VISITING THE NEST

Safe, non-toxic housing is a medical requirement for people who have chemical sensitivities. We need to have a place to rest, recover and find refuge from constant assaults of toxic life outside of the “nest”. If a person with chemical sensitivities invites you to come to their home, you will need to do some planning for that visit and you will need to take that planning very seriously. Try to not be overwhelmed by the accommodation requirements of a person living with chemical sensitivities. It is so important that we have visitors. Our lives have changed drastically since becoming chemically injured and we miss contact with people in public space. Our homes are the only safe place that we have and sadly, many people with chemical sensitivities do not even have that.  Remember, you only have to adjust your life for one visit, while your friend, colleague or family member with chemical sensitivity has had to permanently adjust their entire life.

Here are some things to consider when you are visiting my “nest”:

NOTE: there is a great deal of variance among people with chemical sensitivities, so it is very important that you check in with the person you are visiting.  The following suggestions are what I need my visitors to know. 

The most important step is to take stock of all of the products that you use in your home, particularly your personal care products, laundry and cleaning products. Soap, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, after shave, perfume, lotions, talcum powder, make up, cologne, laundry soap, fabric softener, dryer sheets, air fresheners, incense as well as essential oils. Lay it all out on a table and start reading the labels.  My personal rule of thumb is - can I eat this?  If the answer is yes, then the product is safe.  Be especially mindful of products that list “fragrance” or “perfume” because manufacturers are not required to disclose the many chemicals that make up these ingredients due to “trade secret laws” which is why perfume and cologne is so extremely toxic and really should be avoided by all people at all times.  It is very important that these products, their vapours or their residues not enter into my home.

Check this out:  Not So Sexy The Health Risks of Secret Chemicals in Fragrance.

While essential oils are derivatives of plants and flowers, they vary a great deal in terms of grade. Cosmetic grade essential oils may contain pesticide residues or be diluted in synthetic oils. I am able to tolerate some therapeutic grade essential oils in trace amounts; however, it is best that visitors not use fragrance of any kind, whether natural or synthetic when visiting. Unfortunately, my brain/body is often unable to determine the difference between these scents because of similar molecular structures and I react negatively to both synthetic and natural perfumes. Furthermore, essential oils do not contribute to a scent-free environment and should not be worn in spaces that are scent-free.

Sometimes people get confused and think that I am asking them to not bathe and this is the farthest thing from the truth!  I actually do need you to bathe! I need you to wash off the scented products and chemical residue from your hair, skin and clothing. We have been conditioned to believe that “clean” has to smell like something, but in reality “clean” smells like nothing at all!  Clean is a neutral state. Anything that you use that you think “smells nice” is very likely to be toxic because fragrance and perfume is made up of hazardous chemicals. We also have to be mindful of products that claim to be “natural” because advertisers and are able to market unnatural cosmetic products as “natural” or even “organic”. Also, some products which are advertised as “unscented” have merely added MORE chemicals to mask the scent of their products. 

Here is a funny video that describes the real phenomenon of false advertising “Natural”.  Check it out!

IF you are a person who uses scented products on a regular basis, you may need to start planning several days in advance for our visit because the fragrance residue will linger and stick to your skin, clothing and hair even after numerous washings with unscented products. These products are designed to be long lasting and it isn’t easy to eliminate them.

Laundry detergent and fabric softener are extremely difficult for me – even worse than lingering cigarette smoke!  If you use scented detergents, fabric softeners, have purchased something new or from a second hand store or sprayed perfume or febreeze (and other similar products) on your clothing it will take multiple washings to make it fragrance free. How many times the clothing is going to need to be washed is going to vary greatly for people with chemical sensitivities. Someone in my family had to wash their clothing five times with baking soda and unscented detergent before it was safe for me to be in close contact with. Soaking clothing overnight in baking soda or an oxygen-based scent free soda and then rinsing with vinegar before washing might help. Switching to unscented ecologically sound laundry detergent will make all of this easier if you plan on visiting with me frequently. 

It is extremely challenging to wade through all of the information out there and none of us really wants to intentionally injure others with personal care products. Over the course of the last year, I have had to learn a lot in order to keep myself safe. I have also made extensive use of guides and databases to help keep safe from toxic chemicals in personal care and cleaning products. 

Here are a few great resources:

The Guide to Less Toxic Products:  please select products that are fragrance/scent free.

Personal Care Products.

Household Cleaners.

California Safe Cosmetics Program Product Database.

Skin Deep Database.

Well.ca - Carries a broad range of Fragrance-Free options

Before coming over, please avoid hugging people wearing perfume or scented products, pumping gasoline, walking through cigarette smoke, air fresheners, scented candles, burning incense or visiting a drug store, hair salon, auto body shop or other location where chemicals and scented products are used.  All of these things will linger on your skin, hair and clothing. 

Oftentimes, I ask visitors to leave their coats outside, or take them to the mudroom at the back of my home. Coats do not get washed often and contain many layers of residue. This is also true of purses and other bags, which get laid down on many surfaces that pick up toxic residue. Please do not be surprised if I take your purse, bag, shoes and coat to another room.   

In addition to chemical residue on your skin, hair and clothing there are some other items that I would request that you not bring into my home. Newly fabricated items may be coated in residue from the manufacturing process. Products such as flowers or plants (unless organically grown) can be coated in synthetic pesticides, insecticides and fungicides.  The “new” smell in books is formaldehyde and new books must be off gassed before they come into the house. This is also true of most freshly printed material, such as magazines, posters, pamphlets and photographs.

I hope that you do not feel discouraged about coming to visit – because I really WANT you to come over!  I desperately miss hanging out in cafes, libraries and restaurants.  I have to have higher standards for people coming into my home because my home is my safe nest and I need it to remain that way.