study but not its results, even though a

preliminary finding of 26% with MCS was published in

1996.

Research reported in 1997 by the US EPA (Office of

Prevention, Pesticides & Toxic Substances) identifying

MCS as the most commonly reported chronic health

effect from exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos,

aka Dursban. The Workgroup mentions only other

unpublished EPA research on MCS and policy papers

without any data.

Research funded since 1988 by the US National

Institute on Deafness and Other Communication

Disorders on chemosensory perception, including

olfactory (smell) and trigeminal nerve disorders (over

$29 million in FY97).

Reports published in 1983 and 1985 by Dr. Philip

Landrigan of the US National Institute on Occupational

Safety and Health linking toluene and other solvent

exposures to a severe MCS-like " neuarsthenic

syndrome. "

The Draft Report makes numerous references to an MCS

Workshop hosted by the International Program on

Chemical Safety (IPCS) in 1996--even listing its still

unpublished report in a section entitled

" Organizational Statements on MCS " --but it never

includes the disclaimer required by IPCS specifying

that the workshop's conclusions and recommendations

are only those of the 17 workshop participants and not

those of either the IPCS or its sponsoring agencies:

the World Health Organization, the International Labor

Organization, and the United Nations Environmental

Program. The report also fails to note that two of the

participants, including the chair, Dr. Kipen,

were among 80 scientists who published a letter

criticizing the IPCS and this workshop in particular

for its chemical industry bias.

The Draft Report also fails to disclose the obvious

conflict of interest posed by the Workgroup's hiring a

member of the board of directors of the Environmental

Sensitivities Research Institute (Dr. ,

now chair of ESRI's Scientific Advisory Board) for

more than a year to write and edit the first several

drafts of its report. ESRI is an anti-MCS front group

funded by the chemical industry that has not actually

done or funded any MCS research. Other ESRI board

members include representatives of Amway, Bayer,

Colgate-Palmolive, DowElanco (now Dow AgroSciences,

manufacturer of Dursban), Procter & Gamble,

Rh\364ne-Poulenc, the Chemical Specialty Manufacturers

Association, the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance

Association, and Responsible Industry for a Sound

Environment, a pesticide industry association.

MCS Referral & Resources first learned about and

complained to the Workgroup about Dr. 's ESRI

affiliation in July 1996, after which his contract was

not renewed. Despite a formal request that 's

ESRI affiliation and key role as the report's primary

author be disclosed, the Workgroup denies any conflict

of interest and still lists him only as a

" consultant. " Dr. was not hired as a

consultant, however. He had recently retired as Chief

Medical Officer of the Agency for Toxic Substances &

Disease Registry (ATSDR) and his old boss, Workgroup

co-chair Dr. Barry , arranged for him to be

rehired through a Postgraduate Research Program

normally reserved for " academic " scientists.

The letter awarding Dr. this appointment

specifically states that any work to which he

contributes should carry an acknowledgement that " This

research was supported in part by an appointment to

the Postgraduate Research Program at the ATSDR

administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science

and Education through an interagency agreement between

the US Department of Energy and the ATSDR " -- but the

Workgroup's Draft Report fails to mention any of this.

" No one should be lulled into a false sense of

complacency by this report's extremely narrow and

misleading view of MCS, " said Donnay. " In commenting

on this draft, Congress and the American public need

to be aware of the many government policies and

research findings on MCS that, like 's ESRI

and ATSDR affiliations, are not disclosed. "

-----

Copies of the Draft Report are available free from

1-800-447-1544 (or via email request to Dr. Lester

, the Workgroup's executive secretary, at

lxs2@...) and public comments may be submitted

until 30 October 1998.