Navigating MCS: History, Experiences and Future Aspirations of EHAC-ASEC & ASEQ-EHAQ

In this enlightening first episode, Rohini Peris and Rosa Iacono share their personal journeys with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and delve into the impactful work of the Environmental Health Associations of Québec and Canada. They discuss the association's history, mission and current initiatives aimed at supporting individuals with MCS. 

Listeners will gain insights into the importance of education, support, collaboration in raising awareness and shaping public policy. Join us as we explore the challenges faced by those with MCS and the hopeful vision for an inclusive and healthier future.

Transcript

Welcome to Footprints and impacts the podcast where we uncover how the environment shapes our health and well-being whether you're curious about how chemicals in your surroundings affect you or you're looking for practical ways to live a healthier life you're in the right place brought to you by the Environmental Health Association of Canada and the Environmental Health Association of Quebec this podcast shines a light on multiple chemical sensitivity MCS the importance of healthy least toxic product choices and what what it means for those navigating this disability where over 1 million Canadians have a diagnosis of MCS we're here to raise awareness offer resources for accessibility prevention and build a healthier inclusive community let's dive in and explore how our Footprints leave a lasting impact on our health and our

planet so hi rohini hi Rosa it's great to have you on the podcast could you start by telling me a little bit about yourselves and your Journeys with uh multiple chemical sensitivity hi Marco it's great to be here um my name is rohini rohini Paris I'm the president and CEO of the environmental health associations of Canada and of Quebec um my journey with multiple chemical sensitivity started in goodness in 1995 or 1993 actually I was diagnosed in 96 um and uh yeah it's been a long journey and here we are um uh working for this condition and for this group over the years thank you hi rohini hi Marco thank you for inviting me to this podcast um my journey start with MCS started in uh 2007 uh as I was I had exposures at work at my workplace and uh my condition uh got worse and worse over the years and um I found the association and uh it it's been uh like a lifechanging for me nice thank you thank you so uh rohini let's touch a bit on the history of ihak asek you know could you tell me a little bit about the history of the environmental Health Association of Quebec and and Canada what inspired its establishment and what's some of the key milestones in its Journey towards supporting individuals with MCS the Environmental Health Association of Quebec was started in 2004 uh after many appeals from people to do something uh about multiple chemical sensitivity in cubec and at that time we had just um completed working on the pesticide code of cubec in cubec and we had obtained legislation in cubec um which was introduced from 200 to 2003 phased in during that period and we were actually going to step back from all this activity because um my family was impacted also by uh pesticide exposure and uh so I just we just wanted to get back to to living but there was so many people who asked us to do something and so we reached out to uh at that time uh the aleran Environmental Health Association in Ottawa and um we sort of got some strength from that organization and then we realized that uh there were other organizations across Canada in British Columbia to Nova Scotia and we all changed from the allergy and Environmental Health Association of Quebec we all dropped the allery in 2008 and we became the Environmental Health Association of Quebec um in 2022 we started the Environmental Health Association of Canada because we were working from Coast to Coast with cubec uh we never refused anyone from across the country because we were a cubec based group and we found that we needed to go National to meet this demand because also what happened over the years is that all the other groups or most of the other groups have either closed down or they're not functioning the way that they used to and so we picked up that slack um and the the you know that Gap uh of not having any support for this condition from across the country uh the Milestones across the years have been just being an existance having uh an organization like this uh run by handicap people for handicap people um is not simple we were met with a lot of resistance uh to be able to get funding or support but all that has changed uh we started working with the University of Quebec at Montreal we developed uh educational uh material that went right across Quebec and we noticed immediately an increase in the requests for accommodation in the workplace and elsewhere and people were getting them and then we um we then work with the government of Quebec and now very much with the government of Canada on very important projects nice nice nice um I see that the mission of the associations they really emphasize Equity inclusion and accessibility could you share some specific initiatives or projects that the association is currently working on to support people with MCS yes of course um in 2007 uh multiple chemical sensitivity was recognized as a disability and protected um under the law uh as a disability like any other disability and this resulted in accommodation being provided for this disability mostly at the federal government level and um what that accommodation meant was providing least toxic uh to non-toxic uh product choices and fragrance-free products used in spaces such as the workplace um Healthcare and in other spaces including the community so that people with this disability have access to the built environment like any other disability has access and just as you have certain tools like a wheelchair for people who are who who who need them or a white can uh or any other disability the specifics for this disability the assisted device is that healthier air for Access and inclusion and in 2019 Canada um passed the accessible Canada Act which assures uh accessibility diversity and inclusion to all spaces right across the country and to be fully accessible by 2040 in this regard we applied for and received funding from the federal government for a project titled empowering community and removal of barriers project the equa project which uh went right across Canada and we uh reached out to human rights commission's law societies medical societies we worked with lawyers uh and doctors and the general public civil society and to date um this month is actually 2 years since we uh started the project just about two years we've given over 100 workshops to all these organizations and we have partnered with very important organizations to give these workshops uh partner such as human rights commissions right across Canada and law societies to teach this to lawyers and other professionals because even though 1.1 million I I'm going to I stand corrected 1.13 million people uh This Is 2020 stat scan data uh one over 1.13 million people had diagnosed with MCs in our country very few people know about this condition and that's why Marco I really thank you for for getting this podcast going because we need the public to know about the disability of multiple chemical sensitivity the number of people who are diagnosed in our country which far exceed other chronic conditions such as cancer Parkinson's Etc and yet there is such little knowledge for a condition that is increasing in prevalence for example stats can start keeping data from 2000 at certain intervals and over 60 year period in 2016 the number of diagnosed cases had more than doubled to just over a million and like I said by uh 2020 it had exceeded 1.13 million 72% of which are women this is definitely a woman's issue and all women should be concerned because that point of when you crash down with this condition is not known but it happens and it happens from exposures to your everyday products that are on the Shelf it doesn't mean that because of product is on the shaft that it is safe what it's not on the label is the possibility that it has carcinogens in it or sensitizers that sensitize people towards chemical sensitivity but one thing we do know and we have seen repeatedly in our organization during the E project and even before over so many years that we have been in existence that when somebody comes down with this condition there is an equality no matter what Financial background you come from or your education level or which part of the of of the country you are from what is standard is then you become a nobody with a label on your forehead because people don't understand that it's chemicals that have sensitized you and what you then need are safe healthy spaces so that you can work and live and be productive and this means in your house or in the workplace uh in fact even your neighbors need to change because their laundry products can make you really sick uh you know walking on the streets is difficult so to get back to the E project the E project T about all this all this everyday require requirements for living teaching about workplace accommodation 40% of people who are diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivity cannot work and this results in billions of dollars of loss to our economy not to mention the severe loss and pain to the individual as they experience poverty and lack of access to environments so so one of them was the E project and then the the Environmental Health Association of Canada is also funded by the by the government of Canada and and the role of the Canadian group is to reach out to shelters and to volunteer groups to teach about this condition of course it's a brand new group so all the things that one needs to do for a brand new group is being done thank you thanks to the Govern of Canada for for helping us to do this and we put out uh on in both groups we put out paid ads on social media to collect data on how many people um have have um uh symptoms on exposure to everyday products cleaning products perfumes and we see a number uh in our collections that is way higher than 3.5% which is the which is the percentage of people that are diagnosed with MCS uh and that's very alarming so that's the second project we also have a research project funded by accessibility standards Canada where we are testing the air in buildings that have Sentry policies versus buildings that don't have sfree policies and the results of This research is going to inform on the next generation of standards for access to the built environment we also do support for our community resources uh we have events uh we we provide um a safe space for gathering for our communities we have movie night and you know uh opportunities where people can just gather and meet because this is a very lonely this this causes a lot of loneliness when people cannot be part of society because of the chemicals being used yeah that's uh that's great that's a lot of uh lot of great information and um I was also wondering like how do the group the groups approach like uh education and advocacy to raise awareness about MCS I know you mentioned a lot of paid ads but like how do you do it among healthc Care Professionals and the and also the general public like what I'm what impact have you seen from all those efforts we measured um we've been measuring the impact of the E project and N9 months into the project we measured a 9% increase uh uh in in awareness of the people who responded to our uh social media um ads uh but we did a more sophisticated analysis of impact and we took two periods uh one in 23 uh and one in 24 both were a period of 6 months and we did a statistical analysis uh to find out uh with 95% confidence how much uh what was the increase and it was between two to eight 8% uh which is very good because you're talking about the population of Canada um at each of our events we have data collection so we put out a survey at the beginning to measure understanding of the of the condition and understanding of air quality and what makes up air quality and at the end of the of each event before people leave we put out another survey to ask ask about understanding to measure the difference of before and after and also to find out their willingness to change so now that they know that accommodation depends on very simply your product Choice which is not rocket science which is not a huge sacrifice that it just depends on that um you know sentree least toxic what more could you ask for but for for a cleaner environment and for Better Health so we measure that and in the 100 uh over 100 workshops that we've done there's not been a single Workshop where we didn't have a positive result that at the end of it people were agreeing that they would change and they would go to uh Sentry policies and and this this was very heartening for us because it has not been easy to launch this huge project right across the country to such a d divers um um number of people uh in so many different fields and to cater our our our questionnaires and our surveys depending on who they are to measure that impact um it took a lot of effort and and skill and so we were we were able to establish that yes when people are educated when people know the impact of what they use can be on somebody else right whether it is to sensitize them and they crash into sensitivities uh whether it is to you know protect your family why should you have these other products in your house you you're not growing corn in your house that you need to use strong chemicals uh you're growing your family your babies are on your floor there's the hand to mouth movement so um we were extremely happy to be able to put that that message out and and and more than that really happy to see that people were picking it up so I I think that whatever work is being done across the country by different groups where you talk about you know Choose Wisely choose better this is your family we don't have legislation protecting us yet we have to act before legislation comes in I think that's the takeaway from this project yeah and and and the reason why you're doing it also is to let those people who have been hurt and damaged bring them back into society for inclusion and accessibility I also noticed that there's a lot of collaboration with with various stakeholders and that's key to your mission could you discuss some of the Partnerships the groups that have formed and how they contribute to shaping public policy and and improving living conditions for those with uh with MCs yes sure Mak we were actually quite um surprised and we feel extremely um blessed that we have amazing Partners in our project we have art disability Law Center uh it's a group who have come with us for most of these presentations across the country uh we're doing a research uh project with Arch where they have looked at all the cases on MCS right across the country and there's going to be a report and a research paper coming out of it we partners with the Council of Canadians with disabilities this is a large National Disability Group uh and also um with indigenous participation uh there's also beans another indigenous group uh National we have the uh new brunic Lung Association NB lung um there's um Sant mobile which is industry uh there's also the Environmental Health Association of Canada I should have mentioned that right at the top because that's our sister group um I hope I'm not forgetting anyone um um oh yeah there's um spinal cord injury Canada another Disability Group and a great partner um we have uh kofan um kofan is a cubec based National Group uh very strong partner kofan and ASC and the Canada group have done great events together we just finished one on the 7eventh that's last Monday um and cofund stands forer organ the PC cofund and then of course there's uh Dr John mot and Dr Caroline Barakat uh from the Ontario Tech uh University uh so we very blessed to have these partners and of course we've had new partners coming along the way uh in cubec and um outside of cubec and we reached out to I would think around 5,000 groups to come in our uh you know to join our workshops and we've actually had a series of workshops given just to disability groups um the disability Community has uh embraced us they have they completely understand the disability of multiple chemical sensitivity because when you um when you see that there is Injustice when you see a need for inclusion you understand much better than when you're not there so so what we are asking people to do is open your minds open your hearts we don't need charity we need you to understand this disability and provide accessibility by minding your products yes exactly and speaking of understanding MCS that's the I think that's the the biggest question of all of them right like like if you had to explain what multiple chemist chemical sensitivity is and how it affects individual in their daily lives uh what are some common misconceptions about this condition like what could you explain I know even Rosa has has definitely a lot of personal experiences she could share but like if you both had to say what is MCs in your own words based on your experiences what would it be multiple chemical sensitivity is a chronic condition a recognized disability um it can be triggered through sensitization of certain receptors on your cell which interact with the environment both the internal environment and the external environment each receptor interacts with different kinds of chemicals and sometimes they can get sensitized and when that sensitization takes place you then react to these chemicals uh and then you start reacting to them at even lower doses uh and these are commonly encountered chemicals so unless literally our doctors have the expertise is to diagnose it right away and inform the patient and their families that they need to have healthy spaces like I said perfume free and least toxic immediately not only in the home but in the workplace what will happen to the person is that if they don't have this is that they will spiral downwards into a worsening of disability where each exposure will give them a higher intensity of symptoms at lower doses of exposure and there in lies the extreme disability of multiple chemical sensitivity as all the things that you loved your workplace your community your hobbies going out to events with your children going out with your children just living your life your birthday parties your anniversaries all that is gone you cannot tolerate that unless accommodation in the form of least toxic and fragrance-free environments are provided so this is what we teach and so when I went down with multiple chemical sensitivity I was shocked I didn't know what had happened to me I was always well I was and I was never you know C cough sick all the time I was never any of that I was so tough and I'm like an type personalties I was always go go go and then suddenly this thing happens and I thought must be my imagination how can it be that my nose is running and my head is hurting and here I'm putting on weight and my legs are swollen I'm in pain all over and I did not realize that it was from exposures to chemicals but then I did I did realize that when I put on my perfume I couldn't talk um I actually realized that when I went to church to to sing in the choir and there was no nothing coming out of my mouth and so I put these two and two together and I realized that something was going on and of course my doctor didn't understand at all and that's the worst part of it because you grow up thinking that your doctor is always going to take care of your boo boos right um I mean what did you learn when you were a kid Marco Rosa didn't you learn that you get sick you're going to get taken care of so I think that's the first on the biggest shock yeah that you know there's a push back saying this is impossible it's all in your head and then I had these really severe symptoms I had a blood test done in the United States cuz this doctor told me you're poisoned and I cried I I went home and I cried and I told my husband who's going to poison me and um I went back I got the test I was heavily poisoned um by pesticides and then you think that okay then I would have gotten help no I was told we don't know anything about this we haven't studied about it the best help was go listen to a radio show and so you're talking about a long journey here a long journey of pain and suffering missing all my children's graduations missing all of life right and I think the only blessing that came out of it was working for this organization and growing it literally out of love and and because I was there two feet knit and I knew what people were going through and they were going through the same thing that I had gone through so in a nutshell that is my story and what MCS is thank you thank you for sharing and uh Rosa what about you if you had to Define what MCS is and how it impacted you MCS changed my life um I was a healthy hardworking person um didn't have any illness um and then it all started at my workplace I worked for a very well-known University where I never thought I would have been treated the way I did as the way I was especially I was a good worker and uh I put my heart into my work um we were moved into an old building the uh the the department the whole department was moved into an old building where major Renovations had been done the building had been gutted out and major Renovations were ongoing and um before the renovations were finished we were moved into that building um a few days after moving into the building there was a an order in the room we were in we were about 10 people in that room and everybody smelled something I was the one closest like the there was an old oil tank being removed uh being uh re emptied out and removed under my work area and um my symptoms uh everything started there like I would go into work and I would lose my lose my voice have headaches nausea sore um Sore Eyes U loss of balance uh all these symptoms would happen all at once and um was very hard for me to get my work done um the others complained of um light headaches uh but I was the one most affected um anyway so I begged and complained and to be moved and uh you know for a couple of months uh I was ignored and eventually this is a very long story it I was there for the next seven years before my body could no longer take it h so every year I worked I worked six months and then when I sickly six months came back to get get more sick because of more construction work went home to get better came back to get more sick because of more every exposure that I had just made me get more and more sensitive to everything at first it was um going to Canadian Tire or zear or Pharmacy I would have symptoms there but um eventually it was in my own place I was reacting to what was in my own apartment and um so I I got so sick to the point of having to uh stop working after seven years and

uh not only I lost my job my job I lost friends and couldn't visit family just visiting my parents was very hard um slowly you know I had to get them to change their products and then I found um I found the Environmental Health Association I mean doctors didn't know what was wrong with me I didn't know uh and I didn't know how to deal with it and so I was always searching online searching for answers searching for help and I found the Environmental Health Association and I had a conversation with rohini and you know she told me what was going on what was happening to me and how I needed to address it

and and uh the condition just got worse and worse and I I I went through two years of isolation not being able to go anywhere um that was uh very hard um but I got over it I got stronger I got better and uh I became a board member of the association and uh got to meet other people with the with the condition and that you know because you lose your friends and nobody understands what you're going through so um being able to communicate with these other people who had the same condition you know really meant a lot and

um I'm hoping to um I'm hoping that this podcast will will will um make you know move us forward to let as many people know that they need we need to make changes we need to stand up for our health

I know my my next question really was to ask you how how you got involved in the association but you kind of answered that while going so I mean I think I think I definitely got my answer I could definitely see how how you got involved and what motivated you to Advocate and and join and now you're part of the board so it's uh very great and um if I had to ask like U since join in the associations uh how has your experience changed or evolved what have been some of the most rewarding aspects of your involvement and how has it shaped your perspective and the challenges faced by other individuals with uh MCS it's amazing that the work that the association has been doing it's amazing how how how much of their lives rohania Michelle have how much work they've been putting into this and you know um so many out there are are um helpless and uh isolated and uh you know so we have really really need rohini and Michelle to continue this and U you know move things along as they're doing can I just add uh Marco that we could not be strong as a group if we didn't have a fantastic board our board is 90% MCS right and so it is amazing amazing because in in any disability it's nothing about us without us so that inclusion of people with multiple chemical sensitivity I think and I'm sure you'll agree with me is the most precious thing in our organization that inclusion of disability in our decision making in the things that we do in the things that be happy to do right so thank you Rosa thank you thank you what what I want to express to help people understand is um how MCS can explode or can Mushroom and and snowball into such a big thing that it really takes over your life you I I would never have thought that these construction uh you know exposures that I was having at work that H how much it would affect me outside of that building it was no longer just the building you know I mean that's what got me where that's got if I had never worked in that building I would never I would may not have had MCS but I it all started there from the exposures and it could be the exposures that you're exposed to in your own home you know these plugin uh scent scents and uh scented candles or um fabric softeners all these things that we have in our homes uh I no longer have that's for sure but um the the these these things can affect you every day and um so I never thought that those exposures at work were going to CH change my life to the point of uh no longer going to restaurants or movies or uh visiting family it drastically changed my life and

um but I also I realized I have a gift that my body tells me right away when I when I'm exposed to something and and then I need to move move out move out of the room or get away my body tells me right away and I take that as a gift and and and I'm I try to as much as I can I try to let people know you know but not everybody is willing to listen and um that's what I'm hoping will change that people will start to listen thank you like to uh just bring about one point Marco uh and Rosa um relative to what um Rosa just said and that is people not listening I think it comes from the advertising that we have on television which promises You Youth of the best partner uh takes to a beach gives you fresh scent linen fresh scent and there's nothing linen and fresh about it those are chemicals those are plain and simple chemicals but that messaging makes you have a sort of a bond with that product becomes your identity so imagine then you know you're wearing these products and your coworker or your family member sometimes it's mothers and daughter you know sometimes it's parents throwing the kids out of the house and sometimes it's the kids throwing the parents out of the house for God's sake it's just a product but you have this advertising that has been ingrained in your head and you have become this person this identity with this product and that's what you hear you hear the criticism about you and your choice rather than this product having the ability to harm someone and so when somebody asks you would you please change your product would you please stop using perfume would you please stop doing laundry with that whatever you're doing and and don't take it personally it's nothing to do with you it's nothing at all to do with your ability to choose well you do not know that what's on the Shelf has the potential to harm and until you get harmed and that's another thing we found that you can talk to people and you can tell people and the only time they listen is when they they get hit and they come to us in total panic what do we do how do I change this now and this is like a nightmare how can this happen you see that is the other end that's what you have with the other end and there are no answers the only answer is safe spaces where you yourself then have to ask others to accommodate you so when somebody asks you your perfume your product Choice your laundry can you please change your laundry products because they I can't have my windows open in summer I can't sit down on my Pao because when you do your laundry I have to run inside or it gets into my house and I have a headache for days or a nose bleed for days or whatever whatever the symptoms are listen to them they have no reason to say to make up a story they have no reason to tell you this except that there is a physical need for it so that's what I'd like to share in relation to what you just said yeah I want to share one more thing Marco that you may not hear from another person who has MCS but uh I um after I got sick uh at one point my washing machine U broke down and I had to buy a new one let me tell you going to stores to buy a washing machine was so hard so hard um and I and that was before we started wearing masks so I I always carried a scarf with me to cover my face with a scarf and um I ended up uh for me going into uh an appliance store I the feeling I had was like having metal in my head in my brain it was such a terrible feeling the pain that I felt being in the store I wasn't able to finish my uh complete my uh purchase I had to get my partner to complete the purchase and U anyways I chose a you know he chose a washing machine it was develop it was delivered to my home and um every day I came home from work not only I was sick of the building but then I was sick at home and I didn't know to what within two weeks I came to realize it was from the machine even though the washing machine even though it wasn't running it was affecting me so um I called rohini and she told me Rosa you cannot bring in new appliances into your home you have to air them out or buy a used one so I started uh oh actually actually I I first called the the store and I asked them if I could change the machine he said yes sure we'll deliver um have that one delivered to to to the store and then we'll deliver the other one so I arranged for um anyways that delivery happened I I went to the store this time I had the salesman help me smell each machine and he would tell me oh this one smells very strong don't don't smell it and um if I picked out one double the price and the better quality and the exchange happened it got delivered to my home within an hour I felt like I was being strangled I had to get out of my apartment and that's when I spoke with rohini and she told me about about new appliances new furniture and um so then I made phone calls to friends and family to see who would be willing to switch machine with me I couldn't call the store again um and I found a cousin who had a spare uh you know she had a used machine in her garage and so I arranged for the move to be done my machine went to her house and her machine went to my place and I kept it for two years and after two years I did the switch again so that was that was mindblowing and and and what a what a lesson for me I learned never to bring anything new in again so I hope this helps somebody yeah and and I would add you know uh all new items they offgas volatile organic compounds right any new item so try not to bring it directly into your house if you have a garage keep it there to off gas for people who don't have the condition make sure you have good ventilation on when you run these machines and then new try to put your old towels in with vinegar and baking soda to take take out as much of the chemicals as you can before you st putting your clothes in try to buy secondhand of course they shouldn't be full of you know scented stuff and stuff like that so I mean be be uh be aware of what you're getting and be aware that when you buy new stuff you are bringing in a whole host of chemicals and what they do to you is unknown uh and also to think that you know we take like people with chemical sensitivity usually buy organic and and usually there's an off gasing period if you buy regular things but when I talk about off gasing when I talk about cleaning when you talk about taking your new clothes and washing them before you're wearing you've got one planet you don't have any other place so whatever you are getting out of these clothes or appliances or new items where do you think they go going they're going into our environment right and they have the capacity to sometimes travel great distances maybe drop down in the Arctic and you have a fish cobbling them and what do you think maybe that fish lands on your plate so it's all circular comes back some way or the other so drive the market with your product choice and the market will listen to you as you are seeing now more and more better products on the market Market I'd say Be watchful because there's a lot of what you call green washing happening so you have a white bottle with a green label and a leaf and it's supposed to be Eco it probably may not be read the label very important look at the logos they have to be certified Eco logos not some company who makes up its own logo its own flow and leaf and it's got a whole bunch of chemicals in it that's wrong and we do need legislation and stiff findes for doing that sort of marketing and and selling on the market so while there is a market for Eco there is a market now with green washing that is for want of a better word just lying to you about what's in that project in the product so be wise when you're buying read the label and find out more look at trusted apps to help you on this journey but you know what Drive the market with your product choices thank you so looking ahead your hopes for the future of the Environmental Health Association of Quebec in Canada how do you envision the landscape for individuals with MCS changing in the coming years and we spoke about more and more products and I'd have to say since last year I've noticed more and more changes even in in certain Health environments and certain stores where there's more and more of this fr free or there's a lot more advocacy going on in the in the world but how would you guys see the the landscape for individuals for MCS changing go ahead Rosa well how I would like to see it Marco is uh yeah I would like to see laws implement mented for these companies who produce all these products toxic products there should be laws as to what chemicals they can put in our products I can't buy anything at the pharmacy there nothing I just buy my uh ey drops uh everything on that shelf is so toxic I even had to change my toothpaste I was reacting to the toothpaste just because they're on the Shelf does not mean they are safe because there are no laws and it's a shame because there's so much disease in the world all these cancers personally I'm convinced that all these cancers come are are related to all these chemicals in our lives the chemicals we breathe in the chemicals we put on our bodies the chemicals we clean our homes with the chemicals in our food this is all affecting

us so I would like to see commercials on TV not about uh uh scented I would like to see other commercials about safe and clean products good for everybody um also I would like to see more spaces that people with MCS can go to they can't go into these malls or shops or it's very I I do I've I you know I've gotten like I said I've gotten stronger and uh Boulder and uh you know I'll put on my mask and go where I have to go but not everybody can do it and and I understand them there was a time I went through two years of is isolation and there are people who've been in isolation for many years so yes I would like to see more understanding and and more education to our doctors and nurses and you know children everybody needs to be better educated to know what we're dealing with and how we can change things so we need a lot of safe spaces and and gosh if we could only get rid of fabric softeners so we can walk down the street at least without inhaling fabric softeners and feeling sick with them so yes there are many any changes I would like to

see so first before I answer that question uh I just like to tell everybody that there is an alternative for everything it's not like we're saying don't use anything right there is an alternative for laundry there's an alternative that works very well so you might have a little difficulty in the beginning because that laundry the ecool laundry product is actually getting rid of the chemicals that you used to use the the vinegar and water that you use uh on your windows is getting rid of the product that you had used you know so the this is It's a process for change it doesn't happen overnight please visit our ecoliving guide.com ecological like I said you have a lot of power in your hand use it um the other thing is um Canadian Environmental Protection act sepa has been updated and the right to uh healthy environment has been included in the updated sepa that is being defined right now and I hope it has a lot of teeth um I think for us with MCS for people with MCS um what we would like to see is that those acts and that legislation really take into account the most vulnerable vulnerable among us so that will be the fetus you take care of the fetus you take care of all of us and that's the way you should be thinking you're finding plastic all over in the human body do we have to get to that stage before this legislation or do you think we could do it now and instead of waiting for this legislation to happen you the public you need to change instead of waiting for something good to happen to you I'm sure it will happen in a few years but it's not happening right now um for us at the association like Rosa said we wouldn't like better legislation on products to be truly eal to support companies who make these products to make them more affordable for the general population so that even people at the on the lower end of the income scale can afford them which is not the case right now so that's an injustice and um we need more awareness in our communities that we are a product of what we eat and breathe and put on our skin and use and what our neighbors use because we have one planet let's be kind to it so that we can live on

it thank you thank you well I think that that that brings us to uh the close of our uh first episode I want to thank you so much for sharing your insights today rohini and Rosa uh your stories and messages are truly valuable to to the community and uh before we wrap up is there anything else you'd like to share with our

listeners again I want to uh I want to remind the listeners that we are all affected by chemicals one way or another we may think we're not but we are and uh it's up to us to change change our future to to take care of our health it's up up to us to limit the there's there's a limit to what our bodies can take I learned that you know I I went into I was a hardworking person and although I there was exposures I went into to work every day only to get sicker and sicker there's a limit to what our bodies can take and we need to listen to our bodies and eliminate eliminate limit and eliminate a lot of these chemicals that we use on a daily basis which are only going to make us sicker and sicker so me you all of us we have the power to make the changes and ask for better

products i' just like to say thank you Marco thanks Rosa I I hope uh you know that we've left some something behind on the table for you and I everyone uh good health and be well thank you thank you thank you so

much thanks for tuning in to this episode of footprints and impacts if you found value in today's conversation be sure to subscribe leave a comment and share it with friends family and especially someone who might benefit don't forget to follow our upcoming episodes for more insights on sustain ability Health inclusion and how we can all make a positive environmental impact until next time stay curious take care of yourself and be

well this podcast is part of the empowering community and removal of barriers project funded in part by the government of Canada's Social Development Partnerships program disability component