Series:

Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness

Topic:

Social Movements

Environmental Illness

Biographical Note:

Interviewed for the UCLA Center for the Study of Women’s Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness series. Experiences Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). Developed MCS developed after an exposure to formaldehyde in the workplace.

Interviewer:

Tran, Christine and Apolloni, Alexandra

Interviewee:

Anon, Sherrie

Persons Present:

Anon, Apolloni, and Tran

Place Conducted:

The interview was conducted by telephone.

Supporting Documents:

Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library’s Center for Oral History Research.

Interviewer Background and Preparation:

The interview was conducted by Alexandra Apolloni, Program and Research Developer for the UCLA Center for the Study of Women and by Christine Tran, an undergraduate student researcher, for the Center for the Study of Women. Major in International Development Studies and Asian American Studies, with a minor in Public Affairs. Tran was a member of the 2018-2019 Chemical Entanglements Undergraduate Student Group.

Processing of Interview:

The interviewers prepared for the interview by reading a pre-interview questionnaire completed by the narrator.

Length:

1.75 hrs

Language:

English

Copyright:

Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.

Audio:

Series Statement:

Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness is a collection of interviews with over seventy individuals living in the U.S. and Canada whose family history, occupation, art practice, or activism have brought them into direct contact with illness experience and disability related to chronic, low-dose exposure to toxicant chemicals. The procurement of this collection (from March 2019 through September 2020) was sponsored by the UCLA Center for the Study of Women under the directorship of Rachel C. Lee, with interviews conducted by six undergraduates, five graduate students, two career staff, and two faculty members at CSW.

Note:

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Personal background and upbringing--Pseudocholinesterase deficiency in childhood--Formaldehyde exposure at work; development of chemical sensitivities and misdiagnoses; workplace accommodations--Familial accommodations--Experiences with doctors; search for environmental medicine and integrative doctors--Administrative work for orthopedic biomechanics laboratory; research and self-advocacy--MCS community and activism; groups and forums online--Gulf War Syndrome and military service--ADA Access Board--Creation of a Fragrance Free Environment Everywhere--Letters to corporations--Reactions to products in stores--Restrictions on visitors and finding a home