Does Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Disorder exist?

[RickJay]

Last year we had a lady in my office who claimed to be afflicted with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Disorder. This is a condition that (allegedly, in keeping with the thread title) causes people to have asthmatic-type symptoms in the presence of a variety of airborne chemicals. Consequently, memoradums were passed out advising people not to wear perfume, deodorant, etc. We were required to take a big oxygen tank with us on a company-wide retreat just in case she smelled some perfume. I figured, well, okay, whatever works.

Later on in the year we had a guest speaker, a physician, during our Health and Safety Week on the subject of indoor air pollution. When asked about MCSD, he replied that there is no evidence such a thing exists and that it’s probably psychosomatic.

This quite surprised me. Why would someone come up with a psychosomatic disorder just spang out of the blue?

But indeed, there seems to be a strong belief that MCSD doesn’t exist.

One the pro side, people who demonstrate actual symptoms are quite convincing. The lady in my office doesn’t just complain; she’s had a few episodes of choking and being unable to breathe. She once insisted I trade phone handsets with her because she could smell perfume on hers (and it did smell vaguely like hand lotion or something, so it wasn’t totally imaginary.)

On the con side, the disease DOES seem to have a suspiciously broad and nonspecific array of symptoms blamed on it, sufferers sometimes do exhibit strange behavioural tics often bordering on paranoia, it’s not recognized by the AMA or any like group, and the causes and cures often seem very pseudoscientific.

What’s the straight dope on MCSD?

(A Google search on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity will give you more sources than you can shake a perfume-soaked stick at.)

[X_Slayer_ALE]

Is body odor a disease?

Is Bad Breath a disease?

IMO, Certain “afflictions” were invented because people had a cure but no disease to deal with. so they invented the disease then cured it. Sure, there are people with bad breath and we all joke about the french but is it really necesary to smell like perfumes and soaps? How many people had literally died of bad breath or foul body odor? Is it really “foul” or just the natural smell of human beings?

as far as your lady friend is concerned, yes she might exhibit symptomology that points to some form of allergic reaction but if you label a disease to fit the symptoms and stop right there, are you doing the patient any service? what does Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Disorder mean anyway… Shes allergic to a lot of stuff. the stuff is not specified, listed or related. No pathology as to why she is senstive, she just is. Thats strance medicine, if you ask me.

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

FWIW, Quackwatch sez, “Um…”

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/mcs.html

Conclusion

“Multiple chemical sensitivity” is not a legitimate diagnosis. Instead of testing their claims with well-designed research, its advocates are promoting them through publications, talk shows, support groups, lawsuits, and political maneuvering (such as getting state governors to designate a Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Awareness Week). Many are also part of a network of questionable legal actions alleging injuries by environmental chemicals.

Many people diagnosed with “MCS” suffer greatly and are very difficult to treat. Well-designed investigations suggest that most of them have a psychosomatic disorder in which they develop multiple symptoms in response to stress. If this is true – and I believe it is – clinical ecology patients run the risks of misdiagnosis, mistreatment, financial exploitation, and/or delay of proper medical and psychiatric care. In addition, insurance companies, employers, other taxpayers, and ultimately all citizens are being burdened by dubious claims for disability and damages. To protect the public, state licensing boards should scrutinize the activities of clinical ecologists and decide whether the overall quality of their care is sufficient for them to remain in medical practice.

I am personally acquainted with a woman who gets asthma when she’s exposed to strong perfumes, but she doesn’t go around telling people she has MCSD, she just says, “I’m allergic to strong perfumes.”

[Jackmannii]

I don’t know of any good evidence to support the claim that MCSD is a defined illness, in the sense that victims have symptoms based on exposure to a wide range of environmental chemicals due to immune system damage/overload.

There are certainly people who believe they have MCSD and feel sick. As this study indicates, only a small fraction of the patients they evaluated had anything but typical allergies or psychosomatic disorders, and even the remainder could not be characterized as suffering from MCSD.

There’s something very attractive to certain people about the idea that we are swimming in a sea of chemicals and toxins, so something’s gotta go wrong. Environmental awareness is fine, but the measures taken to protect supposed MCSD patients from their world have at times gotten to ridiculous extremes.

“More research is needed” = “So far, it seems to be a crock”.
Interesting that the debunker cited in the OP is named Fumento.

[David_B]

I reviewed a book on this topic a few years ago, Chemical Sensitivity: The Truth About Environmental Illness. The short answer is “no – there’s no such thing.” For more of a long answer, you can read my review.

[antechinus]

Unfortunately an employee can go around doctor shopping until they find one who will give them a workers compensation certificate for MCS, though they may not use the term MCS. This is not that difficult, since doctors tend to err on the side of caution.

When this ploy is used to avoid work, it becomes very frustrating for the employer, when there are more serious occupational hazards to be concerned about.

[Cillasi]

As with most “new” disorders, it will take a while before the medical profession acknowledges that MCSD exists.

Over the past 10 years, I seem to be accumulating a host of things that trigger “allergic” reactions in me. A lot of things that smell “powdery” will cause me to start coughing, make my eyes burn and tear, and give me a headache. They include perfumes, lotions, cosmetics, deordorants, hairspray, etc. As a result, whenever I smell anything “powdery” I tend to tense up in anticipation of that reaction. If I don’t react within 5 minutes, I’ll be okay, but I still won’t be comfortable with the odor.

However, I will often suffer reactions to substances when there is no discernable odor. Odor-free detergents and insecticides for instance. Yes, the smelly kind makes me react also. It’s not the odor or non-odor, but the chemicals in the stuff.

The funniest situation was when I seemed to develop an allergy to an attorney in my office. We had to work closely on a project and every time he approached my desk, I’d begin to cough. He actually noticed it before I did. We had worked together before and no such thing happened. He even sneaked up behind me and I would begin to cough. We finally figured it out when I went into his office and not only did I begin coughing, but my eyes began to burn and tear. Turns out he had an aroma-therapy machine going and that’s what was setting me off. Even though he carried no discernable odor, he did carry the chemicals on his clothes and body.

I cannot use cosmetics anymore. Odor or no odor, anything on my face will make my eyes tear and burn even if they don’t affect my skin, which they rarely do.

Naturally, when the source is removed, or I remove myself from the source, the symptoms subside, however, the time it takes them to subside varies with how long I was exposed to the substance. My eyes can tear and burn for up to 2 days after a long (an hour or more) exposure.

I believe MCSD is an acquired disorder - a build up over years of exposure to harsh chemicals. Some may be more susceptible to it because of things like cigarette smoking or breathing impairment, but it does exist.