Cindy Duehring

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Cindy Duehring (born August 10, 1962 in Bismarck , North Dakota ; † June 29, 1999 in Epping , North Dakota) was an American activist who, as a victim, drew attention to the problems that can arise from multiple chemical intolerance (MCS) .

Live and act

Duehring was born as the daughter of Jan and Donald Froeschle. She was studying medicine in Seattle when she poisoned herself in her apartment in 1985 by improperly using an insecticide (against fleas). As a result, she developed an autoimmune defect . Duehring initially had difficulty breathing and suffered a stroke; Damage to her nervous system, kidneys and metabolic disorders continued to progress.

In 1989 she left her house for the last time, which had been specially built by her husband and father in a remote area in the grasslands of North Dakota and provided with filter systems. Only materials that give off almost no vapors were used for the construction: ceramic floors, metal furniture, glass tables. Her husband, Jim Duehring, whom she married on July 10, 1988, lived in a house 500 meters away because she was harmed by smells that stuck to him after a day's work. Visitors had to be freed of all smells and residues of chemical substances in a complicated process in order not to carry any substances into the rooms that could have killed Cindy Duehring. Later she was too sensitive to light and noise, so that she could not even watch TV without risking new flare-ups. After all, she was no longer able to use modern conveniences such as telephones, radios, computers or fax machines. Even simple things that most people take for granted - like a ray of sunshine, drinking water, or outside air - caused discomfort. She had to treat the drinking water specially. Several years before her death, she practically stopped speaking as she had sound-induced seizures . She died of organ failure in June 1999 at the age of only 36.

Just one year after the onset of her illness, she set up the Environmental Access Research Network (EARN), which later became the research division of the Chemical Injury Information Network (CIIN). EARN has grown to become the largest private library for chemical-related health issues. CIIN is available to health experts, court experts, lawyers, but also lay people.

Awards

Cindy Duehring received the Alternative Nobel Prize in 1997 for putting her personal tragedy at the service of humanity by helping others understand and combat the risks posed by toxic chemicals. At the award ceremony, she had to be represented by her husband Jim Duehring. He has continued her work since Cindy's death.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article in the magazine for environmental medicine, issue 5/1999.
  2. ↑ Biography on ciin.org .
  3. ↑ List of the winners of the Right Livelihood Award ( Memento of the original from May 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English).  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rightlivelihood.org
personal data
SURNAME Duehring, Cindy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American MCS activist
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Bismarck , North Dakota
DATE OF DEATH June 29, 1999
Place of death Epping , North Dakota