European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 28, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By some americans who have developed multiple chemical sensitivity have had to resort to Industrial respirators to filter out common substances such As perfume and pain associated press whiff of perfume or a Breeze from the neighbor s Lawn can leave chemically sensitive people speechless. And they Are becoming . They complain they re getting sick a very sick a from everyday exposure to common Levels of chemicals in the Home office and environment. In extreme cases some of them have even had to resort to Industrial respirators to filter out certain substances. Chemical sensitivity can leave sufferers vulnerable to headaches burning in the Throat and lungs and a paralysing disorientation that can Render one incapable of speaking. A. A sceptics in the insurance medical and chemical a industries say they Are not convinced the misery Isnit All in the sufferers Heads. The condition has yet to win recognition in those circles or the insurance benefits that would result. A but some scientists insist society is seeing the first casualties of the proliferation of chemicals. Since world War ii annual . Production of synthetic organic chemicals has exploded from less than 1 billion pounds to 273 billion by 1988. Quot these May indeed be the canaries Quot said Claudia Miller a University of Texas health science Center allergist and immunologist who co wrote a study on the malady for the department of health of new Jersey the state with the nation s second biggest chemical Industry behind Texas. Quot we Don t understand the mechanisms a she said. Quot it May be neurological or immunological. It May be biochemical Quot a. A whatever the mechanism the effect can be dramatic say experts and those who suffer from chemical sensitivity also known As environmental illness. The illness often begins with a single exposure a installation of a new carpet in the office or an accidental release of toxic materials from a sewage Plant a that. Scorns to traumatize the body into a permanent hypersensitive state sufferers say. What follows is a bewildering array of symptoms and a search for diagnosis and treatment. Patients try to avoid Contact with the pesticides plastics and building materials they fear will trigger an episode. Some sufferers find breathing Relief with use of adrenaline but drugs Are not too useful because Many sufferers react to pharmaceuticals flow Many people Are affected still is  to the new Jersey report the National Academy of sciences suggested about 15 percent of the population has heightened sensitivity to chemicals though fewer people face intense symptoms. But an Academy spokeswoman later said the estimate was off the cuff and should not have been cited by the authors. The medical establishment remains dubious psychiatrist Carroll Brodsky of the University of California san Francisco who has written extensively on the subject said it is More Likely a psychological disability. A if you believe you could t walk outside or walk anywhere where there were exhaust fumes you would be disabled. If that is the Issue have i seen people like this who Are disabled certainly Quot Brodsky said. A now whether they have anything wrong with them physically is quite another matter. If physical doctors can t find anything physically wrong with them it must be within the realm of the  some credible Neutral organizations have Given at least some credence to a physical basis for the disorder. The environmental Protection Agency in a report to Congress on indoor air pollution urges financing for research on chemical sensitivity. The congressional research service Calls chemical sensitivity one of the consequences of poor indoor air Quality and the Federal department of i housing and Urban development has ruled that people with environmental a illness who live in subsidized housing cannot be forced to have their Homes exterminated with chemicals. Some doubters blame malingering employees aiming for workers compensation benefits. They also Point to sufferers subconscious fear of workplace pressures and to fright our frequent Media reports about chemicals. Clinical ecologists doctors who specialize in chemical sensitivity also have met with step Taoism. Mainstream allergists for example have urged the health Caro Marioi  to deny reimbursement for clinical ecologists work. But Miller and her co author on the new Jersey report contend the psychological explanation ignores the stunning similarity of triggering exposures and symptoms reported. A Quot they re All so diverse yet they re All coming up with the same thing. Is it ail psychological when everyone is coming up with the same symptoms Quot they ask. She and co author Nicholas Ashford of the Massachusetts Institute of technology agree that  research is needed. Among dozens of proposals to Federal and state governments they want to set up an Quot environmental unit Quot a contaminant free chamber in which subjects would be placed and observed As chemicals were introduced. New Jersey officials have  what recommendations if any they Wilt follow. So far the scientists have found four groups of people most prone to chemical sensitivity. They Are  workers occupants of Weli insulated poorly Venti ated offices ies dents of contaminated communities and people exposed to Chemick s m household Ama it is widespread in nature and is not limited to what some observers would describe As malingering workers hysterical housewives arid workers expense Nimg mass psychogenic illness Quot the report says. Believers in chemical sensitivity As a physical illness say the sceptics fear an ominous message if people Are getting sick from the chemical Laden world it bodes ill for a huge Industry. It might mean constructing buildings with better ventilation settling for a less than perfect Lawn or scrubbing toilets with baking soda. And an Industry briefing paper warns More formal recognition of chemical sensitivity could bring a torrent of lawsuits and insurance obligations. A Quot the primary Impact on society would be the huge Cost associated with the legitimization of environmental illness Quot says the paper by the chemical manufacturers association. A it would mean we had a new and very different problem to Deal with Quot said Gordon Strickland a chemical manufacturers association a lace president. A a but we have looked through the data and looked through the arguments. And found nothing supportive Quot of a physical explanation. Mary Lamielle a chemical sensitivity sufferer from Voorhees n Jand Leader of a National group working for official recognition of the condition said economics More than science is behind the Industry scepticism. Lamielle pressured her state senator Lee Laskin who in turn got the department of health to do the study. Her group has roughly 2,000 members mostly sufferers. Pago 14 aaa the stars and stripes tuesday