Comments baysidebill has made

  • Some men get it! Unfortunately...

    As someone who developed Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, I am reminded daily about the toxic effects of cosmetics. If the health effects of these products wasn't bad enough, the cosmetics and related industries have prevented unbiased research, fought regulation and fought disability/workers comp efforts.

    My sensitivity contibuted to stress levels and my developing diabetes.

    I can get around in the world but passing a laundromat, a smoker with dust on their clothes (not smoking), perfumed/cologned/ hair permed or strelaxed people and my enrgy level and well being go out the window.

    A week or so ago, a woman got on a bus I was on and had strong perfume. A man across from me had amoderately strong response. Some coughing and moderate respiratory distress. My physical response was a little wooziness mild respiratory effect.

    Below is from my SSI application:

    My multiple chemical sensitivity, natural allergies and diabetes work together with stress to destabilize my health. In other words, a problem with any of these health issues affects the others negatively.

    Please describe how your symptoms (such as pain, fatigue, weakness, dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, fevers, shortness of breath, effects of medication, etc.) prevent you from carrying out your normal workday. Please be specific.

    Exposure to chemical triggers and/or dust and natural allergies and/or diabetic blood sugar fluctuations causes a combination of different symptoms:

    Loss of mental acuity (Foggy-headedness)
    Loss of energy
    Stress
    Balance problems
    Ear fullness
    Hearing problems
    Some shortness of breath
    Allergic skin sensation
    Sinus pressure and or irritation
    Nausea
    Frustration/Anger

    Types of Triggers:

    This list is fairly comprehensive. I'm sure there are other items, but these are the most common.

    Scented Products:  Perfumes, colognes, after shaves, powders, detergents, soaps, concentrated mouthwash drops, incense, cleansers, some candies (scent) skin lotions and cream, especially scented anti-bacterial lotions. Branded name products tend to be more scented.

    Personal Products:  Many personal products that don't have a scent but cause problems for me. Some are petroleum-based. These include lotions that have slight odors. They can be suntan lotions, skin lotions, hair relaxers, permanents, hair gels.

    Office/Classroom:  Photocopiers/photocopies (toner and colored ink worse than black ink), permanent markers, white board erasers. (According to Dr. Bob Harrison, UCSF, the photocopiers have both chemicals and produce ozone, so that I have both a chemical and respiratory (asthma) response.)

    Construction Home Decoration:  Adhesives, new carpeting, vinyl adhesive paper, particle board, latex and oil paints, latex caulking, turpentine, paint thinner, roof tar.

    Petroleum Products: Gas and diesel fumes, distillates such as solvents, lubricants and degreasers. Benzene is used in fabric softener sheets.

    Cosmetics:    Nail polish, nail polish remover.

    Other:    Vinyl bumper stickers, dry cleaning, elevator hydraulic fluid
    Tobacco (I was allergic to it before chemical sensitivity; I'm now even more sensitive to it- I often have to move away from smokers even when they are not smoking) marijuana smoke (strong neurological response, as if I were spastic or had palsy). It's not a contact high, it's more like being wrecked. That's minimal contact.

    It is difficult to always ascertain whether my symptoms are due to diabetes or chemical/natural allergies. The symptoms overlap. This includes when I do check for blood sugar. My health has deteriorated so just feeling bad is much more common.

    My mental and physical function is affected by chemical triggers in what is closest to other peoples' experience to alcohol intoxication with the element of physical stiffness.  Not one drink, like several in rapid succession. At its worst, there is a feeling of having to concentrate to have motor skills and mental focus to have a short conversation of a sentence or two. I believe that I've experienced what epileptics do when they have an aura. Exposure to a good deal of glossy printed material often causes me to get angry- this is true for oil and soy based inks. I consciously clench my teeth very hard when stressed or exposed to some triggers, which has lead to enamel cracks in all my teeth.

    The only thing I can do when exposed to something that affects me these ways is to remove myself from the location. When I'm in a bus, I have to change seats, stand up, open windows. When I enter a bus, I look for signs of people who are more likely to wear chemical products that affect me; people who wear makeup, hair relaxers, and hair gels, perms, people dressed for going out on the town. On An interview with Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics posted 1 year, 7 months ago 3 Responses

  • Music and the environment

    Steve Earle and loads of other fine musicians have done tons of good "coal/coal mining" music. Steve has "Harlan Man" and "The Mountain".

    This one's all over the place.

    Steve Earle's "Harlan Man" and "The Mountain" are really good. Google songs about coal/coal mining- you'll get many good songs.

    I know it's convenient to abbreviate but MTR means Mountain Top Removal. Like IED means   Improvised Explosive Device- a bomb. Abbreviations take the emotional weight off the term.

    America's cities and its rural areas have been hammered by policies in the past 50+ years. Rural areas have been crapped on longer than that.

    As for Thatcher, she was anti-union. Period. Don't  buy into historical revisionism. England has long had health problems due to coal burning.

    Strange isn't it that native peoples  here and elsewhere have held sources of energy (coal/uranium) sacred, not to be exploited. And they're seen as backwards.

    This country needs a real energy program, a real health care system and a good food production system.

    The destruction of this country and its environment from the mountain top removal in West Virginia to the planned oil drilling near Artic Village, Alaska is a monument to the greed of the Bushes, the Cheneys, the Peabody's and the JH Blairs.

    Remember the Cheney Energy Task Force of 2001? For a country that has seen more of its share of police/detective shows, we sure don't seem to get prima facie. Let's see- Enron and energy provider rip-offs, invade Afghanistan, Iraq, support coup attempt in Venezuela, involvement in Columbia.

    It says "We the People" not we the sheeple. Or lemmings.

     On Songs about the enemy of the human race posted 1 year, 7 months ago 30 Responses

  • What about tire inflation?

    No one's mentioned tire inflation. I still don't understand the difference between tire and car  manufacturer recommnended differences. Probably car is calibrated at one level and tires can take more.

    With an aging population and a lot of mediocre drivers out there on top of that, mass transit should be expanded instead of being cut because of budget cuts and the increased cost of fuel/energy.

    It's time to see "End of Suburbia" again. Especially appropriate now with CA gas prices over $4. On Easing off the gas eases gas use posted 1 year, 7 months ago 29 Responses