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When and why did you become President of the NTEF?

I became the President in 1998 when the foundation was founded. I had specific goals to achieve and set out to obtain them.

What do you enjoy the most about being President of NTEF?

I enjoy several aspects of my Presidency. I am fortunate to be surrounded by extremely knowledgeable people who complement each other and are supportive of the various directions I feel we should go. There are no ego's within the foundation to contend with, which in this day and age is a rarity. I have the final decision on issues but rely heavily on my directors for their opinions which I value immensely. Although I can override their advice, most of the time they have proven to be right and they have the best interests of the foundation and the chemical injury community at the root of their decisions. Secondly, thru the foundation I can gain access to a myriad of people that I would not be able to access under other conditions.

The major drawback to being President is that people don't disassociate Angel the person from Angel the President. Angel the private citizen has a right to be an individual and is entitled to enjoy life without my views reflecting negatively on the foundation. I feel the title President carries one hat that once removed does not carry over into one's private life.

What brought you to be involved in the chemical injury and specifically Toxic Encephalopathy?

I was poisoned initially by the uneducated founders of the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Arizona. They initially had us in a free standing auditorium for lectures and in a room with heavy plastic sheeting to act as a wall for the cadavers, in a row of single story buildings. The formalin was vented out into the air that was near our lecture auditorium and outside dining area. We did a lot of outside work and the consistent inhalation started the cascade into the world of chemical injury.

Then they relocated us into the new classroom building which was a renovated health club. The make-shift cadaver lab in this building was no better, as our lecture room was about 2 rooms down and they vented the cadaver lab out into the back of the building. We normally kept the door open and the VOC's were not just inside of the building, but, being brought in with the outside fresh air. The offgassing of the desks and cheap building materials added to the total body burden. After leaving to save my health, I returned to Las Vegas and started my campaign to regain my health.

I worked for years with both an allopathic physician who is associated with the AAEM and a nurse who is a licensed homeopath, acupuncturist, with a degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It took 3 years and I was able to regain about 85% of my health back and work with accommodations. I was still sensitive but nothing as traumatic as it was initially.

I, like the majority of others who become active with issues because it either affected themselves or those close to them.

Can you tell our readers about the recent FDA Petition, sponsored by NTEF, to declare Angel perfume a drug?

Initially, I, as a private individual, had Angel Parfum deformulated for use during my litigation against Clarins and Nordstroms. Additionally, I had it tested for possible respiratory effects, which were confirmed by Anderson Laboratories. The deceptive testing practices employed by Clarins were astounding and an affrontage to the American consumer. When I realized its potential for permanent harm, I brought it to the attention of the foundation and we decided to use my information for the petition. I personally have been very fortunate to know a lot of people who are working behind the scenes to assist the foundation in this endeavor.

Most people do not know that when the assault came and how in under 2 seconds all my health gains were lost forever. While shopping at Nordstrom's here in Las Vegas an untrained, highly programmed employee of Clarins, Shanin Nowee, sprayed me with Angel Parfum that resulted in my permanent disability. During the deposition of this demonstrator, the lies that Clarins extolled to their employees was evident and the extent a corporation will go to sell a product, was not acceptable.

Thru the discovery process I was able to obtain the testing done on this product, which was so shoddy and invalid that it was the impetuous for the petition

The foundation has nothing but the deepest thanks to Barb Wilkie and the EHC for their ground breaking petition to the FDA asking that Eternity by Calvin Klein be declared misbranded. That opened the door for us and other groups to tackle this issue at the federal level.

The foundation had been very quiet in its activities until now. Now, thru, numerous press releases and media interviews we are becoming very public and vocal in our activities.

Are there more FDA petitions sponsored by NTEF?

We anticipate submitting at least 2 or 3 more by December 31, 2007 involving both fragrances and cosmetics." Angel Parfum was the easiest one to start with, as we readily had the relevant information thru their own admission in the court case. And used that information to go after them at the federal level.

We have publicly invited the CEO of Clarins Paris, Christian Courtin-Clarins and his Director of Research to meet the NTEF in a face to face press attended meeting to address the petition. We have also requested that they prove with their research and independent testing their claims of safety and their marketing claims of being naturally and botanically based.

What can Pariah readers do to support the NTEF FDA petitions?

Read the petitions thoroughly and understand that the allegations asserted can be laterally applied to most imported cosmetics and fragrances. Then submit comments: Get COMMENTER. The full petition can be read at: NTEF Petition

We would appreciate your support for the issues and suggestions for future petitions.

If you could eliminate one product or chemical which one would you ban?

Of course, most readers would expect me to say Angel Parfum but, there are so many other companies that incorporate a litany of the same ingredients it's hard to identify just one. The myriad of chemicals used in fragrances makes it impossible to isolate just one.

"Rather than just chose one chemical, I would have to say the entire class of aromatic hydrocarbons. Second choice would be petrochemicals at all levels of use in or on our bodies."

Any final comments for our readers?

We know that our greatest enemies are industry and defense law firms. We know that they will try anything to suppress our efforts to gain recognition of the hazards associated with fragrances, pesticides, air fresheners etc. We have to be extremely aware of those who seek to divide our community by creating fake identities, fraudulent non-profit foundations, concerned and caring personas. When we discover fakes, frauds in our community we need to identify them and eliminate those cancerous growths immediately and all affiliated pre-cancerous cells.

All chemical injury foundations and activists needs to be completely transparent. If you can not be visible at all levels you need to walk away and cease duping a very injured and educationally hungry community. People come to foundations, activists, discussion groups to try and understand their health issues. Being lulled into a false sense of "brotherhood" by con artists, manipulators, wolves in sheep's clothing does not achieve the intended goal of the seeker, it only leads to following these con artists like lemmings off the cliff into the ocean.

Remember one thing, if a leader refuses to show their face or meet those they profess to help avoid them at all costs. You will be burned eventually when you discover they used you to their advantage and only selectively disbursed information they wanted you to know about.

As the biggest deceiver signs off on her emails: Aloha!

A few vital resources for better healing from NTEF:

Deborah Howery is a member of the EI community, her home became contaminated in September of this year and she lost the majority of her possessions. She has been very sick since the contamination of her home and is not able to easily use her phone or computer at this time. If you are able to help please email Kathy Fitzpatrick, she is in need the following items:

1. off gassed electric heater w/out a fan
2. bedding
3. sweat pants or jeans size 16-18, women's shoes and socks size 7 - 7 1/2
4. a safe [or safer] place to stay until they sell her home
5. a travel trailer
6. your prayers, kind thoughts and positive energy

This space is available to anyone in the EI chemically injured community who would like to send us a link to be posted here. Links will be posted alphabetically. The link can be to your personal website, Blog, favorite support group, non-profit organization, etc.

Chemical Injury is created as a forum for chemically injured people and their supporters, caregivers, physicians to discuss the impacts of chemical injury. At times this is a high volume list, with ongoing open forum chat among members. If you are looking for a low volume, moderated list, the Chemical Injury list may not be appropriate for your needs.

EI/MCS SUPPORT GROUP OF LOUISVILLE, KY Homepage of Melva Smith The EI/MCS Support Group of Louisville first formed in the 1990's, and then met at the office of Dr. Jack Teeple. Members keep in contact by phone and try to reach out to those who are suffering with the disability, offering educational information on where to buy needed products, books, etc.

Florida MCS Support Group This group is intended to provide online support to members of all ages of the Multiple Chemical Sensitivity community who reside in Florida, whether part-time as "snowbirds" or full-time. As Floridians, we have some special circumstances to deal with like extra pesticide exposures, hurricanes, floods, etc. which may strike us with times of strife, anxiety, temporary or permanent homelessness or intolerance to our homes, workplaces or other environments and justify a need for immediate support, guidance or change.

MCS-International.Org was founded in August 2005 by long-term severe MCS sufferer Gordon D McHendy in response to a great need for an international organisation dedicated both to the needs of MCS sufferers and to raising public awareness of the dangers of modern synthetic chemicals and their often devastating effect, especially synergistically, on human health and the environment.

PlanetThrive.com is a grassroots community for personal wellness with a focus on environmental and other chronic illnesses. We offer a healing space for those on a personal health journey. Have fun as you explore our rich content—anonymous health profiles, green classifieds, personal healing blogs—and advice columns with master herbalists Susun Weed and Stephen Harrod Buhner. Meet others with environmentally based illnesses like Lyme Disease, Chronic Fatigue, Chemical Sensitivity, and Fibromyalgia. Share collective resources with health practitioners, healers, activists, and other health-conscious, environmentally aware people. Join us as we heal at a global pace!

West Michigan MCS is an online support group for those living in and around western Michigan.

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