Abstract
The purpose was to study the prevalence of environmental intolerance (EI) and its different manifestations, including behavioral changes and disability. Fertile-aged women (n = 680) of the Kuopio Birth Cohort Study were asked about annoyance to 12 environmental factors, symptoms and behavioral changes. We asked how much the intolerance had disrupted their work, household responsibilities or social life. We chose intolerance attributed to chemicals, indoor molds, and electromagnetic fields to represent typical intolerance entities. Of the respondents, 46% reported annoyance to chemicals, molds, or electromagnetic fields. Thirty-three percent reported symptoms relating to at least one of these three EIs, 18% reported symptoms that included central nervous system symptoms, and 15% reported behavioral changes. Indicating disability, 8.4% reported their experience relating to any of the three EIs as at least “somewhat difficult”, 2.2% “very difficult” or “extremely difficult”, and 0.9% “extremely difficult”. Of the latter 2.2%, all attributed their intolerance to indoor molds, and two thirds also to chemicals. As the number of difficulties increased, the number of organ systems, behavioral changes and overlaps of the three EIs also grew. EI is a heterogeneous phenomenon and its prevalence depends on its definition. The manifestations of EI form a continuum, ranging from annoyance to severe disability.
Highlights
Intolerance to environmental factors at very low exposure levels is a frequently encountered health issue
A workshop organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and two other United Nations (UN) agencies [3] stated that medically unexplained conditions attributed to diverse environmental factors should be labeled under the same term, idiopathic Environmental intolerance (EI), due to their similar features
An electronic questionnaire on EI was offered in the first trimester to all Finnish-speaking pregnant women who participated in the Kuopio Birth Cohort (KuBiCo) Study during the period from July 2012 to February 2014
Summary
Intolerance to environmental factors at very low exposure levels is a frequently encountered health issue This intolerance varies from annoyance to disabling multiple organ symptoms causing lifestyle changes and functional impairments [1,2]. A workshop organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and two other United Nations (UN) agencies [3] stated that medically unexplained conditions attributed to diverse environmental factors should be labeled under the same term, idiopathic EI, due to their similar features Such conditions include multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), hypersensitivity to EMFs and sick building syndrome (SBS) [2,3,4,5]. The aim was to study the prevalence of self-reported EI and its different manifestations ranging from annoyance to a more severe condition in a female population, utilizing a maternity clinic cohort. Behavioral changes, and the co-occurrence of different types of EI associate with the severity of intolerance
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