Jeff Carlson first heard of Multiple Chemical Sensitivities in 1990 when a woman approached him in desperation. She had seen a number of solicitors, none of whom had agreed to represent her, and seeking help from Jeff’s small law firm was her last resort. Her husband suffered from sensitivity to a wide range of chemicals in everyday life, such as perfumes and household cleaning products. She believed his condition had developed after seventeen years of employment in the mineral sands industry, where he had used heavy industrial chemicals in a poorly ventilated workshop. He had been sent to a psychiatrist and prescribed shock treatment to the brain. Eventually, after experiencing severe mental deterioration and memory loss, he committed suicide. After a three year legal battle, Jeff succeeded in negotiating compensation for the widow, although the money did little to alleviate the loss she had suffered. For nearly two decades thereafter, Jeff was approached by an increasing number of chemically sensitive people seeking compensation for often debilitating ill health. He developed a professional relationship with a number of medical experts who were concerned about an emerging phenomenon – the chemically sensitive worker. Jeff often worked for these clients on a no-win, no-fee basis. He succeeded in receiving compensation for a small number of them – in out-of-court settlements – yet the cases tended to be long, embittered and unsuccessful. The defendant insurance companies always engaged a number of local and international medical experts who rejected the workers’ claims. Judicial officers tended to reason that there was insufficient evidence to suggest that the worker was exposed to chemicals at a toxic level. The workers’ were usually declared depressed, paranoid or mentally unstable.