Question for Chemist Mike Golden

[Guest guest]

Off Topic subject: I suffer from sensitivity to chemicals. Especially the

formaldehyde that seems to be infused in everything that was made in China. I

have bought wooden cabinets from Pier One that I couldn't stand to be near.

Draperies, bedspreads, clothing, anykind of fabric that was made in China...

and they all are!

Recently I went to a Goodwill Store and bought a bathrobe that was used and

presumably laundered a few times. Got it home, started with the headache,

burning tongue, sore throat in back of my mouth, just as if I were surrounded

with toxic fumes. I am sorry to say that most people are being accosted by

these chemicals all the time, but they are not sensitive to them and don't know

it. Except children, who have reportedly been burned by the formaldehyde in

baby clothes.

My qustion, Mike, is this: Is there anything I could put in the washinging

machine with these chemicals to defuse them... or counteract their

effectiveness, or make them just dissolve and disappear? I went to Home Depot

to buy some kitchen counter tops and they were so offensive I had to leave the

store. The salesman told me that formaldehyde is a " wonderful " adhesive, so it

is used in all the fabricated wood products made today. I understand that it is

also used in fabrics to soften the rather harsh fibers of whatever material they

make clothing out of. But I've found it even in their pure silk products.

So, Mike, is there anything that can be used to destroy this stuff in fabrics,

by washing them? I read somewhere that sensitivity to chemicals is a smptom of

yeast problems in the person... but I almost would rather stay sensitive so I

can detect when I am near these toxic items. And, or, is there a nostrum that

can be used to detox the body after exposure to these noxious fumes?

If you have a good answer I think I might submit it to our local newspaper in

San Diego... everybody should know about this health threat. Got your thinking

cap on?

Marji