So, what IS that scent you are wearing? There are no laws requiring the manufacturers of perfumes and other scented products to inform you of their ingredients. When byproducts form by combining them, they don’t have to tell consumers that either.

In the US the word "fragrance" on your ingredients list can be up to 200 undisclosed chemicals, from a pool of 2000, that do not have to be tested for safety. In fact, many of them are known to cause health problems.

It is no wonder that 30% of Americans have reactions ranging from noticeable to debilitating to such products and other chemicals. An estimated 4-6% of these people are forced to change their daily lives dramatically due to severe sensitivity to chemicals. These people suffer an invisible illness, that recieves little recognition. Acknowledgement would point the finger at the big business of chemical production and use, and there are 80,000 chemicals in products used by Americans every day.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, or MCS, is a disability that causes individuals to react to even the lowest levels of toxics because of previous chemical exposure. New exposures do not "bother" but further "injure" those with prior chemical injury.

Inundated with pollutants and toxins it is impossible for those affected with MCS to carry on their lives as usual. This includes family and friends. If they want to assist in the better health and maintain a relationship with their loved one, they must make the neccessary changes of eliminating such products from their environment.

Those who develop this lowered tolerance are often industrial workers, occupants in "tight" buildings, residents from contaminated communities, war veterans and individuals with personal exposures to chemicals in a world growing more toxic.

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