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Asia is the world’s factory for all that stuff and, yes, it’s pervasive. I’m researching sealing methods for the many pieces I have in my place. They’re still off-gassing almost 2 years later and it’s noticeable. Thanks again for the tip-off. I’m presently over on Telegram responding to a friend I follow there 😊 Mas tarde....

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My dad can tell you what to seal it with if ur interested

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I’m ..very..interested. I’m having blood work done tomorrow and one of the things I’ve asked to be tested for is formaldehyde. It should reveal quite a bit about the glue being the culprit (or not). How do I contact him? You can use my e mail if privacy is a concern for revealing personal info. I thank you for this help, Tobin.....

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Re: your comments about chemical sensitivity -- Do you think there is such a thing as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) disorder, or is it that all of us just react differently to different environmental toxins?

Reason I ask is because last year I wrote a piece about an individual who claims to suffer from multiple chemical sensitivity, but who also clearly suffers from serious mental instability. You can find the piece here (https://www.growingupalienated.com/covidmania/) -- it's too bad the images don't embed properly anymore cause you'll be able to get a better sense as to why I think this man is actually suffering psychologically, not physiologically. When writing this I also found that chronic anxiety plays a key role in those who claim to suffer from MCS.

It makes sense because many Covidians who claim to suffer from long covid (or who live in perpetual fear) often suffer from a host of other self-diagnosed illnesses / unrecognized, umbrella-type disorders.

So I wonder: Are disorders like MCS anxiety-based? Is there a link between long covid and psychological distress as well? I think so. What do you think?

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Big question. Many chemically sensitive people do demonstrate a high level of anxiety, and I suppose I do as well ... at times.

I actually read your article about Jeff a while back. Pretty extreme! In fact I've never met anyone so extreme (save the extreme measures some personality types have gone to to protect themselves from "Covid", like my former physicist friend who has Aspberger's (sp.?) and germophobia).

Anxiety is often one of the symptoms of Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome. Also depression, even psychosis. According to CIRS doctors, one of the main things to become inflamed (affected) is the brain, particularly the hypothalamus that controls hormone signaling to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland.

Thus, as I see it, a negative feedback loop can be established: brain and hormone disruptions can lead to anxiety, etc., and the "rational" brain (and the subconscious, too) can amplify this by allowing it to take over, thus creating more anxiety and other problems.

Do I think MCS is solely anxiety-based? No. Not at all, in fact. Poisons are real. They cause real illness. But yes you are right, we all react differently to different toxins. This is clearly the case, even between one person with MCS and another. Many variables come in, including (and especially, I would say) what we've been repeatedly exposed to, both in the distant past and more recently. What I react to, and how much of a reaction, can and does also change over time, as I noted with a shift from being very reactive to synthetic perfumes to less reactive, but more reactive to vehicle exhaust. In fact, I've watched these shifts happen repeatedly over the years.

There is something called oropathy (Herbert Shelton ND, DC writes on it). Have you heard of it. It is the premise that symptoms tell us something that we should pay attention to, and that by paying attention we can change our habits. Such habits could include BOTH physical exposures, etc. AND mental habits. For me then it is necessary to pay attention and avoid what I can that seems to be affecting me or that I know to be harmful, but also to calm the mind, practice breathing and letting go.

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Tobin, thanks for this article on the off-gassing of formaldehyde by furniture made in Vietnam (and other furniture factories of the world). It possibly helps explain something that is happening to me right now. 2 months ago I started experiencing a neuropathy in the front of my lower legs that will not dissipate. I initially thought it was simply a pinched Sciatic or Femoral nerve so did much stretching to alleviate it but had no results at all. Your article made the penny drop: moving into my present apartment about a year and a half ago I needed some furniture quickly and bought several pieces from Amazon. Two of those pieces were nightstands next to either side of my bed and I’d always noticed after they were in place that there was a subtle chemical odor coming from them, one of which sat only a foot or two from my head. I’m familiar with the odor of Malathion and thought that that was what I was smelling, possibly from the spraying of plants and trees outside my apartment but I noticed that it was present in both cold and warm weather and began to associate it with either my nightstand or the frame of the bed I was sleeping on. Two months ago my lower legs began to go numb but I still didn’t make this obvious connection until you pointed out the off-gassing of formaldehyde in furniture manufactured in Asia. Needless to say I’m now doing a deep dive into all of this and will begin by getting these nightstands outside and then find a carbon air purifier to help things along. As I look around my apartment I see a host of possible health culprits in rugs sprayed with chemical fire and stain retardants, more manufactured furniture etc. so thanks for this heads up. The right words at the right time. I’m continuing to follow your journey on Telegram. I’ll see you over there.

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Well I'm glad if that was useful, but I don't remember saying anything about Asia. I was talking about paneling and cabinets made in the good old US of A

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Of course it doesn't matter where they're made, its what they're made of!

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