When Avoiding Chemicals Means Avoiding Others: Relational Exposures and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a contested environmental illness that can be debilitating and life limiting. Those with MCS develop an array of physical symptoms to doses of chemicals in everyday life that are currently considered safe for human health by scientific and political actors. (1) Background: The purpose of this project is to understand how people with MCS practice chemical avoidance, describe MCS as a “relational illness”, and understand the interactional strategies for navigating relational chemical exposures. (2) Methods: This is an ethnographically embedded interview project that consists of two field trips, thirty-three interviews, and content analysis of MCS materials such as newsletters, books, and websites. (3) Results: This article finds that personal protection strategies for chemical avoidance are insufficient in the case of MCS. By redefining the hazards posed by spaces and other people’s bodies, those with MCS transform chemicals into an object of relational concern. This creates opportunities for other people to reevaluate their own chemical relationships and accommodate those with MCS, but it can also lead to denial, dismissal, and social exclusion. (4) Conclusions: This work on demonstrates that chemical contamination is an issue of interactional concern and adds to the literature on contested illness and relationships.