Myth Conceptions

PCOs are being harassed by persons using a phony new buzzword alleged "Multiple Chemical Sensitivity," or aMCS. This newly fabricated affliction is the basis of a growth industry for political activists, attorneys, health providers and their laboratories, as well as federal, state and local jurisdictions.

Many state agencies provide lists of chemically sensitive persons, which hamper pesticide treatment by professional PCOs. At the same time, no restrictions apply to untrained consumers, who generally use much larger quantities of the same materials.

According to Medical University of South Carolina researchers Stan Schuman and Bill Simpson, the use of the term "chemically sensitive" implies that a condition exists as a defined syndrome with a scientific, medical basis. They compare this with the "Gulf War Syndrome," a theory in search of specific causes, diagnosis and treatment.

In an article by Schuman and Simpson that appeared in PCO, the Florida Pest Control Association's monthly magazine, they explain that the term was coined by an occupational medical specialist to help describe a small percentage of workers in the dye and printing industry who became allergic to more than one of the industrial compounds to which they were exposed.

The authors assert that the so-called "a-MCS syndrome" has yet to be validated beyond the files of litigation and non-peer- reviewed literature of "clinical ecologists." In 1983 an unbiased case control study showed no laboratory basis for "a-MCS syndrome."

SOME REAL AILMENTS. There are, however, related medical conditions that are medically proven and amenable to diagnosis, unlike multiple chemical sensitivity. They include:

• Chemical-related illnesses caused by exposure to specific chemicals in the workplace such as silica dust, asbestos, etc.

• Hypersensitivity to natural causes such as hay fever (allergic responses to grasses and weeds), tomato hives, nervous hives, farmer's lung, and baker's itch. These are not imagined ailments. Specific hypersensitivity can be involved with a wide range of biologically active insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. A person can be sensitive to unrefined pyrethrins (dermatitis, asthma), thiram (dermatitis), triazine (dermatitis), or petroleum distillate (dermatitis, respiratory). Rarely is a person allergic to more than one chemical class, according to the medical researchers.

• Multiple allergens or cross-sensitivity to allergens does occur in 5% to 10% of the population. Such people can react in a similar way (rash, asthma) to unrefined pyrethrins, chrysanthemum, ragweed, pollen, or eating mangoes. "Multiple allergens" should not be confused with alleged multiple chemical sensitivity.

Schuman and Simpson explain that there is not clinical evidence of across-the-board "man-made chemical sensitivity" or "pesticide sensitivity" or "multiple antibiotic sensitivity," regardless of TV talk shows and other sources of misinformation. If and when credible science can prove a-MCS exists, it will provide guidelines for diagnosis and treatment, which are completely lacking at this time.

The prevailing Myth Conception that a-MCS is a medically valid condition is likely to cost both the pest control industry and needlessly frightened consumers much agony and expense. A must-read document of the facts without bias, "Multiple Chemical Sensitivity," is available for $3.85 from the American Council on Science and Health, 1995 Broadway, New York NY 10028-5860. For more information on this subject, Greg Baumann, technical manager for the National Pest Control Association, also recommends reading Death of Common Sense by Phillip Howard.

PCO members and nonmembers of NPCA are indebted to the NPCA staff for monitoring and informing the industry about restrictive legislation at federal, state and local levels of government. An important session covering the subject is planned for the NPCA convention in Orlando, Fla. this fall.

Harry Katz is a contributing editor to PCT magazine. He may be contacted at Berkshire E-3076, Deerfield Beach FL 33442, 305/427-9716.