In Japan, many people report developing Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) following exposure to fragrance in personal care and household products—and increasingly, in laundry projects, especially fabric softeners. 

Some are forced to leave their jobs. Others can no longer attend school. Many struggle to access medical care or even safe housing. Yet despite the profound disruption to people’s lives, MCS remains poorly understood and often invisible.

Is Japan facing a Multiple Chemical Sensitivity crisis?

Today’s guests, journalist and MCS advocate Yasuko Kato and sociology scholar Seykyoung Jung, bring firsthand insight into this urgent question.

Thank you for listening!

New episodes twice a month. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 

Check out the podcast's new website to listen and learn more:
http://listen.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/

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DISCLAIMER: THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
 
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. No material or information provided by The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, or its associated website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 

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Thank you very much to the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation generously supporting the podcast!

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Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is often seen as a condition that mostly affects older people. However, recent studies indicate young adults may be especially affected by MCS.

Research suggests young adults have the highest prevalence, may be more likely than other age groups to develop the condition, and seem particularly vulnerable to the mental-health impacts of living with chemical intolerance and the social isolation it can bring.

This episode's guest, Abby Steeves, recently completed her PhD focused on MCS and its impacts on young adults. As a former gymnast, she struggled to train and compete while living with the condition. These experiences led her to explore how MCS is challenging—and shaping—the lives of many other young people.

Listen and subscribe:
http://listen.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/9r95nuwOKfc

Abby’s dissertation:
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8845&context=doctoral

#MCS #multiplechemicalsensitivitypodcast #multiplechemicalsensitivity #ChemicalIntolerance #ChronicIllness #InvisibleIllness #Youth

DISCLAIMER: THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
 
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. No material or information provided by The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, or its associated website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 

Support the show

Thank you very much to the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation generously supporting the podcast!

If you find the podcast helpful, please consider becoming a supporter!
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You’re listening to The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast. I’m Aaron Goodman.

In this episode, we discuss illness memoirs as evidence, resistance, and survival. We explore the seminal 1994 memoir by Australian writer,  Diana Crumpler, Chemical Crisis: One Woman's Story, Humanity's Future? 

I speak with Roxana Delbene, PhD, a linguist and medical humanities scholar who studies how people with so-called contested illnesses, including Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), use language and storytelling to tell their personal stories of lived experience. 

Exciting news! Check out the podcast's new webpage: http://listen.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/mZwUxbYKTOg

Get in touch:
[email protected]

Link to Roxana's recent essay on illness memoirs:

https://medicalhealthhumanities.com/2024/10/23/the-patients-productive-imagination-the-reportability-paradox-in-narratives-of-contested-illnesses/

Apologies for some subtle clicking sounds in this interview.

#MultipleChemicalSensitivity #MCS #MCSAdvocacy #InvisibleIllnessAwareness #SafeHealthcareSpaces #ChemicalIntolerance #EnvironmentalDisability

DISCLAIMER: THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
 
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. No material or information provided by The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, or its associated website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 

Support the show

Thank you very much to the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation generously supporting the podcast!

If you find the podcast helpful, please consider becoming a supporter!
https://buymeacoffee.com/mcspodcast

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This episode of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast explores something many listeners live every day: toxic exposures hidden in everyday products.

I’m speaking with researcher Adrianna Trifunovski and environmental health professor Dr. Caroline Barakat about their study on women’s awareness, beliefs, and avoidance of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in personal care and household products.

We discuss:

• Which chemicals many women recognize
• Which fly under the radar
• How symptoms drive behavior
• And what their findings mean for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity—and for public health more broadly.

Exciting news!! Check out the podcast's new website to listen and learn more:
http://listen.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/mZwUxbYKTOg

Get in touch:
[email protected]

Link - 2025 paper by Barakat and Trifunovski:

"Analysis of Women’s Knowledge, Health Risk Perceptions, Beliefs and Avoidance Behaviour in Relation to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in Personal Care and Household Products."

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12116110/

#MultipleChemicalSensitivity #MCS #MCSAdvocacy #InvisibleIllnessAwareness #SafeHealthcareSpaces #ChemicalIntolerance #EnvironmentalDisability

DISCLAIMER: THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
 
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. No material or information provided by The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, or its associated website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 

Support the show

Thank you very much to the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation generously supporting the podcast!

If you find the podcast helpful, please consider becoming a supporter!
https://buymeacoffee.com/mcspodcast

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On February 3, 2023, a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in the U.S. Days later, a “controlled burn” released a massive plume into the air. Many residents who returned home soon became ill.

In this episode of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, Aaron Goodman speaks with sociologist Madison Scott and toxic exposure expert Professor Lynn Singer. 

They explore how:

• Toxic exposure triggered ongoing symptoms akin to Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), including brain fog, rashes, and fatigue.
•  Many residents continue to report symptoms long after officials declared the area safe.
•  Emerging biological research may reveal critical information about the mechanisms behind MCS.
• And more!

Thank you for listening!

New episodes twice a month. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 

Exciting news!! Check out the podcast's new website to listen and learn more:
http://listen.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/

All episodes available at:
https://www.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/Wu88wcN8Oa8

Get in touch:
[email protected]

#MultipleChemicalSensitivity #MCS #MCSAdvocacy #InvisibleIllnessAwareness #SafeHealthcareSpaces #ChemicalIntolerance #EnvironmentalDisability #OhioTrainDerailment #EastPalestine

Link:

Professor Lynn Singer's co-authored 2025 paper:
"The East Palestine train derailment: A complex environmental disaster."
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0892036225000996

DISCLAIMER: THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
 
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. No material or information provided by The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, or its associated website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 

Support the show

Thank you very much to the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation generously supporting the podcast!

If you find the podcast helpful, please consider becoming a supporter!
https://buymeacoffee.com/mcspodcast

Follow the podcast on YouTube! Captions available in any language.

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This episode of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast is a game-changer. It counters widespread misinformation and misunderstanding about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), an illness that affects millions around the globe.

You'll hear Aaron Goodman in conversation with Beatrice Golomb, Professor in Residence in Medicine at the University of California in San Diego in the U.S.

Professor Golomb explores:

• How MCS is clearly not a psychological condition, but an illness influenced by mitochondrial or cellular damage, genetics, and chemical exposure.
• The connections between MCS and Gulf War Illness.
• How recent diagnostic recognition of Gulf War Illness could potentially lead to better understanding and validation of MCS.

This important information has the potential to critically inform researchers, policy makers, people living with MCS, and the wider public. 

New episodes twice a month! Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 

Listen at https://www.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHZINO1vQ2tRcy0GVU4Pmw

Get in touch: aaron@chemicalsensitivitypodcast or comment on social media.

#MultipleChemicalSensitivity #MCS #MCSAdvocacy #InvisibleIllnessAwareness #SafeHealthcareSpaces #ChemicalIntolerance #EnvironmentalDisability #mitochondrialillness #GulfWarIllness

Link:

Professor Golomb's 2025 paper:

SOD2 genetics regulating mitochondrial management of oxidative stress is tied to chemical sensitivity in Gulf war veterans

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40628885/

Contact info for Professor Golomb's research group:
https://www.golombresearchgroup.org/contactus

DISCLAIMER: THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
 
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. No material or information provided by The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, or its associated website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 

Support the show

Thank you very much to the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation generously supporting the podcast!

If you find the podcast helpful, please consider becoming a supporter!
https://buymeacoffee.com/mcspodcast

Follow the podcast on YouTube! Captions available in any language.

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In this episode of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, we’re exploring youth, chronic illness, and MCS. You'll hear Aaron Goodman speaking with Imogen Harper, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sydney in Australia. She explores how:

·       Diagnosis of illnesses like MCS in youth is often complex and requires adults noticing symptoms and advocating. 

·       Parents and caregivers can play a crucial in navigating medical systems and ensuring that their child’s needs are taken seriously.

·       Illnesses like MCS affect young people’s identity, relationships, and sense of independence. 

·       Youth and older people with chronic illnesses often deal with anxiety, isolation, stigma, and the challenge of staying connected with others. 

Listen at https://www.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHZINO1vQ2tRcy0GVU4Pmw

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 

If you would like to share your experiences or feedback, email aaron@chemicalsensitivitypodcast or comment on social media.

#MultipleChemicalSensitivity #MCS #MCSAdvocacy #InvisibleIllnessAwareness #SafeHealthcareSpaces #ChemicalIntolerance #EnvironmentalDisability

Links:

Imogen's 2024 paper:
"Chronic Concealment and Awareness in the Affective Worlds of Young People Living with Chronic Illness."
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10497323241304571

DISCLAIMER: THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
 
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. No material or information provided by The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, or its associated website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 

Support the show

Thank you very much to the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation generously supporting the podcast!

If you find the podcast helpful, please consider becoming a supporter!
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In recent weeks, as many listeners know, I've been exploring ways to challenge false arguments that MCS is a psychological disorder.

I hope you find this episode of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast helps.

You'll hear me in conversation with Kevin Elliott, Ph.D. He is the Red Cedar Distinguished Professor of Philosophy of Science at Michigan State University in the U.S.

I was delighted to speak with Kevin, learn about his important research — and I am excited to share this episode with you. 

Kevin explains how scientific research practices — from hidden assumptions to “undone science” — have shaped decades of misunderstanding around Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). 

You'll hear Kevin explore: 

• How his mother's MCS inspired him to spend decades researching the illness
• Why certain kinds of evidence are ignored
• How harmful psychogenic theories persist
• And what needs to change in research frameworks to genuinely support people living with MCS. 

This conversation is forward-looking and grounded in the belief that better science is both possible and urgently needed to support people with MCS.

Listen at https://www.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podcastingMCS

#MCSAdvocacy #MultipleChemicalSensitivithy #MCS #InvisibleIllnessAwareness #SafeHealthcareSpaces #ChemicalIntolerance

Links:

Kevin Elliott:
https://kevincelliott.com/

Kevin's 2025 paper: "Alleviating Epistemic Injustice in Environmental Health Research: Strategies from Science and Values":
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11245-025-10268-3

DISCLAIMER: THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
 
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. No material or information provided by The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, or its associated website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 

Support the show

Thank you very much to the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation generously supporting the podcast!

If you find the podcast helpful, please consider becoming a supporter!
https://buymeacoffee.com/mcspodcast

Follow the podcast on YouTube! Captions available in any language.

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Thank you to everyone who took time to share feedback about The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast through the 2025 listener survey.

The goal was to learn more from you about how the podcast contributes to awareness, education, and support around MCS. 

Share your feedback anytime on social media — and you can reach me at [email protected]

Listen at https://www.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podcastingMCS

#MCSAdvocacy #MultipleChemicalSensitivithy #MCS #InvisibleIllnessAwareness #SafeHealthcareSpaces #ChemicalIntolerance

Support the show

Thank you very much to the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation generously supporting the podcast!

If you find the podcast helpful, please consider becoming a supporter!
https://buymeacoffee.com/mcspodcast

Follow the podcast on YouTube! Captions available in any language.

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In the latest episode of The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, we’re exploring medical invalidation. It's something virtually everyone with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) has experienced and it can be devastating.

Researcher Allyson Bontempo, Ph.D. joins Aaron Goodman on the podcast to discuss her work on healthcare invalidation and discusses: 

·       What she calls an “epidemic” of medical invalidation for people with MCS and other illnesses. 

·       The consequences of dismissal by healthcare professionals — how it affects us on a personal and human level.

·       How people with MCS, as we know, support each other largely online.

·       And some strategies for ways we can advocate for ourselves.

 Listen at https://www.chemicalsensitivitypodcast.org/

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podcastingMCS

#MCSAdvocacy #MultipleChemicalSensitivithy #MCS #InvisibleIllnessAwareness #SafeHealthcareSpaces #ChemicalIntolerance

DISCLAIMER: THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
 
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. No material or information provided by The Chemical Sensitivity Podcast, or its associated website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. 

Support the show

Thank you very much to the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation generously supporting the podcast!

If you find the podcast helpful, please consider becoming a supporter!
https://buymeacoffee.com/mcspodcast

Follow the podcast on YouTube! Captions available in any language.

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