Environmental Illness/Multiple Chemical Sensitivities:

Recent attention has focused on a hidden disability usually referred to as Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), Environmental Illness (EI), or Ecologic Illness, and involving detrimental effects on multiple bodily systems in response to exposures to chemicals in levels that have been "generally regarded as safe" (GRAS). This article will briefly describe MCS/EI as a disability, with emphasis on the impediments to a productive life for persons who experience this syndrome. Economic and psychological issues which are likely to be present as a result of being forced to face life with this hidden and unacknowledged problem are discussed. Political and disability issues are discussed, and examples are provided of women coping with the various aspects of this illness. Therapists who wish to be supportive to this population are offered suggestions for caregiving.