Carbonless Copy Paper Regrets from Finland
I have been sensitive to many things during my life, and I learned to live with my sensitivities. I was able to live normal life and go to work, meet people, travel, etc. I did not need any medication regularly, my reactions were occasionally skin problems with eczema, and/or rhinitis.
At the age of 35, I got a job at a bank where I handled carbonless copy papers, constantly. Within 4 months, I got a bad case of rhinitis while handling lots of those papers during an inventory.
During the first and the second year at work I became more sensitive. Along with rhinitis, my eyes got sore, red and light sensitive, as if I had an allergic inflammation. Then, I started to react with breathing problems, coughing, and later on with asthma-like symptoms. I also experienced dizziness, but very seldom. At the age of 38, I had heart problems, irregular heart beats, felt very tired, was studied at a hospital but nothing was found. I thought it was an inflammation but there was none. I also had eczema, and sometimes urticaria, which is another type of skin reaction. I consulted medical doctors and was prescribed strong antihistamines and medication for asthma, that gave no relief. I was told I had dry eyes and had to use moisturizing eye drops. There were mornings when I was not able to open my eyes without washing them first, and they were inflamed, sore and light sensitive.
During the weekends I recovered, during the holidays I was feeling well again.
I told others that the carbonless copy papers (CCP) made me ill, but I was not believed,. I did not have any information on CCPs. Once a nurse told me to wash my hands after handling the papers, a good advice that was impossible to follow in the real life, because I was handling those papers all the time. I would have been washing my hands all the time, too!
We had semi-automatic typewriters printing the forms in front of our faces. When we started to use computers we had printers in the same room, next to the computer. We all lived in the MIDDLE of those papers.
Due to urticaria and breathing problems I was studied at an allergy hospital in January,1988 – two and a half years after I had started my work. No asthma was found, but I was told that I was ’close to asthma’. I was prescribed antihistamines and Ventoline for breathing problems. Ventoline was not of any help.
I was allergy-tested at another place, a scratch test, which showed that I was allergic to garlic. I knew this, and needed the documentation.
I started to get rhinitis and breathing problems from strong scents used by others. I was not able to use any strongly fragranced products myself. They caused eczema, immediate rhinitis and coughing.
During the 4 years I shared the workroom with my co-workers. Later on, I got a room of my own, that helped me to go on working, even though I was getting more sensitive to fragranced products.
In 1988, we got an air cleaner at work. The effect was immediate and it was easier to breathe and my voice got back to normal. The ventilation was non-existent, but we were able to open the windows when it was warm outdoors.
I had no reaction to the piece of carbonless copy paper. I believe this was because the piece of the paper was taken from an unused blank/form. The individual chemicals within the paper should have been tested but that was not done. There might not have been an awareness of this issue. I was told at the laboratory that many people complain of health problems due to CCPs but the papers give no reaction at allergy tests like this one.
My dermatologist told me to throw away all products that contained fragrances, including laundry and cleaning products. Our house became as fragrance-free as possible; even though it was not easy to find fragrance-free products.
I reacted while at work and I was ill most of the time. At the end of the year in 1992, I was again, tested at an allergy hospital with a scratch test. The only reaction was to a mold called Aureo Basidium Bullulans.
However, I still reacted with asthma-like symptoms while outside home. I consulted a doctor, to see if I was getting asthma, but did not get the asthma diagnosis. The pollen season at spring caused me both eye and respiratory problems, I used antihistamines to treat the worst reactions.
My life changed dramatically in spring 1997, when I started a work training course that lasted for over 2 months.
The first day, after 4 hours, I got severe respiratory reactions, was coughing all the evening, and most of the night. I reacted to fragranced products used by others. I consulted a doctor who prescribed asthma and allergy medication, but that did not help. I was going to quit the training during the first week, but the class promised to stop using strongly scented products. I gave it a try. Several times I wanted to quit the training. I became more sensitive, but managed to complete the training. Since then, I have not been able to live a normal life because I must avoid fragranced people and places.
I did not know anything about chemicals, I believed that the products we use at work or buy at the next-door grocery shop are safe and thoroughly tested. Very soon I learned that this is not the case.
In 1999 a study made in Finland on the use of carbonless copy papers was published, it was said that the exposure to CCPs may be direct, through air via the eyes, the respiratory track, and contact with skin; or indirect, through contact of fingers that have handled the chemical containing paper. It was also said that the studies made do not support allergic reactions as the primary mechanism, irritative and toxic mechanisms are more likely to be involved!
The papers contain different chemicals with possible adverse health effects, including solvents and color-forming chemicals. 1)
The people in the studies never get poisoned..... I was doing office work, needed my brain for that; I had no idea I was getting slowly poisoned by papers I had to use! That is something I will NEVER forgive.
The same or similar chemicals are used in making synthetic fragrance, no wonder I became intolerant to fragranced products, too.
For information links about carbonless copy paper see Carbonless Copy Paper and Pregnancy Risks