THE DISPOSSESSED:
Living With Chemical Sensitivities
A book by Rhonda Zwillinger

Statement by the artist 
Rhonda Zwillinger

[Sample some of the book]

In 1991, at the age of 41, I developed a crippling case of toxic chemical injury, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) that forced me to leave my life and home in New York City. I moved to Tucson, Arizona in hopes of finding a "safe," clean environment to heal. Instead, I discovered that such an environment no longer exists. I became part of an international community of people who have been injured at home or in the workplace by toxic chemicals, chemical products and/or pesticides.

Prior to being injured, I was a successful artist who traveled and exhibited my work nationally and internationally and enjoyed a full business, social and family life. Today I live in Northern Arizona in a 450 square foot technological/chemically safe house that I had built to my specifications. Many others with this illness are not so fortunate.

In 1993 1 began to interview and photograph people living with MCS. My photographs received a lot of recognition. I realized that I had an important message to share with the art community and the world at large. With the help of a start-up -rant from The Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, endorsements from The Response Team for The Chemically Injured, The Environmental Health Network, Arizona's Independent Living Centers, Arizona Technology Access Program, various physicians, and my own money, I have interviewed and photographed over 100 people who are so debilitated by chemical injury that they have had to make major lifestyle changes to manage this illness. As a fellow suffer of chemical injury who also experiences the excruciating physical pain, the frustrating physical limitations, and the lack of medical resources, I am able to gain the trust of other injured people and tell their story in hopes of warning others.

The Environmental Protection Agency and The National Academy of Science identify MCS as one of the two chronic health effects caused by chemical exposure; the other being cancer. MCS is an unintended consequence of rapid technological growth. Between 1940 and 1980 the production of synthetic chemicals increased from less than 10 billion pounds a year to more than 350 billion. Each year, a minimum of one thousand new compounds is added to the estimated 70 thousand chemicals already in use by 1980. Less than 1% of these tens of millions of chemicals have been characterized toxicologically. No testing has been done to determine the health consequences of the synergistic effect of the chemicals in our environment.

Current available medical treatment is experimental, expensive, and not covered by health insurance. The following is a partial list of legal recognition of MCS in the USA and Canada: 22 Agencies, Commissions, Institutes, and Departments of the U.S. Government 23 Agencies, Commissions, Legislatures, and Departments of the U.S. State Governments; 8 Federal Court Decisions; 19 State Court & 14 US Workers' Compensation Decisions; 4 Canadian Federal Government Agencies (a detailed and fully referenced list of legislation, administrative policies and court decisions that recognize MCS is available from MCS Referral & Resources, 508 Westgate Road, Baltimore, MD 21229 USA.

"Does chemical sensitivity exist?" and "How many people worldwide are affected?" are two of the most often asked questions. The lack of research and analysis is frequently cited as validation of the position of those who would oppose, especially legally, the possibility of this health problem - in fact, The American Medical Association, the most powerful organization of physicians in the United States cannot agree on a medical definition of MCS and therefore does not yet acknowledge its existence.

A 1995 California Department of Health Services Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey found that about 16% of the respondents reported sensitivities to everyday chemicals and about I million Californians surveyed said they had been diagnosed with MCS by a doctor. Presently, similar studies are being conducted in several states throughout the United States. However, the full extent of the number of injuries are not known.

According to my observations, about 60% of those injured with MCS are financially devastated and are unable to find "safe" housing because none exists. They become homeless - forced to live a nomadic existence in their cars, tents, sheds or stripped down mobile homes. Many become urban "house prisoners" isolated from their family and friends, unable to venture out into an increasingly toxic world. Often thier only link to the outside world is the telephone.

The Dispossessed: Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities focuses on the people with MCS who have traveled to the Southwest. This area was once recognized as a safe haven for people with illnesses like tuberculosis and asthma. However, due to the ongoing development and population increase, the pristine Southwest no longer exists.

Individual symptoms of toxic chemical injury vary and encompass a range of debilitating symptoms that affect multiple organ systems, especially the neurological, immune, respiratory and musculoskeletal systems. Some symptoms are headaches, nausea, food allergies, insomnia, extreme exhaustion, skin rashes and burning, motor ability impairment, short term memory loss, vision impairment, depression, convulsions - to name a few. As a spreading phenomenon occurs, the sensitivities worsen and the person begins reacting to a wider range of low-level exposures to chemicals and other irritants. Pesticides, particle board, adhesives, carpeting, dry cleaning chemicals, paints, varnishes, detergents, room deodorizers, tobacco smoke, cleaning products, and fragrances are some items that can cause mild to life threatening reactions. The National Center for Environmental Health Strategies receives up to 1,000 requests for information on MCS each month from across the US, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, and other countries as well as inquires from Gulf War veterans. Living with MCS is not just an American phenomenon.

The Dispossessed: Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities provides a forum for people with MCS where they can accurately describe how they have lost their health and dignity. It enables those injured to participate directly in achieving the following goals:

• To humanize and personalize the harm inflicted by pesticides and toxic chemicals.
• To increase awareness to the dangers of pesticides and toxic chemicals, help eliminate and reduce use, and provide access to safe alternatives.
• To educate the general public and medical community to the reality of MCS as an actual illness.
• To promote the need for funding for increased medical research into treatment protocols.
• To promote the need for chemically safe housing for MCS victims as provided by law within the Americans With Disabilities Act.
• To promote the need for policies which provide accessibility to public places for those with MCS by eliminating the use of numerous pesticides, cleaning solution and building materials related to chemical toxicity, as provided by the ADA.
• To prevent further injuries by pesticides and toxic chemicals through consumer education and awareness programs.

The Dispossessed: Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, a collection of black and white photographs accompanied by each person's story, calls attention to this growing, misunderstood and often misdiagnosed condition to bring about world-wide public acknowledgment that any person anywhere is at risk of developing this 20th century disease. It is our hope that via public awareness and interest, The Dispossessed Project's photographs will be made available on both national and international levels for exhibitions at museums, galleries, libraries, and medical conferences.

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We are a small non-profit organization that needs your TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS to: publish a book of the photographs/anecdotes, exhibit the photographs, continue to photograph those injured with MCS and continue working with other MCS and Environmental organizations to disseminate in formation on MCS.

The Dispossessed Project
Rhonda Zwillinger, Coordinator
P.O.Box 402
885 Gina Marie Blvd.
Paulden AZ 86334-0402
Tel. (520) 636 2802
e-mail: rzdisp@northlink.com

Book available for $16.00 including shipping cost in the USA. Please send money order or check to the above address.

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