Our team at the Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance (TILT) Program at UT Health San Antonio wanted to share this important external article:
“Warning over unsuspecting household items that may be eroding your brain cells” from the Daily Mail.
Your lovely smelling home could be wreaking havoc on your health.
A small but growing body of research has highlighted links between scented household products and chronic diseases. Plug-in air fresheners are especially bad, according to Dr Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou from Columbia University.
She said the biggest problem is that they ‘are not strictly regulated, so there is a wide range of ingredients and concentrations of ingredients in them.’
One of the most common ingredients are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), tiny chemicals expelled into the air as gas that seep into the lungs and bloodstream and irritate our cells. In the short term, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns that they can travel to the brain and cause dizziness, headaches concentration lapses and visual disorders.
What can you do?
Use the TILT Program’s guide to create a clean-air oasis, as free as possible of pollutants and allergy triggers.
“Eliminating these [fragrant] products was essential for patients’ symptoms to improve,” said Dr. Claudia Miller, allergist/immunologist, professor emeritus, and leader of the TILT Program, as quoted in the article.
How can you find out if you are TILT’ed or have chemical intolerance?
Answer these three questions from the TILT Program on Chemical Intolerance:
- Do you feel sick when you are exposed to tobacco smoke, certain fragrances, nail polish/remover, engine exhaust, gasoline, air fresheners, pesticides, paint/thinner, fresh tar/asphalt, cleaning supplies, new carpet or furnishings? By sick, we mean: headache, difficulty thinking, difficulty breathing, weakness, dizziness, upset stomach, etc.
- Are you unable to tolerate or do you have adverse or allergic reactions to any drugs or medications (such as antibiotics, anesthetics, pain relievers, X-ray contrast dye, vaccines or birth control pills), or to an implant, prosthesis, contraceptive chemical or device, or other medical/surgical/dental material or procedure?
- Are you unable to tolerate or do you have adverse reactions to any foods such as dairy products, wheat, corn, eggs, caffeine, alcoholic beverages, or food additives (e.g., MSG, food dye)?
If you answer YES to any question, take the Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory (QEESI) and share the results with your doctor!