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Qualitative Health Research
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We are the Canaries: Self-Care in Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Sufferers

Juliene G. Lipson

Department of Community Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco.

This ethnographic study investigates the experiences of living with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), a condition increasing in prevalence but medically contested, on which very little qualitative research has been done. Participant observation included two treatment centers, a support organization, an Internet chat room, and conversations with MCS sufferers, activists, and educators. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 33 people with MCS, recruited to reflect a broad demographic range and severity of illness variation. This article describes several methodological issues associated with doing "peer research" and then describes self-care for symptom management. With no known cure, MCS sufferers manage their symptoms through three main avenues: prevention/avoidance, detoxification, and emotional self-care. Implications include education of health care providers and a warning from those who have MCS: "We are the canaries in the coal mine; what has happened to us will happen to many others unless we clean up our environment."

Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 11, No. 1, 103-116 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/104973201129118966
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