This report was written for ACSH by Thomas Orme, Ph.D., the Washington, DC representative of the American Council on Science and Health and Paul Benedetti, a feature writer and investigative reporter with the Hamilton Spectator in Ontario, Canada, who has won awards from the National Council Against Health Fraud and the Canadian Association of Journalists. These groups and the patients they represent are demanding that insurance companies cover the cost of expensive and unproven treatment by clinical ecologists. They are also seeking payment through worker's compensation and Social Security Disability programs and pressing for special workplace and housing conditions. Many people who believe they have MCS suffer greatly. Many of these individuals change their lifestyle drastically and attempt to live in a pristine, controlled environment, virtual prisoners of their perceived sensitivity.
Some individuals spend tens of thousands of dollars in fruitless attempts to attain relief.
The prevailing rational and scientific viewpoint is that although some people are sensitive to small amounts of one or a few specific chemicals, there is no general hypersensitivity to chemicals. Some people who currently have no symptoms are seeking damages based on the premise that mere exposure to extremely low levels of environmental chemicals, such as carpet fumes, airborne pollutants and pesticide residues in food, has damaged their immune system and jeopardized their future health. These claims are supported by a network of clinical ecologists and attorneys who assert that exposure to environmental toxins causes the immune system to overload, leaving people susceptible to infection, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases. The economic implications for many industries and insurance programs are potentially catastrophic. Unless the problem is properly addressed, the millions of dollars now changing hands through claims and lawsuits will become billions, wreaking havoc with many industries and insurance programs and ultimately raising costs to all consumers.