Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) occurred to me in a city in Osaka where I was born and grew up.
This city used to be a beautiful place where only houses were allowed to build. However, a factory to recycle used plastic was suddenly built.

This factory has spread invisible chemical substances in the city, and I started to have symptoms including headache, nausea and numbness.

（Nara, Japan　M.T）

MCS patients can have a variety of symptoms depending on the people. There is no medicine (since medicine is chemical) and whether is curable completely is up to the patients.

Hardest thing is that many cases people don’t recognise us as MCS patients apart from those who are in severe condition.

People think "why are you so tired although you look fine?"
Hardest thing is when people think I'm lying.
Those illnesses which are invisible cannot be believed.
It was mentally really hard.

Why I mentioned such story is because I've read the article about "cotton and pesticides".
On the street, nowadays I can smell strong laundry detergent from everyone. Laundry detergent is something mostly chemical.
I assume most of the people don’t realise how dangerous chemicals are.

What was shocking for me was that I couldn't go to any kinds of shops including department stores and supermarkets.
Building material, additives, shampoo, detergent, fragrance, chemical substances on clothes, factory emission, pesticides etc. My body reacted to those things and I felt so dizzy.
There was also a time when I simply couldn't go out from house. At least half a year after moving.

In my case, to move away from the factory didn't mean curing my illness. Once I'm away and to be in clean environment, my body became even more sensitive and　detoxication started.
However, chemical substances are so tiny that they even can go through glass. This means they go through our body and also into our blood very easily. That's why to remove chemicals from our body is very difficult.

I was fortunate that I am single and my family supported me a lot. My mother also has MCS, so to have somebody who can truly understand each other was the best help I could get.
There seem to be a lot of MCS patients whose family do not provide enough support. For example, they didn't change detergent, fragrance or shampoo and therefore MCS worsened. They cannot stay at home.
This illness has still very limited recognition. Therefore, there are a lot of people taking their own life.

Now, it's been three years after moving. Finally I can go to many places. Because of my changeable health condition, I can't work for a company but instead work for somebody I know and understand my illness.
So, the best way would be to work on my own.
Whatever I do, my priority is health condition. I sometime needed to cancel meeting with friends on the day. They try to understand. But it is difficult for me to explain and I know for them to understand.

I used to work in fashion industry. However, I cannot go back.
But I love fashion.
I know that I should wear organic, but design is more important for me.

I love being outside, travelling, fashion... So it really made me think "to be healthy" is such a treasure.

Today, I can wear any kind of clothing in most cases.
I carefully choose shampoo, laundry detergent, tooth paste, cosmetics, food etc. I also use organic sanitary pad.

Especially, laundry detergent is something which supposed to remove stains from clothes. However, even you wash completely, the residue of detergent, which is chemical, stay on the clothes and go through our skin.
This can lead to cancer and hormonal disorder. So I try to find the best option.

I want more people to know how dangerous chemicals are.

（Nara, Japan　M.T）