About Individuals with Enviromental Sensitivities
Canadian Human Rights Commission Individuals with Environmental Sensitivities Are Required by Law to be Accommodated In May 2007, the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) released two reports it had commissioned to address issues with respect to environmental sensitivities -- also referred to as multiple chemical sensitivity, environmental illness, environmental hypersensitivity, idiopathic environmental intolerances, toxicant-induced loss of tolerance, and 20th century disease. The first report called, "The Medical Perspective on Environmental Sensitivities," is a comprehensive literature review and summary report of the scientific literature on environmental sensitivities. The purpose of this report was to inform employers, service providers and individual Canadians about the medical aspects of environmental sensitivities. It reviews medical issues including the recognition and awareness of environmental sensitivities, the range of symptoms and conditions associated with this condition, the development of scientifically sound diagnostic criteria, medical research and treatment, issues regarding building codes and practices that affect the accommodation of people with sensitivities, and the costs and benefits associated with accommodation in the workplace. According to this 86-page report, individual responses to environmental factors vary significantly and, to date, approximately 3% of Canadians have been diagnosed with environmental sensitivities. These individuals typically experience neurological impairments, and often experience other symptoms including fatigue, pain, headaches, and breathing and digestive problems. Environmental sensitivities may develop either gradually after chronic exposure to relatively low levels of chemicals, or suddenly after a major exposure to an environmental disaster or following a chemical spill. After developing environmental sensitivities, a person may react to a much wider range of factors and also to levels of exposure he/she could previously tolerate -- levels that continue to cause little difficulty in other people. The CHRC encourages employers and service providers to proactively address issues of accommodation by ensuring that their workplaces and facilities are accessible for persons with a wide range of disabilities. Successful accommodation for persons with environmental sensitivities requires innovative strategies to minimize or eliminate exposure to triggers in the environment. These may include: developing and enforcing fragrance free and chemical avoidance policies, undertaking educational programs to increase voluntary compliance with such policies, minimizing chemical use and purchasing less toxic products, and notifying employees and clients in advance of construction, re-modeling and cleaning activities. Such measures can prevent injuries and illnesses, and reduce costs and health and safety risks. To help meet this obligation, employers can access the significant number of resources listed in the Appendices of the two CHRC reports which are available on the CHRC’s web site at: http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/legislation_policies/policy_environ_politique-en.asp. Employers and workers can also access the resources available at The Environmental Health Centre at The New Women's College Hospital in Toronto. This program was established in 1996 by the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care as a provincial resource in promoting environmental health, and to improve healthcare for individuals suffering from environment-related conditions such as multiple chemical sensitivities, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. The Environmental Health Centre is a multidisciplinary clinic, the only one of its kind in Ontario, and is the clinical part of the joint clinical and research program of Women's College Hospital and the University of Toronto. The clinic's role is to: A written referral from a patient's family doctor is required for an individual to enter this program, and the current wait list is approximately six to eight months long. There are, however, many resources available on The Environmental Health Centre’s web site at: http://www.womenshealthmatters.ca/centres/environmental/ Our_Program/index.html that anyone can access right away to learn more about these conditions and what can be done to begin the healing process while waiting for an initial assessment at the clinic.
The report says the impact of environmental sensitivities on a worker's performance may range from mild to severe, sometimes making work impossible. Although susceptibility to sensitivities will usually be lifelong at this point, early recognition, environmental control, the avoidance of symptom-triggering agents, the removal of residual toxins from the body, and the ability of the individual to recover normal biological processes (which is not always possible) are key to regaining and maintaining health for people with sensitivities.
The purpose of the second report called, “Accommodation for Environmental Sensitivities: Legal Perspective,” was “to establish the status of the issues related to environmental sensitivities from a legal perspective and as [they] relate to the protection of human rights” in the Canadian context. The researchers reviewed secondary literature resources on environmental sensitivities, accommodations that have been made for this condition, and relevant case law in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. They also contacted representatives of domestic and international human rights agencies and organizations with expertise in environmental sensitivities. This 44-page study provides a consolidated list of some of the types of accommodations identified, reviews best practice accommodations in relation to health, safety and cost (the “undue hardship” rule) and makes seven recommendations. The Appendix provides an extensive list of articles, sample policies and web sites of relevant organizations.
As a result of these two reports, the CHRC has developed a Policy on Environmental Sensitivities, recognizing them as a medical condition and as a disability for individuals living with this condition who “are entitled to the protection of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.” It states that as with any other disability, “those with environmental sensitivities are required by law to be accommodated.” According to the CHRC’s web site, it will address inquiries and process complaints from individuals who believe they have been discriminated against because they have an environmental sensitivity. The CHRC sends the following message to employers and service providers:
Another helpful resource is the book by Dr. Jozef Krop called, “Healing the Planet One Patient at a Time: A Primer in Environmental Medicine.” Dr. Krop is a Fellow of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine and has practiced Environmental Medicine for more than 20 years, currently in Mississauga, Ontario. His research has been published in peer-reviewed medical journals. This book began as a practical handbook or educational tool for Dr. Krop’s patients, and offers both treatment and prevention strategies to help individuals take charge of their health based on the decisions they make about the food, water and air they depend on for survival, in addition to lifestyle and medical treatment choices. His book is written in plain language that everyone can understand. To order a copy of Healing the Planet One Patient at a Time, visit KOS Publishing’s web site at: http://kospublishing.com/. You can read the introduction, preface and reviews for this book at: http://kospublishing.com/html/healing.html.