The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Regarded by skeptics as a manifestation of "technophobia" and "chemophobia," multiple chemical sensitivity is a highly controversial disorder associated with low levels of environmental chemicals in general and volatile organic chemicals in particular. Sufferers experience fatigue, malaise, headache, dizziness, lack of concentration, and loss of memory, and are often so disabled that they cannot live or work except in completely chemical-free environments. Critics argue that this condition should not receive clinical recognition as a disease, insisting that the condition has no uniform cause or consistent, measurable features. Advocates for sufferers say it is a chronic condition marked by heightened sensitivity to even slight chemical exposures; and that multiple symptoms occur in multiple organ systems, usually caused by large "triggering" exposures such as to new carpeting that emits chemicals.