Abstract
Some individuals have experienced adverse reactions when exposed to emissions of certain carpets. Questionnaires were sent to 110 families who had encountered carpets confirmed in our laboratory as emitting toxic chemicals. Of these, 78 individuals described symptoms which developed after exposure to these carpets. An average of 17 symptoms per person (range 1-32) were reported. Frequently mentioned were severe fatigue, eye, nose or throat irritation, head, trunk or limb pain, difficulty concentrating or short-term memory loss, difficulty breathing and tremors and weakness. Many of these symptoms resemble the signs of toxicity seen in mice exposed to emissions from these carpets. The symptom list did not form a unique syndrome, but overlapped with the numerous symptoms reported in individuals experiencing multiple chemical sensitivity of various etiologies.