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The basic concepts of allergies: fuels THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF ALLERGIES: FUELS
In recent years, energy policy has become a prominent topic of debate. What is almost never taken into account is the long-term harmful effects of petrochemical fuels on susceptible individuals.
The odors of various hydrocarbon fuels such as coal, gasoline, and natural gas can be a source of chronic illness for certain people. Prolonged exposure to such odors or even to their undetected fumes can result in a full spectrum of diseases.
Some of the worst practices of the past are now gone. In the old days, for instance, when coal was delivered by chute to the basement of one's house, kerosene was often sprayed on the coal to control dust. It slowly gave off fumes, contaminating the basement or dwelling.
Today, fuel oil and natural gas have replaced coal and wood in most areas. These can give rise to their own set of problems, however. Old oil tanks, for instance, may leak and give off fumes which are almost imperceptible to those who have lived in the house for a while. With oil, there is always the danger of an overflow while the tanks are being filled. If a basement floor has been flooded with fuel oil, the odor tends to remain for several months or even years, despite the best cleanup efforts. This has caused numerous problems for susceptible individuals; in a few cases they have been forced to abandon their homes entirely.
Most fuel-oil installations, whether furnaces or space heaters, give off a characteristic odor. Although they tend to smell worse when they are actually operating, there may be enough odor coming from them even when they are shut down to cause reactions in highly susceptible patients.
Natural gas is advertised as the "clean fuel." This may be so from the point of view of visible or smog-producing residues, but for the chemically susceptible individual this gas may be the worst form of fuel.
In the early part of this century, most cities were supplied with artificial gas derived from coal. Especially after World War Two, with the completion of a national gas line network, most cities switched to natural gas. From the point of view of chronic disease, it does not really matter whether artificial or natural gas is used, since both can cause problems for those with the chemical problem. Natural gas, however, is delivered at much higher pressures than the artificial product. This, in turn, can cause a serious problem of leakage if the pipes were originally constructed for the transmission of artificial gas. In Chicago, for instance, joints and turns in the old gas line become potential or actual sources of leakage. Gas, being lighter than air, tends to rise from the basement or kitchen into the rest of the house. The greater the amount of piping and the number of outlets, and the more pilots and other automatic devices on gas appliances, the greater will be the probability of leaks.
Perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of this gas problem is the incredible sensitivity of some people to its presence. Merely shutting off a gas range is not enough to bring relief to such patients. The gas stove must be completely removed from the premises. This is because even a non-working range continues to give off odors from the gas which it has absorbed over the years.
In the course of my practice, I have directed almost 3,000 patients to remove their gas kitchen ranges because I found these people to be susceptible to chemical odors and fumes. This decision was not taken lightly or on the basis of blind hunch but after scientific tests, such as those conducted in the Ecology Unit. To date, none of these patients has complained that the changeover was not worth the cost or trouble.
In many cases, in fact, when the range was removed for the benefit of one member of the family, other members of the family also reported an improvement in health. A gas range was removed from the home of one patient, a girl with persistent headaches. Her mother, who was not a patient, reported an unsuspected benefit, however. While cooking with gas, she had often become highly irritable. She would scream at the children or anyone else who came into "her kitchen." Since she frequently had a kitchen knife in her hand when she started screaming, this frightened the children and created a bad atmosphere at dinnertime. With the removal of the gas range, her temper tantrums quickly subsided. What had appeared to be a potential "mental" problem was solved simply by removing a hidden environmental pollutant.
In cases in which actual removal of the gas range has been impossible, certain halfway measures have proven useful. They have included increased ventilation of the kitchen; installation of a kitchen door, which is kept closed during the time the stove is on, keeping fumes from reaching the rest of the house; or disconnection of the stove, without actual removal. For many people, such measures are beneficial; for the seriously ill, however, there is no substitute for complete removal of the offending appliance.
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