A special thanks to all of our Political Leaders for their support in

2010 OPEN LETTER TO: The U.S. President Obama, Governors, members of Congress and Senate of the United States of America, Presidents, Prime Ministers and World Leaders around the globe,

Toxic exposures/injury is a very serious issue that is of pandemic proportions and demands your immediate attention, time, acknowledgment and your corrective action. Toxic Injury is unequivocally physically, and financially devastating to the people, the economy and the environment. Toxic Injury can affect the respiratory, central nervous, immune, musculoskeletal, porphyrin, metabolism and hormone systems. It can cause abnormal egg, sperm, genital deformity or cancers such as prostate, breast, leukemia, brain and others. Toxic Injury is often characterized by medical intolerance to minute amounts of air pollution, petrochemicals, mold and other toxins found in our homes, our everyday products and environment. It can be caused by acute or chronic exposure. Toxic Injury is non-partisan, it transcends the boundaries of race, color, creed, economic level, social status, educational status, age, gender, urban or rural dweller, blue or white collar, or sexual preference. It is, tongue in cheek, an equal opportunity disability. . .

Therefore, we petition President Barack Obama, Governors, members of Congress and Senate of the United States, and all World Leaders to exercise your power and responsibility and take immediate appropriate action to protect the health and welfare of our children, grandchildren, our future generations, our environment and declare May: “Toxic Injury Awareness and Education Month”.

Without your immediate intervention, the statistics, and the devastation, the cost of lives, lifestyles, our monetary resources and the environment will only become more astronomical. Awareness, recognition and knowledge about toxically induced and exacerbated illnesses; disabilities and premature deaths must be of the highest National and World priority. The accumulation of toxic substances in the environment is having a bigger negative impact than even the carbon emissions on global warming, yet goes unrecognized.

We are the fastest growing segment of the disabled population. Dr. John Green a specialist in neuro-degenerative diseases in children says, " 6 out of 10 children suffers from a neurologic condition due to (consumer product) toxins.” Other specialists have repeatedly linked all childhood cancers to consumer product and environmental toxins. The same is true for birth defects, as studies show adult body burden of toxins are transferred to the fetus and have been measured in umbilical chord blood. Those facts are horrifying enough, but according to CDC 95% of the adult population have blood serum levels of BPA that cause changes on 200 genes. Genetic damage leads to disability and illness. We must stop the poisoning.

Our current health care professionals and welfare programs are unprepared to recognize, diagnose or treat those suffering from toxic exposures/injuries. Through adequate training and continuing education they will be better able to identify and treat toxic injury/illness early, before disability develops.

IMPORTANT FACTS

• Physical barriers prevent wheelchair access, invisible barriers (toxic chemicals, pesticides, scented products and mold) deny us our civil rights as guaranteed under the ADA Amendments 2008.

•Discrimination must cease against those with toxically induced or exacerbated illnesses/disabilities. Our government, doctors, and other health care providers including hospitals and health care clinics, emergency shelters as well as in home health care and other service personnel urgently need information about reasonable accommodations to provide their services without causing us more health harm.

•“The overwhelming evidence shows that certain environmental exposures can contribute to life-long learning and developmental disorders,” noted Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, with the Science and Environmental Health Network. “ We should eliminate children’s exposures to substances that we know can have these impacts by implementing stronger health-based policies requiring safer alternatives. Further, we must urgently examine other environmental contaminants of concern for which safety data is lacking. ”

•“The proportion of environmentally induced learning and developmental disabilities is a question of profound human, scientific and public policy significance,” said lead author Steven G. Gilbert, PhD, DABT, of the Institute of Neurotoxicology & Neurological Disorders, “and has implications for individuals, families, school systems, communities and the future of our society. The bottom line is it is our ethical responsibility to ensure all children have a healthy future.” Attendance, performance, and attention spans ALL improve when the quality of air is increased.

• There are millions of toxins presently in use today ~ only a handful has ever been tested for safety or human consumption or use. EPA, CDC

•“We could cut the health costs of childhood disabilities and disease by billions of dollars every year by minimizing contaminants in the environment;” said Phil Landrigan, MD, MSc, of the Children’s Environmental Health Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “Investing in our children’s health is both cost-effective and the right thing to do.”

•85% of adults have at least 13 pesticides in their blood of the small selection of those tested, there are 869 more that have not been tested. EPA

•In 2005, the CDC and Prevention completed screening for the presence of 148 toxic chemicals in the blood of a broad cross section of Americans; it found that the vast majority of subjects harbored almost all the toxins.

•In the same year, the CDC’s National Survey on Family Growth concluded that rates of infertility were rising for women under the age of twenty-five, a spike many scientists attribute, at least in part, to routine exposure to toxic chemicals.

•The Environmental Working Group conducted tests on the umbilical cords of ten newborns in 2006 and discovered that cancer-causing, endocrine-disrupting, and gene-mutating chemicals had passed from the mothers to their fetuses through the placenta.

We can not afford to continue using consumer product or environmental toxins. The price tag is far too high.

More facts and statistics at: ICD Codes and Statistics

Present and past signed “Toxic Injury Awareness and Education” or similar proclamations may be viewed at: www.mcsbeaconofhope.com

We thank you for your time and consideration of these important life, health, housing, education, financial and environmental problems.

Sincerely, your friends in Hope & Health,

Peggy, Julia, Jennifer and John

Peggy Troiano, Founder and Program Manager:

Email: mcsbeaconofhope@yahoo.com

Julia Williams, Executive Director:

E-mail: juliamcs2004@yahoo.com

Jennifer McKinnis, Accommodations Advocate & Pacific NW Regional Representative

E-mail: mckinnis@oregontrail.net

John McBride, New Jersey State Representative & Toxic Mold Activist/Consultant

E-mail: moldleg333@live.com

State/Country Rep can be viewed at: A Special Thanks to all State and Country Representatives

We welcome you aboard the “MCS” Beacon of Hope at: www.toxicinjury.org

“MCS” in the “MCS” Beacon of Hope Foundation stands for: multiple toxic chemicals and other toxins are involved, multiple symptoms are presented and multiple body systems are adversely affected.