Hi, I am a woman in her sixties, and have been living with a kind of generalized super-sensitivity for much of my life. It is like living in a world where the majority of people seem to be blissfully unaware of the soup of hazards and toxins that they live in, breathe in and out, ingest, smear on themselves and with no immediate side effects. But the long term consequences are becoming clearer in the rise of cancers, respiratory diseases and allergies, to mention but a few.
My story may be the result of toxic overload. I was allergic to bottle milk as a baby. I had a big rash when given penicillin for something. Then, aged ten, I got a feverish cold. Sweating, yet shivering, my Mum parked me in the kitchen, in front of the double oven, while she got the lunch. She put the thermometer in my mouth but I accidentally bit the end off it, just as Mum got something out of the oven. I watched with fascination as tiny, silver balls of mercury danced on the hot surface of the top oven door. Mercury vapours are poisonous!
Over the next two decades, (1970s and early 1980s) I tried various recreational drugs, took the contraceptive pill for many years, had dental anaesthetics, minor surgery with full anaesthetics, and then, following a Laparoscopy in my mid twenties, suffered my first bout of chronic fatigue.
I used to love baking and eating cake. Aged 30, I started to be intolerant of wheat and sucrose. (I can eat gluten-free and agave syrup), I used to love making and eating curry. Then I became intolerant to spice. I now have to read every food label, screening out additives, paprika, mustard, chilli, ginger. Ready meals are nearly all inedible for me.
I used to paint in oils until I realised I was allergic to turpentine fumes. I switched to acrylics and watercolour. These days, I cannot walk behind someone vaping without my face and lips swelling up and the skin on my lips peeling off, pretty instantly. What must this sticky poison be doing inside tender young lungs? The worst are the so- called Air Fresheners. I think it’s the benzene that does it. I was recently flat-hunting and found what looked like a lovely place online. But as soon as the agent opened the door, I was assaulted by a wall of poison and had to run away. No way could I even look inside, let alone live there. Someone, in an effort to disguise “odours” had installed a plug in air poisoner.
Travelling on a bus or train can be hazardous. Sitting near people wearing perfume or aftershave makes me feel nauseous, head-achey and ill. This is difficult if you’re out with friends at a restaurant or the cinema, and you want to move.
When buying a new mobile phone, I have to find out its electromagnetic output and try and find a low one. Otherwise it’s like being microwaved. I once got trapped on a train in a small crowd, all on their phones. This felt like red hot knives going through me, so I got up and moved near the doors, stood for the whole journey. It was tiring but safer. I now use headphones to make and receive calls.
In choosing a home, I have to study maps; avoid phone masts, booster stations, busy roads (traffic and petrol fumes). If decorating, I have to pay for expensive low odour paint (well worth the outlay.) I once scandalised a friend, when I bought a foam mattress, (£200) and was so allergic to the fire retardant chemical, I didn’t even manage to get it out of the plastic wrapping. I gave it to a charity shop with instructions to “off gas” it before use. I bought a used mattress from the same shop, gave it a good hoover. I had to smell ten to find one that hadn’t been in a house with air freshener. And if you travel, there’s the risk of all the perfumed bed linen, toilet rolls, etc etc. Then there’s dentistry. No X-Rays, please! I could probably go on.
How do the majority tolerate all these substances that we sensitive Canaries cannot? As stated earlier, I think more and more people are starting to suffer ill health as a result. How do we reclaim the right to a non-toxic world? Let’s begin by asserting that all of us, animals and nature included, should have that right!
