We purchased a home at  Avenue, Gxxxxx, and that is where I spent the rest if my childhood, with my parents and my four siblings. That is also when my chemical problems began.

There was often a smell in the air like a heavy fig tree smell, and we found it most unpleasant. When we asked the neighbours what it was the said it was the fumigation of aircraft at the airport. We had to put up with it. My parents spoke English poorly, and as a consequence no one else questioned it further.

The Gxxxxxx Shire Council also put in place the Fruit Fly Baiting Scheme, using LYBACID, and I had the job of taking a letter of complaint, signed by my parents, to the Council, as we could not afford to pay for it.

None of our fruit got to fall on the ground, as we ate it as it ripened. We lived in that half an acre. We ate the fruit we climbed the trees, and sat on the grass, and Council sent someone every couple of weeks to spray.

We were told not to eat fruit for a week after spraying, but no one said we should not play there. My parents were constantly looking out for the spray person to send them away.

My brother and I had especially bad, repeated, nosebleeds and headaches, which continued till we moved to Rxxxxx.

After finishing my studies at Curtin University and UWA in 1972, I became a teacher and got married. I taught for two years and then had two children (Mxxx in 1977 and Yxxxxx in 1978).

  All doctors would say is to take painkillers and that I had stress and needed psychological help.

 One doctor even wrote on a piece of paper that I had panic disorder and depression and that I should go home and read it over and over till I believed it! Another told me that if he sat all-day he would fall asleep too!

Eventually I became so ill that I could not work or drive a car, and was basically bed ridden. For the heart condition I had to take medicines such as LANOXIN, CORDORONE, FLECANIDE, AND TAMBOCOR, THYROXIN, and various blood thinners to stop clots from forming.

These drugs had horrific side effects on me. I also had to take many painkillers especially at night. 

MY SYMPTOMS INCLUDED:

• Distressed sleep and nightmares that ended in sweats and Tacycardia.
  
  

• Chronic exhaustion, needing to lie down / Fibromyalgia.
  
  

• Poor nervous response.
  
  

• Poor memory. 
  
  

• Headaches, plus stabbing pains at base of brain.
  
  

• Ear aches and Tinnitus.
  
  

• Eyes stressed and sore and difficult to focus.
  
  

• Poison and excessive salivation and very bad breath.
  
  

• Sore and bleeding and receding gums especially at back of mouth
  
  

• Swollen neck glands, permanently.
  
  

• Blood tests always showing higher than normal antibodies.
  
  

• Thyroid dysfunction / low function.
  
  

• Heart problems, tachycardia, fibrillation, and chest pains.
  
  

• Edema especially in hands and feet.
  
  

• Loss of co-ordination, plus often choking when swallowing.
  
  

• Stabbing pains in body especially in arms and legs.
  
  

• Tenderness under ribs on right side.
  
  

• Low grade fever, almost constant.
  
  

• Breathing difficulty, like lack of oxygen.
  
  

• Heat caused symptoms to be worse.

I eventually went to an Alternative Health Practitioner and asked him to help me wean off all medications. I had natural herbs to help me get stronger. I realised that I was very sensitive to Chemicals. Over the years I would have about one or two or sometimes three attacks per year.

Sometimes I would have a feeling that I was loosing my beat but when the doctor checked me he could not detect a problem. 

In June 2002, I had an attack and I reacted to corrective medication (amioderone) in Sir xxxxx Hospital emergency room and ended up with cardiac arrest! I now have some brain damage.

  Since then doctors there have been afraid to give me drugs and I have had to have general anesthesia and electric shock to the heart.

If I had died from this pesticide exposure, my death certificate would say that I died from heart failure. Likewise the spray man is reported to die of an aneurysm, not by weakening of his blood vessels caused by chemical exposure! Hence statistics are not reflective of the REAL FACTS.

In November 2002, I asked the gardening lady next door not to spray any pesticide on the driveway, as I was chemically sensitive.

Why are these pesticides available to the unsuspecting public?

We drove to Mxxxx for a few days, then they were going to spray so we drove to the South Coast as we had heard that at Peaceful Bay someone else with this problem had sought refuge. WE FELT LIKE REFUGEES!

The long trip made me ill for two weeks and my problem was not solved. This devastates my life and my family. In 2002, I had five tacycardia attacks and three so far this year (2003), all related to pesticide / Glyphosate/ and Agral, and Roundup exposures.

I have been extremely unwell and for the last five years I have not been able to work, drive a car and need assistance to do housework. E.g. I cannot do any task, like vacuuming, where I have to bend even slightly, as my heart feels uncomfortable. In fact sleeping on my left side is uncomfortable for my heart. Sleep is laboured and disturbed and not refreshing.

I AM SUFFERING MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY COMPLEMENTS OF THE SPRAYING BY GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS.

Both Town of Cxxxx and The Health Department demanded that I Produce a ‘Report by my Specialist Physician specifically explaining my condition’ I have this in writing from Town of Cxxxxxx, and now they do not want to pay my medical bill.

LIST OF SYMPTOMS SUFFERED WHEN I HAVE AN EXPOSURE TO PESTICIDES:

1.     Tacycardia/ arrhythmia/ fibrillation, severe chest pains through to my back.

2.     Headache especially at base of brain.

3.     Confusion, foggy brain, vagueness, comatose feeling.

4.     Eyes are itchy, outside and in, red eyes, very sensitive to light, pupils become very small, like pinprick and difficulty seeing.

5.     Very tired, sick feelings, unwellness.

6.     Back of throat weird feel and taste, bleeding gums.

7.     Digestion uncomfortable, very bloated, sick when I eat, diarrhea.

8.     Swollen sore, neck glands, especially the left side. Vagus nerve?

9.     Abnormally high urination, sore kidneys.

10. Adrenal glands very sore.

1.     Medical practitioners do not recognise MCS as a health issue. We are misdiagnosed and hence not treated appropriately.

2.     Chronic fatigue and Fibromyalgia are chronic toxicity, mostly caused by pesticide poisoning, which is mostly by government departments spraying pesticides.

3.     MCS patients avoid going to doctors because:

a.      Chemicals in surgeries make them more ill, e.g. Perfumes, carpet glues, paint smells.

b.     Doctors only offer pharmaceutical solutions, in the form of prescriptions, which make MCS patients more ill.

c.     Doctors usually blame our condition on psychological reasons. This is insulting, and we feel ridiculed. Then we really get depressed with despair.

d.     Doctors either ignore or are unaware of the magnitude of chemical spraying of pesticides by government departments. In the spring when we go to the doctor with itchy eyes sore throat and flu like symptoms, the condition is always blamed on hay fever and antihistamines are prescribed. In autumn the flu is blamed and antibiotics are prescribed. They never consider pesticide spraying as a cause. Our high children’s asthma rates are likely to be related to pesticide spraying.

4.     THERE IS NOWHERE TO GO WHERE PESTICIDES ARE NOT SPRAYED.  Councils spray every footpath, verge, street, every park, every school, hospital, and public place in the whole of Australia! Country areas are worse as spraying is from aircraft! Country people suffer greatly.

5.     Hospitals are not equipped to deal with MCS patients. For me it is a trauma in itself to visit a hospital and nurses have actually hid behind the curtain to see if I really can smell them, and to see what will happen. This is not only humiliating but also downright dangerous for someone already chemically traumatised. This happened at Sir Cxxxx Hospital. It smells like a Myers perfume department.

6.     Why MCS patients avoid hospitals

a.      Staff wear perfumes.

     b.     Wipes used when using injections, contain chemicals which cause people like me pain up my whole arm, when bungs and needles are put in.

     c.     Cleaning staff use strong chemicals.

     d.     Food is inedible as it is not organic and we cannot eat as it makes us more ill due to pesticide contents. Even traces of pesticide can be disastrous. Also colours, flavours, and preservatives are not tolerated.

     e.      OXYGEN is required but is not always given as patient is wrongly diagnosed as psychiatric.

     f.       The stick ons used for heart monitors etc. and sticky plasters contain chemicals and cause serious skin damage. This happens to me every time but the staff do not have the Band-Aids for sensitive skin handy and so I get bad irritation.

      g.     MCS patients need to be separated from other patients to avoid further exposures, and to have the room set up in a suitable manner. E.g. No chemicals, proper Band-Aids for sensitive skin, oxygen etc. Suitable Hospital Protocol has been developed for MCS patients.

     7.     There are no institutions, which can take MCS patients, E.g. Old peoples homes and Hospitals and other types of care facilities. There no rehabilitation centres which we can use, E.g. Physiotherapy, etc. An Ambulance ride can be a trauma.

     8.     Most of us prefer to suffer at home, no doctors, no medical aid. We are isolated in sickness.

            MCS is not acknowledged by the medical profession as it is deemed to be taboo. 

            Chemical companies are not impressed and it is in the too hard basket for doctors, as their scripts do not necessarily solve our problems. 

             I BELIEVE THAT DOCTORS ARE AFRAID TO SPEAK THEIR MIND BECAUSE OF FEAR OF PHARMACUITICAL COMPANIES.

            I believe that the Health Department is also afraid to speak up! 

9.     Public buildings are most often sick buildings and we cannot go there. E.g. libraries, learning institutions. Children in schools is a major concern, bear in mind 50% have asthma. Chemicals in the classroom are a problem E.g.. Whiteboard markers, glues, paint, chemicals in toilets. ADD, irritation, agitation, lack or concentration, brain function impairment can all be associated with chemical poisoning.

10. Teachers need to learn to recognise symptoms of chemical poisoning, and doctors should not be prescribing more chemicals to add to children’s toxic load. No spraying must take place anywhere near schools or parks.

11. Supermarkets and shops are problem places for us. We need to go there but we end up being sick for days after. Most products are adulterated in some way by chemicals, E.g. food additives. Food products must not be sold in the same shop as pesticides, cleaning products, and other chemicals. Food should not be sold for example in Petrol Stations. Our food choices are limited to strictly organic.

12. Public toilets usually have strong chemicals and we cannot use them.

13.  We are house bound as walking to park or street is a hazard. Outings expose us to car fumes, perfumes, pesticides, etc. SPRAYED AREAS HAVE NO WARNING SIGNS! WE ARE PRISONERS IN OUR OWN HOMES AND THAT IS OFTEN NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP US SAFE.

14. WE ALL NEED CARERS. When I have an exposure I just drop silently, and cannot call for help. Family members are always on edge for us.

15. MOST PEOPLE WITH MCS DO NOT REALISE THAT THAY HAVE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY TILL IT IS TOO LATE, AND THEY BECOME PERMANENTLY DAMAGED. Most end up clogging the Hospital system and remain undiagnosed, so they cannot protect themselves.

16. EVENTUALLY THEY REALISE THAT THE MEDICAL PROFESSION HAS NOTHING TO OFFER THEM AND THEIR ONLY OPTION IS TO TURN TO SELF-HELP GPOUPS.      

17. HEADWEST has classified MCS patients the same as Acquired Brain Injury patients.                    

18. WE NEED A TASK FORCE TO GIVE US SOLUTIONS AND TO IMPLEMENT THEM.

19. IMMEDIATELY, ALL SPRAYING MUST STOP.

20. I believe a three-year university course for spray persons, and to register all chemicals used, is necessary so that we know what is used in total.                                                   

21. I warned the Health Department and Town of Cxxxxxxx about chemicals washing into the River with the first rains, killing all normal algae, and leaving only the most toxic ones with no competition and an opportunity to bloom. Fertilizers and other factors may contribute, but when one considers the volume of pesticides used by government departments, one can only conclude that this is the problem. Why has this not been acknowledged?

22. Dry conditions and poor soil bacteria, means that the sprays are not broken down and when the wind blows soil particles around, we get a reaction again. Sprays re-hydrate and reactivate after first winter rains. The late summer heat and steam make people like me sick again, as on Fed 17, 2003. 50% of our children suffer from asthma, a lung irritation and are prescribed puffers as their lives are in danger! (this is the highest rate in the world!). Others have itchy eyes and flu like symptoms. IF NOTHING ELSE CONSIDER THE CHILDREN AND UNBORNS!

23. ALL PEOPLE WILL EVENTUALLY BE IN THE MCS CATEGORY, IF PESTICIDE SPRAYING CONTINUES.

     A one % fall in IQ levels will have disastrous consequences for our society as we know it. Not to mention the disastrous health consequences. Once our genetic code is damaged it cannot recover.

24. THE COST TO THE HEALTH SYSTEM HAS BLOWN OUT! THE COST TO THE INDIVIDUAL AND TEIR FAMILY IS IMMEASUREABLE.

25.            CHEMICALS MUST NOT BE USED FOR COSMETIC AND PREVENTATIVE PURPOSES.

26. It is our BIRTHRIGHT to live in an unadulterated environment. It is our right to be able to go anywhere in our habitat without the fear of pesticide assault. It is our right that we are not sold pesticides so freely, under the deception that they are safe or convenient to use. All other avenues of solutions need to be explored, and pesticides left as a last resort.

1.     THEO COLBURN, ‘Our Stolen Future’ 1996.

2.     DAVID SHEARMAN, ‘Green or Gone.’ 1997

3.     MARY E WHITE, ‘Listen Our Land is Crying.’ 1997.

4.     PAUL R ERLICH, ‘Human Natures, Genes, Cultures and the human Prospect.’ 2000.

5.     PAUL & ANNE ERLICH, ‘Betrayal of Science and Reason, How anti environmental Rhetoric Threatens Our Future.’ 1996.

6.     PAUL & ANNE ERLICH, ‘Extinction, The Causes and Consequences of the disappearance of the Species.’ 1981

7.     MR PIMENTAL, Speech on Television program.

8.     STEPHEN GRIFITHS, ‘Allergy Overload, Are foods and Chemicals Killing You?’ 1987

9.     DAVID SUZUKI, HOLY DRESSEL, ‘Naked Ape to Superspecies.’ 1999.

10. RACHAEL CARSON, ‘Silent Spring’ 1962.

11. JOURNAL OF PESTICIDE REFORM, FALL, 1998,VOL.18, NO.3. GLYPHOSATE (ROUNDUP).

ACKNOWLEDEGEMENT: Janet Forster, MCS Self Help Group.

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