CAW - Kanadische Gewerkschaft

CAW - Kanadische Gewerkschaft

Beitragvon Kai Uwe » Dienstag 27. September 2005, 07:44

CAW ist die größte kanadische Gewerkschaft.
CAW beschreibt auf ihrer Webseite für seine Mitglieder was MCS ist, welche Symptome es auslöst, wodurch es eintritt und welche Substanzen Reaktionen auslösen.

Es werden Beispiele von Mitgliedern genannt, die MCS bekamen, weil sie in einem Hosptial mit schlechter Lüftung arbeiteten. Einige der Mitarbeiter des Camp Hill Hospital in Halifaxdavon seien heute noch krank.

CAW drängt in seinem Bericht, daß Mitglieder die MCS haben, unterstützt werden und vorallem geglaubt bekommen. Diese Menschen müssten versichert bekommen, daß sich nicht alles bloß in ihrem Kopf abspielt.



Health, Safety & Environment > Health, Safety And Environmental Factsheets > Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE
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Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome
What is it?

If you work in a building and have symptoms like these that happen when you spend time in the building, and get better after you go home or on the weekend, you may be experiencing the early signs of multiple chemical sensitivity:

Burning eyes, nose
Headache
Cough, sore throat
Difficulty breathing
Hoarseness
Sinus pain
Headache
Migraines
Fatigue
Difficulty concentrating
Difficulty sleeping
Memory loss
Nausea
Abdominal pain
Aching muscles or joints
Skin disorders


Unlike a cold or the flu, symptoms do not clear up within days. After weeks or months of exposure, symptoms may become chronic and only get better after a very long time away from the building.

If this has happened to you, you could be experiencing what is often called "environmental illness" or "multiple chemical sensitivity" or "sick building syndrome". These are all terms to describe the problems of exposures to chemicals that adversely affect our health. Once you have been sensitized to chemicals at work, your sensitivities often broaden to a wide variety of chemicals that in the past did not bother you. These can range from perfumes to paints, from carpets to fuels.

Which workers are affected?

Multiple chemical sensitivity can happen to workers in a wide variety of workplaces, from retail to office, from universities to hospitals, from factories to construction. Low level exposure of chemicals given off by a wide variety of sources including solvents, paints, cleaning products, carpets, wall coverings, photocopiers, new clothing, and medicines can result in sensitivity developing among some people. These exposures are usually far below the maximum allowed under health and safety regulations but, since they occur over time, the sensitivity builds up in the exposed person. Remember, these regulations were set for each individual chemical, while we are often exposed to a "chemical soup" in workplaces. Sometimes one big exposure to a chemical can start the syndrome.

One of the most well-known examples in Canada occurred in Atlantic Canada among the hospital workers employed at the Camp Hill hospital in Halifax. Some of those workers, our members, are still unable to return to work. The culprit? Fundamentally, the hospital had very poor ventilation. The ventilation system was under-designed to save the employer money.

How do we get sick?

How does multiple chemical sensitivity affect the body? We breathe in many substances, we eat food with chemical additives and many sensitizers get into our bodies through our skin. Perfumes, soaps, shampoos, deodorants and hair sprays, for example, are designed to be worn and used or absorbed onto and into our skin.

Our bodies have evolved through millions of years living in a chemical-free world. Recently, we have invented new chemicals that we are biologically not equipped to handle. The chemical industry keeps inventing new products and the last thing they want is to acknowledge that their profitable products may be causing us substantial harm.

How can co-workers help?

It is very important that individuals who do contract multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome are believed, even though we may not know the precise chemical cause of the problem. People must be believed and reassured that it's not "all in their head".

How is it treated?

There is no real treatment for the syndrome other than removing the person from exposure to harmful chemicals. Their bodies will heal themselves over time with rest, good nutrition, exercise when ready to rebuild unused muscles, and social support. Remember, people may have become sick over a period of months or years so they will not get well overnight. Small amounts of chemicals that never bothered them before may now cause problems at minute amounts. This sensitization may last many years.

Prevention measures

The solution to the problems of multiple chemical sensitivity include these prevention measures:

Better general ventilation. Workers need fresh air.
Local exhaust ventilation for sources of contaminants such as photocopiers.
Natural fibres for floor coverings and furniture.
Natural wall coverings rather than those that contain formaldehyde
Environmentally friendly cleaning products
Indoor plants to help clean the air
Banning pesticides, especially indoors, or at least severely restricting their use and using organic pest control wherever possible
If workers do contract multiple chemical sensitivity, they need:

The right to timely investigation of health complaints and resolution of workers' compensation claims
The right to be believed even though the precise original cause of the syndrome may never be determined
The right to participate in support groups with fellow sufferers
The right not be harassed or discriminated against in job assignments and promotions
The right to job security, integrity and reasonable accommodation
The right not to be exposed to sensitizers such as cigarette smoke and perfumes
Once people have become sensitized through this workplace exposure, they can develop sensitivities to a wide variety of workplace and non-workplace chemicals from food additives to vehicle exhaust, from carpeting to caffeine, at levels so low that other people can barely detect them. We must ensure that these sensitized individuals are protected to the greatest extent possible.

For an excellent book on multiple chemical sensitivity, read Nicholas A. Ashford and Claudia S. Miller, CHEMICAL EXPOSURES; LOW LEVELS AND HIGH STAKES. Second Edition. (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1998). ISBN 0-442-02524-6.

Other names for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Environmental Illness (or EI); Sick Building Syndrome; Chemical or Environmental Hypersensitivity; Chemical Injury; Gulf War Syndrome; and Environmental Sensitivity Disorder

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

A Chronic Condition Characterized by:

multiple symptoms (many and variable)
in multiple organs (min. 2, usually 4+)
affecting multiple senses (usually 2 to 4)
triggered by multiple chemicals (and often also by other stressors & stimuli)
waxing and waning with exposures at or below levels previously tolerated
Multiple chemical sensitivity is often associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia

Persons with multiple chemical sensitivity may become sensitized to these chemicals:

Aerosol air freshener Furniture polish
Aerosol deodorant Garage fumes
After-shave lotion Gasoline exhaust
Asphalt pavement Hair spray
Carpet/carpet glues Nail polish
Carpet cleaning products Nail polish remover
Cleaning products Oil-based paint
Cigar smoke Paint thinner
Cigarette Smoke Perfumes and body sprays
Colognes, perfumes Perfumed shampoo and
other hair products
Deodorant and anti-perspirant
that are perfumed Pesticides and herbicides
Diesel exhaust Public restroom deodorizers
Diesel fuel Tar fumes from roof or road
Dry-cleaning fluid Tile cleaners
Floor cleaner Varnish, shellac, lacquer
Wood smoke

Adapted from Lax MB, Henneberger PK. Patients with multiple chemical sensitivities in an occupational health clinic: presentation and follow-up. Arch Environ Health 1995; 50:425-31.
Kai Uwe
 

CAW - Kanadische Gewerkschaft

Beitragvon Peelu » Dienstag 27. September 2005, 14:48

Diese Gewerkschaft setzt sich für ihre Mitglieder ein, so wie es früher
in Deutschland auch gewesen ist. Heute pfeifen sie viel zu häufig das Lied der
Arbeitgeber und vergessen ihre Machtstellung.
Vorallem im Arbeitsschutz könnten die Gewerkschaften richtig Druck erzeugen und
das käme letztendlich auch den Arbeitgebern und ihrem fianziellen Polster zugute.

Die Aufstellungsliste über die Rechte von chemikaliensensiblen Arbeitern
ist sehr menschlich und könnte wenn sie beachtet wird dazu beitragen, daß
Chemikaliensensible ihren Job behalten und gut erfüllen können.

Ein Lichtblick!
Peelu
 


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