Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS)

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) is a highly controversial entity. Some people believe that exposure to a chemical or chemicals triggers a symptom complex that has been called MCS. Those symptoms occur in many organ systems. No physical signs can be found consistently in MCS patients. There are a number of synonyms for MCS, including: 20th Century Disease, Environmental Illness, Total Allergy Syndrome, Idiopathic Environmental Illness and Chemical AIDS. MCS appears to affect young women at a proportionally greater rate than men or older women.

The sensitivities of MCS are similar to allergies but, for most, do not qualify as allergies in the strict sense of a process leading to a specific set of bodily responses within approximately 20 minutes. The resulting symptoms include those of traditional allergies, such as headaches, migraines, nausea, anaphylactic shock, asthma, rashes and other skin eruptions, as well as more unusual symptoms such as acute abdominal pain, fatigue, insomnia, neurological signs, brain fog (a cloudy feeling in the head connected to loss of memory, cognitive functioning, alertness, and mental sharpness), body aches and pains, and, rarely, heart attacks.

Toxins that trigger MCS attacks can come from a variety of sources. Many people with MCS react to traditional allergens such as foods, dust, air pollution, pollen, animal dander, and molds, but the most common toxins that cause reactions are chemical substances found in everyday life. Perfumes, air fresheners, cigarette smoke, dry-erase markers, many household cleaning products, fabric softeners and dryer sheets, scented detergents and other products, new carpeting, solvents, fresh tar, and pesticides are among the most common reactants but do not make a complete list.