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This page is provided as a resource of reading materials on MCS that have been published on the internet. This includes links to documents, book reviews, editorials, and abstracts. If you would like us to add a link to another site or reprint articles at this site, please contact us through our on-line form or by sending an email message to co-cure-mod@listserv.nodak.edu.

Selected articles that were posted to the Co-Cure list have been reprinted on the Articles and Posts page.

Central Agencies

Research

“A controlled comparison of multiple chemical sensitivities and chronic fatigue syndrome.” Psychosom Med 58: 38-49 (1996); Fiedler N, Kipen HM, DeLuca J, Kelly-McNeil K, Natelson B; Department of Environmental and Community Medicine, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey 08855, USA.

“The present study had two objectives: 1) to determine the characteristics that differentiated subjects with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), chemical sensitivities (CS), and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS); and 2) to evaluate the psychiatric and neuropsychological complaints of these groups relative to normal controls.”

“Corporate Manipulation of Scientific Evidence Linking Chemical Exposures to Human Disease: A Case in Point -- Cigarette Science at Johns Hopkins” Copyright 1994-96, THE ALEXANDER LAW FIRM; Researched, authored and published by Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly, October 19, 1995 edition.

“As the scientific evidence piles up, linking chemical exposures to serious human diseases, many chemical-dependent industries, such as pesticide purveyors, are searching for a strategy to buy themselves some time, to put off the inevitable. They needn't look far...”

“Chemically Induced Diseases: Synergistic Effects and Cumulative Injuries caused by Toxic Chemicals -- Understanding the Gulf War Syndrome and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)” Richard Alexander, Esq.; Copyright 1994-96, THE ALEXANDER LAW FIRM.

“A major breakthrough in understanding the toxicological impact of multiple chemical exposures has been discovered by researchers at Texas Southwestern Medical School and the Duke University Medical Center.”

1999 MCS Consensus Statement

ABSTRACT. Consensus criteria for the definition of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) were first identified in a 1989 multidisciplinary survey of 89 clinicians and researchers with extensive experience in, but widely differing views of, MCS. A decade later, their top 5 consensus criteria (i.e., defining MCS as [1] a chronic condition [2] with symptoms that recur reproducibly [3] in response to low levels of exposure [4] to multiple unrelated chemicals and [5] improve or resolve when incitants are removed) are still unrefuted in published literature. Along with a 6th criterion that we now propose adding (i.e., requiring that symptoms occur in multiple organ systems), these criteria are all commonly encompassed by research definitions of MCS. Nonetheless, their standardized use in clinical settings is still lacking, long overdue, and greatly needed—especially in light of government studies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada that revealed 2–4 times as many cases of chemical sensitivity among Gulf War veterans than undeployed controls. In addition, state health department surveys of civilians in New Mexico and California showed that 2–6%, respectively, already had been diagnosed with MCS and that 16% of the civilians reported an “unusual sensitivity” to common everyday chemicals. Given this high prevalence, as well as the 1994 consensus of the American Lung Association, American Medical Association, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that “complaints [of MCS] should not be dismissed as psychogenic, and a thorough workup is essential,” we recommend that MCS be formally diagnosed—in addition to any other disorders that may be present—in all cases in which the 6 aforementioned consensus criteria are met and no single other organic disorder (e.g., mastocytosis) can account for all the signs and symptoms associated with chemical exposure. The millions of civilians and tens of thousands of Gulf War veterans who suffer from chemical sensitivity should not be kept waiting any longer for a standardized diagnosis while medical research continues to investigate the etiology of their signs and symptoms.