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torquillA conversation I had yesterday made me realize that people really don't understand what chemical sensitivity is. I suppose that's not surprising.
Technically speaking, I have a specific chemical intolerance, due to a solvent injury twenty years ago. It is not an allergy, either in the medical sense (IgE involvement leading to a histamine response) or in the colloquial sense (food sensitivities, dermatitis from laundry products, etc.). My symptoms stem from a toxic substance introduced into my body -- essentially, a poison. There are people who are sensitive to a wide range of chemical classes, but (though I try to minimize contact with things like fragrances, formaldehyde, and so on) my problems are almost exclusively caused by two things: glycol ether solvents, and the volatile chemical stew released by toxic mold.
Glycol ethers are used as grease-cutting agents and disinfectants. They're not really good for anybody -- you're supposed to use "adequate ventilation" with products using it, and I've had anecdotal reports from friends who feel sort of sick after using them -- but for specific vulnerable people, they can cause damage to the central nervous system, liver, and blood. I got all three two decades ago, and sufficient exposure can still invoke tremors, brain fog, and anemia now.
Since this isn't an allergy, allergists are useless for this (and will tell you so), and toxicologists aren't a speciality available to most people. Short form of what I've deduced myself: inhaling glycol ether vapors gets them into my bloodstream, where they circulate for a day or so, being progressively broken down by the liver. At some point, a faulty enzyme chain shunts the metabolism into a path that produces a toxic byproduct (it is highly oxidizing, among other things). It is oil-based, and my body has trouble eliminating it through normal means; some of it gets stored in fat (one reason weight loss is risky for me), some goes out the digestive tract, damaging my small intestine and disrupting my gut flora, and some is excreted in skin oils. In the beginning, it was so concentrated it caused a rash on my face and neck -- a former partner got some of the oil on his skin and ended up with a chemical burn. It hasn't been that bad for years, fortunately.
In the meantime, the oxidizing nature of the metabolite has wreaked havoc. I have a double recessive gene for an enzyme known as G6P, which is responsible for the first step in breaking down glucose for energy (this is why I fight with hypoglycemia). One of its other major functions is as an antioxidant in red blood cells; without a functioning G6P, free oxygen radicals cause the red blood cells to pop. So not only do I end up with anemia, my system gets flooded with all that cellular debris. I have a chronic arginine deficiency for reasons we haven't figured out yet, and an enzyme in the cell contents vacuums up arginine, leaving me even less able to cope with the protein shrapnel now circulating around. It's a real mess.
So the upshot is that this particular chemical class (the molecules look like X-O-Y-OH) is a debilitating poison that could have been custom-designed for me. Encountering it, even a little whiff, is equivalent to getting a dose of a chemical weapon. There is no allergy shot, no desensitization, no antidote. You might as well try to treat an allergy to chlorine gas.
Since it takes so long for my body to eliminate the toxin, and I have to rebuild a bunch of red blood cells, any exposure lasts at least a week, more often two, occasionally four or six. From one sniff. By the time I can smell it, it's already too late.
This is not an allergy; perhaps the closest thing along those lines might be celiac disease, where the intestinal lining is actively damaged by gluten molecules. But really, it's poisoning. It may not be a substance which is acutely toxic to anyone else, but it is to me. And that is chemical sensitivity in a nutshell.
Technically speaking, I have a specific chemical intolerance, due to a solvent injury twenty years ago. It is not an allergy, either in the medical sense (IgE involvement leading to a histamine response) or in the colloquial sense (food sensitivities, dermatitis from laundry products, etc.). My symptoms stem from a toxic substance introduced into my body -- essentially, a poison. There are people who are sensitive to a wide range of chemical classes, but (though I try to minimize contact with things like fragrances, formaldehyde, and so on) my problems are almost exclusively caused by two things: glycol ether solvents, and the volatile chemical stew released by toxic mold.
Glycol ethers are used as grease-cutting agents and disinfectants. They're not really good for anybody -- you're supposed to use "adequate ventilation" with products using it, and I've had anecdotal reports from friends who feel sort of sick after using them -- but for specific vulnerable people, they can cause damage to the central nervous system, liver, and blood. I got all three two decades ago, and sufficient exposure can still invoke tremors, brain fog, and anemia now.
Since this isn't an allergy, allergists are useless for this (and will tell you so), and toxicologists aren't a speciality available to most people. Short form of what I've deduced myself: inhaling glycol ether vapors gets them into my bloodstream, where they circulate for a day or so, being progressively broken down by the liver. At some point, a faulty enzyme chain shunts the metabolism into a path that produces a toxic byproduct (it is highly oxidizing, among other things). It is oil-based, and my body has trouble eliminating it through normal means; some of it gets stored in fat (one reason weight loss is risky for me), some goes out the digestive tract, damaging my small intestine and disrupting my gut flora, and some is excreted in skin oils. In the beginning, it was so concentrated it caused a rash on my face and neck -- a former partner got some of the oil on his skin and ended up with a chemical burn. It hasn't been that bad for years, fortunately.
In the meantime, the oxidizing nature of the metabolite has wreaked havoc. I have a double recessive gene for an enzyme known as G6P, which is responsible for the first step in breaking down glucose for energy (this is why I fight with hypoglycemia). One of its other major functions is as an antioxidant in red blood cells; without a functioning G6P, free oxygen radicals cause the red blood cells to pop. So not only do I end up with anemia, my system gets flooded with all that cellular debris. I have a chronic arginine deficiency for reasons we haven't figured out yet, and an enzyme in the cell contents vacuums up arginine, leaving me even less able to cope with the protein shrapnel now circulating around. It's a real mess.
So the upshot is that this particular chemical class (the molecules look like X-O-Y-OH) is a debilitating poison that could have been custom-designed for me. Encountering it, even a little whiff, is equivalent to getting a dose of a chemical weapon. There is no allergy shot, no desensitization, no antidote. You might as well try to treat an allergy to chlorine gas.
Since it takes so long for my body to eliminate the toxin, and I have to rebuild a bunch of red blood cells, any exposure lasts at least a week, more often two, occasionally four or six. From one sniff. By the time I can smell it, it's already too late.
This is not an allergy; perhaps the closest thing along those lines might be celiac disease, where the intestinal lining is actively damaged by gluten molecules. But really, it's poisoning. It may not be a substance which is acutely toxic to anyone else, but it is to me. And that is chemical sensitivity in a nutshell.
