We are the Canaries in the mine, will you be next ?

 

The other day I was overcome with the amount of perfume a woman was wearing in a store, and I wrote this blog post titled Scents and Sensibility, describing how badly it affected me.  It wasn’t that I didn’t like her scent, it was the rash it caused on my face.  It struck a nerve, with many readers writing in to say that they too suffer from problems, allergies, and rashes from household cleaners, perfume, and chemical additives.

Those of us who suffer these allergies, and problems are merely the canaries in the mine.  We are the early warning signals that there is something wrong in the environment, in our food, in our every day world. Consider us the sentinels.

 

Miners used to lower a canary down into a pit to see if they became sick from toxic gases.  That would allow them a chance to leave, or put on respirators.  I first read about the practice in a Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairies book, and it has stayed with me since.  We are the canaries, and the mine is the environment that everyone is living in.

Go down the cleaning aisle, notice how strong the scent is, if it doesn’t bother you, consider yourself very fortunate.  Like many people I am affected by the mere waft of household cleaners in the air surrounding the aisle.  In fact when I worked at my retail job, I had to ask special permission to be excused from stocking any shelves in the Housewares area, because it caused my allergies, and a rash on my face to be so aggravated that I had to leave the store.

I can’t use any commercial cleaners that you purchase from the store, I can’t eat certain foods, and can’t use most lotions, makeup, and soaps that you might not even consider a problem.  This is a sudden turn of events, my life wasn’t this complicated a few years ago.  But apparently years of working in a greenhouse, and chemical exposure has resulted in my developing a severe chemical sensitivity.

 

Be aware of what you are using to clean your house, try a more natural approach, there are many premade solutions on the market that are more healthy, or you can make your own.  Look into skin saving shampoos, and conditioners that contain less harmful ingredients.

Laurie from When the bough breaks is linking up with me and you might like to see what she has to say also.  If you suffer from environmental allergies feel free to let us know what you have to do to cope with them.

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams