Environmental Intolerance, Symptoms and Disability Among Fertile-Aged Women
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Study Design and Study Population
2.2. Intolerance Attributed to Environmental Factors
2.2.1. Symptoms
2.2.2. Behavioral Changes
2.2.3. Disability
2.3. Definitions of EI
- (A)
- Feeling ill or annoyed (annoyance) by different environmental factors;
- (B)
- Annoyance with symptoms;
- (C)
- Annoyance with symptoms from multiple organ systems including the CNS (at least one CNS symptom and one non-CNS symptom);
- (D)
- Annoyance with multiple organ symptoms including CNS symptoms (=definition C) and behavioral changes (at least one behavioral change, see Table 1);
- (E)
- Annoyance with multiple organ symptoms including CNS symptoms, behavioral changes (=definition D) and disability; and;
- (F)
- Annoyance with multiple organ symptoms including CNS symptoms, behavioral changes (=definition D) and severe disability.
2.4. EI Attributed to Chemicals, Indoor Molds, and EMFs
2.5. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Annoyance Attributed to Environmental Factors
3.2. Annoyance and Symptoms Attributed to Environmental Factors
3.3. Behavioral Changes Due to EI
3.4. Disability Due to EI
3.5. Co-Occurrence of EIs
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Item | Question and Answer Options |
---|---|
Annoyance | Are you feeling ill or annoyed by the following types of environmental exposures or situations? |
Chemicals (1)–(6) | (1) Vehicle exhaust (2) Paint or paint thinner (3) Perfumes, air fresheners or other fragrances (4) New furnishings such as new carpeting, flooring, shower curtain, or the interior of a new car (5) Fresh ink on newspapers (6) Tobacco smoke |
Indoor molds (7) | (7) Indoor molds in moisture-damaged buildings |
EMFs (8) | (8) Electromagnetic fields |
Other environmental factors (9)–(12) | (9) Beauty salons or hair salons (10) Detergent departments in shops (11) Moldy odors (12) Dust |
Sensitivity | Are you exceptionally/unusually sensitive to the environmental exposures or situations above? |
Symptoms | Have you ever had the following symptoms from the environmental exposures or situations listed above? - Neurological symptoms (e.g., headache, numbness, tingling) - Cognitive symptoms (e.g., memory deterioration, concentration impaired) - Pulmonary symptoms (e.g., dyspnea, coughing, wheezing) - Dermal symptoms (e.g., erythema, rash) - Muscles or joint pain - Gastrointestinal symptoms (e.g., flatulence, stomach ache) - Cardiac symptoms (e.g., palpitations) - General symptoms (e.g., fever, night sweats, fatigue, weight loss, increase in weight) |
Behavioral changes | Have you made any behavioral changes to avoid the symptoms above? - Behavior or lifestyle change to minimize exposure - Changed interior decorations or furnishings at home - Moved to another apartment - Changed workplace, resigned from workplace or occupation - Taken vitamins, nutritional supplements, or changed diet - Eliminated the cause using antifungal agents, or chemicals - Used protective equipment (e.g., respirator, gauntlet, clothing) |
Disability | If you recognize the problems mentioned above, how difficult have these problems made it for you to do your work, take care of things at home or get along with other people? |
Environmental Factor | Degree of Annoyance * | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Not at All | Some | Rather Much | Very Much | |
Chemicals | ||||
Vehicle exhaust | 263 (38.7) | 324 (47.7) | 71 (10.5) | 21 (3.1) |
Paint or paint thinner | 211 (31.4) | 324 (48.1) | 110 (16.3) | 28 (4.2) |
Perfumes, air fresheners, or other fragrance | 273 (40.3) | 258 (38.0) | 117 (17.3) | 30 (4.4) |
New furnishings such as new carpeting, flooring, shower curtain, or the interior of a new car | 441 (65.7) | 190 (28.3) | 33 (4.9) | 7 (1.1) |
Fresh ink of newspapers | 544 (80.0) | 110 (16.2) | 23 (3.4) | 3 (0.4) |
Tobacco smoke | 133 (19.6) | 211 (31.1) | 175 (25.8) | 159 (23.5) |
Indoor molds | 200 (29.7) | 252 (37.4) | 148 (21.9) | 74 (11.0) |
Electromagnetic fields | 568 (84.7) | 83 (12.4) | 15 (2.2) | 5 (0.7) |
Other factors | ||||
Beauty salons or hair salons | 468 (68.8) | 175 (25.8) | 28 (4.1) | 9 (1.3) |
Shop detergent departments | 487 (71.7) | 146 (21.5) | 39 (5.8) | 7 (1.0) |
Moldy odors | 217 (32.1) | 300 (44.3) | 114 (16.8) | 46 (6.8) |
Dust | 178 (26.4) | 310 (45.9) | 147 (21.8) | 40 (5.9) |
Definitions of EI | EI Attributed to | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Any of the 12 Environmental Factors | Chemicals **, Molds, or EMFs (Any of the Three) | Chemicals ** | Molds | EMFs | |
A | 457 (67.2) | 310 (45.6) | 198 (29.1) | 222 (32.6) | 20 (2.9) |
B | 302 (44.4) | 226 (33.2) | 155 (22.8) | 166 (24.4) | 16 (2.4) |
C | 145 (21.3) | 119 (17.5) | 80 (11.8) | 93 (13.7) | 9 (1.3) |
D | 122 (17.9) | 102 (15.0) | 67 (9.9) | 83 (12.2) | 9 (1.3) |
E | 68 (10.0) | 57 (8.4) | 39 (5.7) | 52 (7.6) | 5 (0.7) |
F | 15 (2.2) | 15 (2.2) | 10 (1.5) | 15 (2.2) | 2 (0.3) |
Number and Type of EI | Degree of Disability (Lifestyle or Functional Impairments) *** | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Not Difficult at All | Somewhat Difficult | Very Difficult | Extremely Difficult | Total | |
Only one EI | 30 (56.6) | 18 (33.9) | 3 (5.7) | 2 (3.8) | 53 (100) |
Chemicals only | 13 (72.2) | 5 (27.8) | - | - | 18 (100) |
Indoor molds only | 16 (47.1) | 13 (38.2) | 3 (8.8) | 2 (5.9) | 34 (100) |
EMFs only | 1 (100) | - | - | - | 1 (100) |
Two different types of EI | 12 (29.3) | 21 (51.2) | 5 (12.2) | 3 (7.3) | 41 (100) |
Chemicals and molds | 12 (29.3) | 21 (51.2) | 5 (12.2) | 3 (7.3) | 41 (100) |
Chemicals and EMFs | - | - | - | - | - |
Molds and EMFs | - | - | - | - | - |
All three (chemicals, molds, EMFs) EIs | 3 (37.5) | 3 (37.5) | 1 (12.5) | 1 (12.5) | 8 (100) |
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Vuokko, A.; Karvala, K.; Lampi, J.; Keski-Nisula, L.; Pasanen, M.; Voutilainen, R.; Pekkanen, J.; Sainio, M. Environmental Intolerance, Symptoms and Disability Among Fertile-Aged Women. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 293. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15020293
Vuokko A, Karvala K, Lampi J, Keski-Nisula L, Pasanen M, Voutilainen R, Pekkanen J, Sainio M. Environmental Intolerance, Symptoms and Disability Among Fertile-Aged Women. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2018; 15(2):293. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15020293
Chicago/Turabian StyleVuokko, Aki, Kirsi Karvala, Jussi Lampi, Leea Keski-Nisula, Markku Pasanen, Raimo Voutilainen, Juha Pekkanen, and Markku Sainio. 2018. "Environmental Intolerance, Symptoms and Disability Among Fertile-Aged Women" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15, no. 2: 293. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15020293