Defining Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

The number of people suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is greater than the number suffering from AIDS, yet the general public and the medical community know very little about the disease. More and more people are disabled daily, despite the fact that the condition does not have to occur. In Part One of this work, experts review the research into the disease, along with treatment strategies. Part Two examines the legal recourses available to MCS sufferers, such as workers’ compensation claims and product liability suits. How the medical community has often worked against MCS sufferers is the focus of Part Three, demonstrating that medical opposition to the disease is unfounded. The editor, an MCS sufferer, details her own case in Part Four.

Bonnye L. Matthews developed chemical sensitivity from work-related, low-level toxic exposure. She lives in Wasilla, Alaska.

Edited by Bonnye L. Matthews

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 212
Bibliographic Info: 14 photos, 18 tables, notes, index
Copyright Date: 2008 [1998]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3750-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2162-3
Imprint: McFarland

Preface     1

1 Chemical Sensitivity: A Psychological Perspective     5

2 MCS: Trial by Science     9

3 SPECT Brain Scanning After Chemical Injury     27

4 Porphyria, Cytochrome P-450, and Toxic Exposure     31

5 No Balm in Gilead: Why Workers’ Compensation Fails Workers     61

6 Junk Science     103

7 Medical Literature and MCS: An Analysis of Seven Papers     111

8 My Experience with Chemical Sensitivity     135

About the Contributors     199

Index     201

• “Well written…informative”—Friends of a Feather
• “Several perspectives representing medical, legal, personal and political views”—New Perspectives