Carbonless Copy Paper and Pregnancy Risks
I first got "red eye" and my eyes would water, looked like they were going to develop a sty, and then watered and swelled. Then, I had dizziness, blurred vision, vertigo, photophobia, "heat waves" which looked like the heat coming from a toaster, focus problems, and then the equivalent of macular degeneration with large gray fuzzy spots. I had swollen optic nerves, and they thought a brain tumor was ready to rupture. I had enlarged blind spots in my visual fields, and my eye skin looked like the side of an elephant. I looked like I was 100 years old around my eyes.
After that, I had a lumbar puncture. They thought it was pseudo-tumor cerebri. NOT SO. Heart arrhythmias followed with skipped beats, the numbness and tingling in hands and feet, and I kept dropping things. I had periods of tachycardia. My heart rate was176-186 bpm. Then had bradycardia at night, 45 bpm, and I could hardly move. I felt like I was paralyzed. Then the neurological problems started with burning in my feet, legs, and went up to my hips. It felt like I had ice against my skin if I went near something cold. It was painful and then the numbness started to take over. Then, there was nearly no feeling in my extremities. I would walk into things and bruise myself. I could not feel anything was near my leg, foot, or hip.
I was sent to an occupational doctor. He gave me the restriction not to handle the carbonless copy paper (CCP) forms that were a part of my job. About 2 months later, my company doctor handed me the CCP forms, I had an anaphylactic response and went to the ER. I had no standing blood pressure. I have had a SPECT scan confirming that I have brain damage from the chemicals in the forms.
Life as I knew it is hard to remember. I cannot recall what it felt like to get up in the morning and feel rested. Chronic fatigue symptoms and fibromyalgia prevail and certainly the Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) was the final wipe out.
We are trying to continue our fight and get this product to carry a full warning. I had a miscarriage and a tubal pregnancy. There were many miscarriages in my office and also reproductive problems. Research from the first NIOSH investigation showed that the chemicals can cause uterine distention (hardening of the uterus) which can cause the pregnancy to go to the tube or to abort. After the tubal pregnancy, I nearly died in the ER. It was an 8 week fetus and I had to find a new doctor to get the help I needed.
I had another pregnancy that nearly terminated when I had a sac separation and hemorrhaged in my office. I was 2 months pregnant. I was on bed rest because about 25-30 percent of the sac had torn away and I was high risk to miscarry. I understand first hand the devastation that this product can cause and the extreme stress. It happened with no warning, despite the information that the manufacturers are aware of.
Aerias: Better health through indoor air quality awareness. Carbonless (NCR) Copy Paper. http://www.aerias.org/c_Doc_54.htm
Journal of the American Medical Association. Carbonless Copy Paper Associated with Histamine Release. LaMarte FP ; Merchant JA ; Casale TB.1988. Vol. 260, No. 2, pages 242-243. Abstract concludes that the chemical Alkylphenol Novolac Resin can cause "potentially life-threatening reactions in susceptible patients." http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/260/2/242
Carbonless Copy Paper Injury and Information Network. http://www.carbonless.org
Center for Disease Control. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Hazard Review. Carbonless Copy Paper. This NIOSH report reviews current scientific information on health effects associated with occupational exposure to carbonless copy paper and recommends ways to reduce or eliminate symptoms. December, 2000 Publication No. 2001-107. This document is available as .pdf (155 pages, 1,042K) http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/01-107pd.html
Center for Disease Control. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. NIOSH Update. Contact: Fred Blosser (202) 401-3749. January 5, 2001. NIOSH Report on Carbonless Copy Paper Reviews Data, Suggests Ways to Reduce Symptoms http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ccprep.html
Carbonless Business Forms Containing Toxic Substances Such as Formaldehyde, Benzene Linked to Headaches, Allergies, Eye, Nose and Respiratory Problems. Earth Crash. Documenting the Collapse of a Dying Planet. (1/17/2001) http://www.eces.org/articles/static/97971120014835.shtml
The indoor air we breathe: a public health problem of the 90's, by L. Christine Oliver and Bruce W. Shackleton, Public Health Reports: Sept-Oct 1998. Copyright 1998. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This article references CCP as causing indoor air quality problems. http://www.eisc.ca/air-we-breth.htm
Toxic Chemical Exposure in Schools: Our Children at Risk. Vermont Public Interest Research Group. by Peter Sterling and Nicole Paquette. March, 1998. See page 19 and 20 for reference to carbonless paper and the known toxic chemicals that the papers emit. http://www.vpirg.org/downloads/toxicschools.pdf
Occupational Safety & Health Administration. U.S. Department of Labor. Under Common Safety and Health Topics, click on Carbonless Paper. http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/hospital_etool/admin/admin.html