Check out Episode 26 of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!   The title is “Stories of Grief, Acceptance & Strength.” It features a Conversation with Gail McCormick.Gail is a psychotherapist, former newspaper reporter, and writer based in Seattle in the U.S. She has lived with MCS for many years. In 2001, she published a book of interviews she conducted with dozens of people who had MCS across the U.S. Her goal was to find out how they were coping and how their emotional and social lives were impacted by the illness.  Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes twice a month!  “Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Narratives of Coping”Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Check out Episode 25 of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast! The title is “Safe Dentistry & MCS.” Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You will hear Dr. Amy Dayries, one of the world’s most knowledgeable dentists about MCS. She shares helpful information about how to find a dentist who understands MCS, testing for safe dental products, amalgams, root canals, and more. Dr. Amy DayriesInternational Association of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT)American Academy of oral systemic health (AAOSH)Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Episode 24 of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast is available now!  The title is “A Physician with MCS.” It features a conversation with Dr. Ann McCampbell.Although she trained as a physician, Dr. McCampbell’s career in medicine was interrupted by severe MCS. However, she has devoted her life to raising awareness about the illness and helping people who have it. In our conversation, you'll hear  Dr. McCampbell explore: ·       Whether tests could be developed to help people with MCS get a diagnosis.·       Who is most at risk of developing MCS?·       Her personal experiences as a physician and person with MCS.·       Some information about treatments, diet, and isolation that people with MCS often experience.·       How people with MCS can speak with friends and loved ones about the illness. More information about Dr. McCampbell can be found here. Chemical Intolerance Self-Assessment Test (QEESI)Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Check out Episode 23 of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast! The title is “Chemicals in Central America, Chemicals Everywhere.”It features a conversation with Alex Nading, Ph.D. Professor Nading teaches anthropology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in the US. He specializes in the impacts of pesticides and toxic exposures for people who work on sugarcane plantations in Nicaragua, climate change, and environmental health and activism.  You will Professor Nading explore: The impacts of pesticides and other chemicals for people who work on sugarcane plantations in Nicaragua. How we are all impacted by chemicals and toxins, no matter where we live.Why there is so much denial about the fact the MCS is a real illness.More information about Professor Nading’s research can be found here. Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Episode 22 of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast is available now! The title is “Bodily Natures: Exploring Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.”  You’ll hear my conversation with Professor Stacy Alaimo, who teaches at the University of Oregon in the US. She specializes in environmental humanities, American literature, and how writers explore environmental threats to oceans, plants, and animals. Professor Alaimo also has Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and describes it as relatively mild. We start our conversation talking about her experiences with MCS. Then we explore her influential 2010 book, “Bodily Natures: Science, Environment, and the Material,” in which she writes in detail about MCS. You’ll hear Professor Alaimo discuss: • How many products that people buy make them ill in unexpected ways. • Why the majority of people with MCS are women. • How most people who are able to get diagnosed with MCS are white and have completed higher education. • And more. More information about Professor Alaimo’s research can be found here: https://www.stacyalaimo.comSupport the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Check out Episode 21 of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!  The title is “Putting Chemicals Back in MCS.”Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/ https://www.facebook.com/podcastingmcs  This episode features a conversation with Varda Burstyn,  longtime advocate for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). Based in Ontario, Canada, Varda is also an environmentalist, writer, and has lived with the illness for decades. You’ll hear Varda discuss her important and extremely well-researched report that she wrote with Maureen MacQuarrie in response to a  2021 paper published the Quebec National Institute of Public Health that claims MCS is an anxiety disorder.Read the summary and report by Varda Burstyn: "Putting the Chemicals Back in Multiple Chemical Sensitivity"Take actionQuebec paper & summarySupport the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Check out Episode 20 of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!  The title is “Snowflake, Arizona.”   https://www.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/ https://www.facebook.com/podcastingmcs  It features a conversation with two long-time residents of Snowflake, a town in the northern part of the US state of Arizona. The community has gained a reputation among people with MCS as a relatively safe place to live, away from chemicals found in urban environments.   You’ll hear Susan Molloy and Scott Killingsworth talk about Their experiences with MCS and settling in Snowflake.What it's like to live there and some of the challenges (including the climate).And the steps people with MCS normally take in order to decide if living in Snowflake is the right choice for them.Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Episode 19 of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast is available now! The title is “Photographing The Canaries.It features a conversation with documentary photographer Thilde Jensen. Thilde talks about her internationally acclaimed 2013 book, "The Canaries." It's a compelling collection of self-portraits and photos of others with MCS.  "The Canaries" by Thilde JensenSupport the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!New episodes twice a month. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.Please support our work to help us continue creating greater awareness about MCS. Thank you very much!In Episode 18, “Toxicology & Communities of Resistance," I’m speaking with Melina Packer, Ph.D. Melina is a postdoctoral research associate in the Feminist Lenses for Animal Interaction Research (FLAIR) Lab at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is currently writing a queer feminist history of toxicology in the U.S., in which she argues that racial, gendered, and economic hierarchies are embedded into the science itself. These inherent biases, in turn, help explain how and why marginalized peoples remain disproportionately more exposed to toxic environmental chemicals.In our conversation, Melina explores:How  society became inundated with synthetic chemicals or toxicants.How women, especially women of color, factory- and farm-workers, LGBTQ+ people, and members of other socially marginalized groups, are often over-burdened by toxic exposures.What endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are and how they challenge core tenets of toxicology.How over-exposed communities are pushing back against the chemical industry.Melina Packer’s websiteTwitterSupport the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!New episodes twice a month. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.Please support our work to help us continue creating greater awareness about MCS. Thank you very much! We really appreciate it. In this episode, I’m speaking with Andrea Lily Ford, Ph.D. Originally from California in the U.S., Andrea is now based in Scotland. She is an anthropologist and specializes in culture and medicine and works at the Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society at the University of Edinburgh Medical School. As a researcher, Andrea builds on her experience as a practicing birth doula to examine the impact of chemicals on the endocrine system. She also specializes in how chemicals affect childbearing women, foetuses, and infants. In our conversation, Andrea explores how:The placenta does not protect the foetus from chemicals.Many women spend time and energy identifying products that potentially keep their unborn children and infants safe.Reducing the number of chemicals is everyone’s responsibility. Breastfeeding can pass chemicals from mothers to infants, but in spite of this, it is still widely recommended because of its benefits.Links:Website: Andrea Lily Ford, Ph.D."Purity is not the Point: Chemical Toxicity, Childbearing, and Consumer Politics as Care." 2020 paper by Andrea Lily Ford.Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!New episodes twice a month. Subscribe for free wherever you get your podcasts.You can support our work to help us continue creating greater awareness about MCS. Thank you very much! We really appreciate it. In this episode, I’m speaking with filmmaker and singer-songwriter Susan Abod. Susan has MCS and focuses on the illness in her work.In our conversation, Susan explores:Her singing and songwriting about MCS.Her film, “Homesick,” about her journey exploring how people with MCS try to find and build healthy and safe housing.Trigger warning: Susan talks about how people with MCS who struggle housing experience disproportionately high rates of suicide. Susan Abod’s websiteWatch Susan’s films, “Homesick” and “Funny You Don’t Look Sick” on Kanopy using your library info.Rent or buy “Homesick” on Amazon (US only).Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!New episodes twice a month. Subscribe for free where you get your podcasts.If you like the podcast, you can support our work to help us continue creating greater awareness about MCS. Thank you very much! We really appreciate it.In this episode, I’m speaking with Professor Emily Lim Rogers. Emily is a Disability Studies researcher and educator who specializes in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or ME/CFS. She is the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Disability Studies in the Department of American Studies, the Program in Science, Technology, and Society, and the Cogut Institute for the Humanities at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in the U.S. In our conversation, Emily explores:The nature of ME/CFS.How people with ME/CFS and MCS struggle to have these illnesses understood and accepted.Online activism as a way for people with chronic illnesses to call for change. The impacts of capitalism on people with ME/CFS and MCS.How long COVID could potentially lead to more research and understanding about ME/CFS and MCS.Emily Lim RogersSupport the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!New episodes twice a month. Subscribe for free wherever you get your podcasts.I’m speaking with author Marcus Sedgwick, who wrote the book “Snowflake, AZ,” published in 2019.The novel focuses on Ash, who travels by Greyhound bus to find their stepbrother Bly, who was last seen in Snowflake, Arizona. It’s a community where many people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) have settled, at an altitude of 6,000 feet in the desert, to get away from chemicals that are all too common in urban environments. In our conversation, Marcus explores:●      How the character Ash first views so-called canaries, people with MCS who live in Snowflake, and how the character's views shift when they develop the illness. ●      His experience visiting the community of Snowflake, AZ, and getting to know people with MCS who reside there.●      How long COVID may be changing the way some authorities in some countries are responding to chronic illnesses.More about “Snowflake, AZ” and Marcus.Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!We release new  episodes twice a month. Subscribe for free wherever you get your podcasts.This episode is titled “Fragrance-Free Church?” The focus is on churches, however,  I think the discussion is relevant for anyone with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) who may be struggling to access indoor spaces, whether they are run by  faith-based organizations or not. I’m speaking with Martha McLaughlin, author of the extraordinary book “Chemicals and Christians: Compassion and Caution.” Martha spent years exploring the science behind the illness and makes it accessible to everyone in her book. In our conversation, Martha discusses:A process of grief and acceptance that many people with MCS go through as they navigate life with the condition.How people with MCS who go to church face barriers because of the presence of scented products.The steps Martha and others have taken to ask churches to become fragrance-free, how churches have responded, and how churches could do more to ensure they are not excluding people with chemical sensitivities. I hope you enjoy the conversation and find it of benefit.Chemicals and Christians website by Martha McLaughlin.Prayer for people with MCS and Environmental Illness. Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!New episodes twice a month. Subscribe for free wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is titled "Parenting Children with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)."It features an insightful conversation with a woman who has MCS and is the mother of two teenage daughters who also have the illness and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). My guest and her daughters live in Colorado in the U.S. and have chosen to remain anonymous to protect their privacy. If you’re listening and have children with MCS, you may find my guest shares:Helpful information about the importance of listening to your intuition about children's chemical sensitivities or intolerances.That it's helpful to back up your thoughts with research. And above all, to trust yourself in advocating for your children.I hope you enjoy the conversation and find it of benefit.Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast! New episodes twice a month. Subscribe for free wherever you get your podcasts:Google Podcasts Apple PodcastsSpotify YouTubeFollow the podcast online for updates and to share your feedback:FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTokThis episode is titled, "A Critical Link? Mast Cell Activation and Chemical Intolerance."My guest is Dr. Lawrence Afrin, a long-time physician and expert on MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome).You will hear Dr. Afrin discuss:Could MCAS be at the root of Chemical Intolerance for many people?The primary symptoms of MCAS and what to do if you can't find or see a doctor.Medication that people with MCAS could try with a discussion about fillers and excipients that can lead to reactions for people with MCS.I hope you enjoy the conversation and find it of benefit.Links:Overlooked for Decades, Mast Cells May Explain Chemical IntoleranceMast cell activation may explain many cases of chemical intoleranceSupport the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!New episodes twice a month. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to never miss one.This episode is about living in vehicles as a refuge.It features a conversation with two women with severe MCS. They have had to make difficult decisions to live in their vehicles because synthetic and scented chemicals that many people use make them very ill. You'll hear Maggie, who chose to use a pseudonym, and Evangeline Elmendorf Greene. Both women live in Arizona in the western United States, sometimes driving to neighbouring states where they are not exposed to chemicals and forest fire smoke.  Maggie and Evangeline talk about: Social isolation that comes with living in vehicles.The challenge of finding vehicles that allow them to be healthy.How they are among countless other environmental refugees whose illnesses are not well understood and remain stigmatized. It was moving hearing Maggie and Evangeline’s stories. I’m very grateful to them for sharing  their experiences. I hope you enjoy the conversation and find it of benefit.Thanks so much for listening.  Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!New episodes twice a month. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to never miss one. This episode is about creating a fragrance-free policy.My guest is Mushim Ikeda.Mushim is a writer, poet, longtime Buddhism and mindfulness teacher, and Community Director at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) in Oakland, California. She has played a key role in developing a fragrance-free policy at the center, and it is an excellent model and  resource for organizations of all kinds. In our conversation, Mushim speaks speak about:How the fragrance-free policy was created.Challenges the center encountered.How other groups and organizations can adopt fragrance-free policies.  Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!New episodes twice a month. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to never miss one. And follow the podcast on social media.The title of this episode is "MCS is Not an Anxiety Disorder."  It features a conversation with Dr. Eleanor Stein. Dr. Stein  is a a psychiatrist and psychotherapist with an appointment in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary in the Faculty of Medicine.  For over 20 years, she has been intensively learning about diagnosis and management of Environmental Sensitivities or MCS, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), and Fibromyalgia (FM). Dr. Stein’s goal is that everyone with these conditions receive effective and respectful treatment within the public health care system.  She is one of a small number of experienced clinicians for these illnesses in Canada and is involved with two research teams providing clinical expertise. Her manual “Let Your Light Shine Through: Strategies for living with ME/CFS, FM and MCS”  guides patients and clinicians through managing the symptoms of these conditions. Dr. Stein also offers self-management education online through the Pathways to Improvement course. More information about Dr. Stein and her practice can be found at www.eleanorsteinmd.ca I hope you enjoy the conversation.If there is someone you would like to hear interviewed on the podcast, or if you would like to be a guest on the podcast, please let me know. Email me: info@chemicalsensitivitypodcast.orgThanks again for listening!Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok

Thank you for listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast!New episodes twice a month. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts to never miss one.And follow on social media for all updates.This episode features a conversation with Maya Dusenbery.  Maya is the author of the extraordinary book, "Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick." Maya talks about why so many women with chronic illnesses, including MCS, are often dismissed and misdiagnosed. And how women's knowledge is a source of power. I hope you enjoy the conversation.If there's someone you would like to hear interviewed on the podcast or a topic you would like us to explore, please let me know. Email: info@chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org. Thanks again for listening!Support the showBuy me a coffee, and thank you!Subscribe and receive bonus episodes with information about MCS you won't hear anywhere else. Follow the podcast on YouTube! Read captions in any language. Please support the podcast to help us continue creating awareness about MCS.Follow on social media for all updates :FacebookTwitterInstagramTikTok