RIGHT TO ACCESS FOR THOSE
WITH MCS
AEHA Quarterly - Winter 1994-Spring 1995 The City of Santa Cruz, CA, has developed a transition plan to make services and programs accessible to persons with disabilities. This plan is unique in explicitly addressing the needs of people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MSC). Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, all local governments must make physical changes and establish policies to reasonably accommodate the disabled. The Santa Cruz plan outlines how the city will mitigate toxic materials, including “carpet cleaners, pesticides/herbicides/fertilizers, cleaning agents, maintenance materials, solvents, glues, adhesives, caulks, formaldehyde, certain inks and papers, photocopy/laser print machines, and gas heating and cooking appliances and chemicals in portable toilets.” The plan calls for stopping the use of toxic materials where possible, adequate ventilation, and signage posted at a distance from harmful materials to deter people with MCS from entering. Chemical air fresheners and fragrance emission devices, “including use by individual employees in restrooms or at work stations” will be eliminated. Fragrances within City facilities and vehicles will be discouraged and unscented soaps provided in restrooms. Meeting notices and tickets for community events will request “restraint of use of tobacco and fragrance products.”
The ADA Plan is available
from:
Or, for the complete plan,
send $2.50 US to NYCAP News, P.O. Box
6005, Albany, N.Y. 12206-0005.
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