Ottawa Environmental Health Clinic - MCS & Mold

[Guest guest]

Dr. Armstrong

Ottawa Environmental Health Clinic

http://www.oehc.ca/research.htm

What is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)?

Multiple chemical sensitivity occurs when people are sensitive to a

variety of chemical pollutants in the home, workplace, outdoors,

food, etc. There are many variations or degrees of sensitivity. The

only known treatment is environmental control and avoidance.

Most patients with multiple chemical sensitivity and sick building

syndrome report significant symptoms manifesting from the brain

(decreased concentration, poor memory, mood changes, etc.) Symptoms

are prolonged, even after removal from the incitant, and can

sometimes be disabling.

MCS is defined by Nethercott et al (1993) as:

1. The symptoms are reproducible with exposure.

2. The condition is chronic.

3. Low-level exposure results in manifestations of syndrome.

4. Symptoms improve or resolve when incidents are removes.

5. Responses occur to multiple, chemically unrelated substances.

What this means is that once a person is triggered by chemicals the

most important thing from then on is to avoid exposure to as many

chemicals as possible as unrelated chemicals can also trigger

adverse reactions.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is recognized by:

• The Canada Pension Plan (CPP), as of 1998, had granted

disability pension compensation in 44 percent of applicants

(Farthing, 1998).

• Favourable appeals for workers' compensation have been granted

in Nova Scotia and Ontario.

• There have also been favourable appeals for workers'

compensation in Oregon, California, Louisiana, Pennsylvania,

Minnesota and Ohio (Gots, 1995).

• New Jersey and New Hampshire have recognized MCS as a disease

compensable under workers' compensation.

• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

recognizes MCS as a disability entitling those with chemical

sensitivities to reasonable accommodation. It has funded an MCS-

accessible housing complex in San , California.

• The U.S. Department of Justice, which enforces the Americans

with Disabilities Act of 1990, accepts MCS as a legitimate

disability if the impairment is significant enough to be disabling.

• The U.S. Social Security Administration accepts MCS as

disabling if the impairment prevents substantial gainful activity.

• The American Medical Association has granted CME (continuing

medical education) accreditation for the past 34 annual scientific

seminars in Environmental Medicine.

• The Ontario College of Family Physicians has recently

developed a Peer Presenter program on environmental health which is

CME (MAINPRO) accredited. MCS is included in the presentation.

• Health Canada has sponsored two workshops (1990 and 1992) on

MCS. Recommendations published in Chronic Diseases in Canada

(January, 1991) stated that patients with MCS should not be

discriminated against by third party insurance, and concepts should

be part of continuing medical education (CME) and medical school

curricula.

Other scientific and health-related groups which accept the

existence of MCS are:

• Ontario Ministry of Health published the Report of the Ad Hoc

Committee on Environmental Hypersensitivity Disorders which provided

the first definition. The ministry funds medical research projects

on MCS. In 1994, it provided $1.5 million for the creation of the

Environmental Health Clinic at Women's College Hospital in Toronto;

this clinic collaborates with medical research projects at the

University of Toronto.

• The Ontario Medical Association has a subsection for

Environmental Medicine

• The Nova Scotia Department of Health established and funds a

permanent Environmental Health Clinic at Dalhousie University which

is affiliated with the Office of The Dean of Medicine.

• The Nova Scotia Medical Association has a subsection for

Environmental Medicine.

• Public Works Canada has established procedures and guidelines

for Public Service employees, supervisors and managers regarding

environmental hypersensitivity as it relates to the workplace.

Environmental Hypersensitivity at the Workplace was published in

April, 1998.

• The Public service Alliance of Canada chose MCS as one of two

topics for its 1993 National Health and Safety Conference and now

recognizes MCS as a legitimate illness. It has published Multiple

Chemical Sensitivity at Work: Guide for PSAC Members.

• CMHC has published several reports including Housing for the

Environmentally Hypersensitive, and Survey of the Medical Impact on

Environmentally Hypersensitive People of a Change in Habitat.

References:

• Chemical Exposures: low levels high stakes, by Drs.

Ashford and S. . This study was commissioned by the

World Health Organization to examine the Effects of low levels of

chemicals on humans.

• Hidden Exposures: a practical guide to creating a healthy

environment for you and your

children, commissioned by the South Riverdale Community Health

Centre, Toronto.

• There are many web sites on Environmental Illness and Multiple

Chemical Sensitivity (MCS).

MCS will not be " proven " to exist until a biological marker can be

found that is both sensitive and specific. Approximately 300 papers

have been published in peer reviewed journals discussing MCS. The

papers supporting the existence of the illness as a physical illness

outnumber the negative papers by a ratio of 2:1. Supportive

biological evidence includes:

• Many animal studies demonstrating that sensitization to

chemicals including VOCs and pesticides occurs after repeated,

randomized, low dose exposure (Bell, 1994).

• EEC studies comparing MCS patients to normal controls (Schwartz,

1994; ernandez, 1999; Bell, 1998a) and to depressives (Bell, 1998b).

• Increased intranasal chemoreception in patients with MCS after

double-blind challenge (Hummel, 1996).

• Sensitization of heart rate and blood pressure over multiple

laboratory sessions in patients with cacosmia (adverse reaction to

chemical odours) Bell, 1997).

• Beta endorphin levels (Bell, 1998c).

• Divided-attention task performance abnormalities in persons with

chemical intolerance (Brown-Degagne, 1999).

• Unpublished observations of MCS patients vs controls at

Environmental Health Clinic at Women's College Hospital.

• SPECT brain scans (Ross, 1999 and Simon, 1994).

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Dangers of Mold

A continuous source of dampness can produce mold as in a constant

drip or a leak behind a wall. It's the interface between wet and dry

where mold will grow, not in pure running water. It's the drying

time that's important; the longer it takes something to dry, the

more chance it has of becoming moldy. People can have an allergy to

mold or they can react to its toxins.

Not all molds produce toxins; of those that do, resulting symptoms

can vary and may be intermittent. Toxin levels may be better when it

is raining because, when mold is wet it is contented, but when it

becomes dry, it feels threatened and will start to send out spores

in order to propagate itself and survive. These spores, which can

contain toxins, will attach to dust in your environment. Thus, on a

nice dry day you are more likely to feel worse.

Once established, molds can persist in low temperatures and low

humidity, and can live for prolonged periods. Toxic molds can give

off different toxins at different times of the day, and so, if you

have toxic molds in your house, you may experience a change in

symptoms throughout any particular day. Any one mold can produce up

to 200 different chemicals.

Stachybotrys produces by far the worst toxin. It must be grown on

a culture for at least three months before there is evidence of its

presence, but even then it can still go undetected. There are cases

of homes which have been found to have over 2.8 m2 of heavy

Stachybotrys growth behind a wall, but yet, in testing, none was

found growing in the cultures. Nevertheless, even one spore found in

a house is evidence of toxicity! No articles from the house should

be removed as they can contaminate a new location.

Symptoms such as the following may be present at various times in

every member of a family in an affected household, whether from

exposure to hidden or obvious molds:

- bone marrow suppression (low blood count) red blood cells, white

blood cells, platelets

- interference with protein synthesis (failure to thrive)

- weight-loss and weakness, loss of balance

- loss of hair

- increased susceptibility to infections

- skin lesions and rashes

- nausea and diarrnea

- birth defects

- lung congestion/asthma; severe small airway obstruction (very

common)

- hormone disruption, low levels of hormones

- memory loss, disorientation, spaciness, irritability

- headaches, fatigue, swelling around eyes and face, loose teeth

- numbness (atypical) glove & stocking in extremities

- suppression of NK (natural killer) cells

- coagulation defects resulting in bleeding in adrenal glands,

uterus, vagina, brain, lungs, nose or gastrointestinal tract

- easy bruising

- frequent nosebleeds

- blood in kidneys, blood in urine

- damage to CD38 (suppressor cell is activated) receptor which gives

rise in

- EBV titres

- oculomotor palsy, blindness

- increase in anti-smooth muscle antibodies, anti-myelin antibodies

- increase in anti-nuclear antibodies +ANA

- essentially mimics radiation poisoning to the body, i.e., damages

DNA

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) estimates

that 60+% of finished basements have mold in their drywall. They

also found that about 40% of these basements with mold have toxic

mold. That means if you have a finished basement, you have a greater

than 25% chance of having an unhealthy mold in your house.

If the presence of stachybotrys, or other toxic mold is suspected,

you can test for mycotoxins either from an air sample from the house

or from a sample of your blood.

Labs which tests for mold:

Jacques Whitford - 613-738-0708 - ask for Nadeau (culture

plates)

Aerotech - 800-651-4802 (mycotoxins in air samples)

Romer - 656-583-8600, ext. 112 - (mycotoxins in air samples)

To check mycotoxins in your body: - ImmunoSciences - 310-657-1077

- blood (IgG. IgA. IgM, IgE)

- Trichothecenes

- Aflatoxins

- Satratoxins

- Stachybotrys - DNA of it by PCR (in saliva)

Blood can be tested for certain antibodies of molds you may have

been exposed to (IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE) such as:

- Alternaria tenuis

- Aspergillus fumigatus

- Aspergillus niger

- Candida albicans

- Cladosporium herbarium

- Epicoccum negrum

- Geotrichium candidum

- Penicillium notatum

- Phoca herbarium

- Pilularia pullulans

- Rhizopus nigricans

- Rhodotorula glutinis

- Chaetomiam globosum

- Stachybotrys chartarum

Also, the New York City Health Department has prepared a helpful

document which outlines adverse health effects of mold and how to go

about testing for it and removing it in indoor environments. The

document can be viewed by clicking here (if you're prompted to

register to view the document, just exit the registration window by

pressing the X at the top right of the registration screen--you can

then view the document underneath).

References:

1. NATIONAL EDITION REPORT NEWS MAGAZINE, December 3, 2001, pp. 39-

42.

2. Johanning, Eckardt, Ed.. BIOAEROSOLS, FUNGI AND MYCOTOXINS:

HEALTH EFFECTS, ASSESSMENT, PREVENTION AND CONTROL, Eastern New York

Occupational & Environmental Health Center, Albany, New York, 1999.

3. Lipsey, , TOXIC MOLD TOXIC ENEMY, 2000