The basic concepts of allergies: case of miscellaneous indoor pollutants

THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF ALLERGIES: CASE OF MISCELLANEOUS INDOOR POLLUTANTS
Inhalation of the odors and fumes of detergents, soaps containing naptha, ammonia, Clorox, cleansing powders containing bleaches, window-washing compounds, certain silver- and brass-polishing materials, and burning wax candles may all cause chronic or acute symptoms. Even merely storing bleach-containing cleansers in the house has caused problems for some people.
Soap can be very irritating, although in general susceptible individuals have shown much greater tolerance for unscented soaps and cleansers than for highly scented soaps, toilet deodorants, and disinfectants, especially pine-scented ones. So-called air fresheners and improvers, which evaporate in the air, are particularly troublesome. Other patients have reported reacting to the odor of highly scented perfumes or other cosmetics.
Even the odor arising from prolonged use of television sets has been enough to foul the air in the vicinity, since the plastic-coated hot wires give off fumes.
In short, chemicals and plastics have been introduced into the home to a prodigious degree in the last few decades. Products made from these materials have often represented a boon, in that they are cheap, readily manufactured in large quantities, and capable of functions which could not be so well performed by the natural products which they have replaced. They have also made a great deal of money for their manufacturers and suppliers.
What has almost never been considered has been the long-range health consequences of these new materials. It was simply assumed that these bountiful results of scientific progress were as good for us as they were convenient. This conviction has turned out to be profoundly wrong. Many of the substances naively welcomed into the home have turned into hidden enemies, polluting our environment and the very air we breathe.
In recent years, for example, formaldehyde has been increasingly implicated as a source of allergy-type reactions. In March of 1980 the prestigious National Academy of Sciences concluded that formaldehyde, even at low levels, did indeed pose a serious health problem.
Formaldehyde is found in such diverse products as home-heating insulation, plywood, particleboard, permanent-press clothes, toothpaste, air fresheners, shampoo, and cosmetics, as previously mentioned.
According to the Academy report, formaldehyde, "even at extremely low airborne concentrations," will irritate the eyes, nose, and throat of a proportion of the public. One-fifth of the entire population, in fact, is affected to some degree by the presence of this chemical.5
In my experience, the Academy may be understating the seriousness of this growing problem. I, and other clinical ecologists, have seen patients literally forced from their homes by formaldehyde exposure.
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Allergies

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