David Tan, B.Sc., MBA, the founder of AlerG.com, personally suffers from a variety of allergies and chemical sensitivities. David is also the cofounder of Smarthome, Inc. the leading supplier and manufacturer of home automation products. In 2001 he retired from his day to day position as Chairman and President of Smarthome, Inc. to found AlerG, Inc. to supply and manufacture products to help allergy and chemical sensitive sufferers like himself.

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My Personal Story (updated June 24 , '05)

I was born a normal healthy child and did not begin showing any symptoms of allergies and chemical sensitivities till I was in my late 20s. In my teens I was very active in sports. I played soccer and rugby, swam, and even represented my highschool on the tennis and fencing teams. Both my parents in their 70s are still alive and healthy. They do not appear to suffer from allergies and continue to use chemical products and perfumes that would make me instantly ill.

As I look back, I wonder what may have helped cause the problems I have today. When I was in my youth I was probably exposed to quite a high dosage of toxic chemicals. I rode old dirtbikes for years subjecting myself to unfiltered exhaust fumes, I spent hours tinkering with motorcycles and cars exposing myself to gasoline fumes, paint fumes and cleaning fluids. I spent many nights in cigarette smoke-filled night clubs, bars and parties, consuming alcohol and breathing perfume and cologne. Back then those things didn't really bother me at all. At worst I would get a slight headache which was quickly cured by Tylenol or aspirin.

In my 20s I lived in Riverside, California pursuing my Master's degree. Riverside a town inland from Los Angeles is constantly blanketed with thick smog. As a poor student, I lived in an apartment with dirty old carpets and old mattresses. The combination of smog, a horrendously high level of dust mites and dust, and the previous excesses finally caught up to me. I started to begin suffering from migraines

At first the migraines were primarily triggered by cigarette smoke and that I felt much better when I took a trip to the coastal cities. When I graduated I made sure to move to as close to the beach as possible. I bought a condo only a minutes from the beach and lived fairly normally for a year or so with a couple of cats. Then I started noticing that I would start to sneeze when I put on cologne or open my bedroom door in the morning exposing myself to the cats. This symptom gradually got worse and I started to get migraine attacks as well. I stopped using cologne,got a HEPA filter for the bedroom and gave away my cats to a neighbor. I got myself a puppy as I did not seem to be allergic to dogs at that time. It was also at about this time that I started getting neck aches and backaches. I never associated those symptoms with allergies.

About 8 years ago I moved into a house, near the coast that I still live in today. The bedrooms were newly carpeted and the walls freshly painted. I suffered from frequent bouts of migraines from the outgassing of the carpets and the paint. Fortunately, the outgassing faded to a tolerable level within a few weeks and the frequency of my migraines reduced considerably.

I purchased a beautiful wood bedroom set. It had an elaborate headboard with storage compartments and integrated side tables. What I did not realize, was that it was made primarily of veneered chipboard, with edges cleverly hidden or covered with solid wood so that it was hard to detect. I slept with my head only inches from this monstrous formaldehyde generator for over a year.

Needless to say my bouts of migraines became steadily worse and my sensitivity to scents, chemicals and pollen increased. The only reason I believe that I was able to withstand it for so long was that I bought an Austin Healthmate Air purifier which had a VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) filter and had a stream of filtered air flowing over my face while I slept.

At work I also ran an Austin Healthmate Air purifier continously in my office at Smarthome. I was fortunate that as an owner I had a fair amount of control over my office environment. My assistant and others I worked with closely were asked not to wear perfumes and I made sure that the janitor only cleaned my office with fragrance free products.

I started to do research into chemical sensitivity and allergies. I also visited a variety of allergy specialists. Tests confirmed that I did have allergies to cats, dogs, pollen, mold, smog, perfumes and most of all dustmites. In fact the reaction to I had to the dustmite test at the doctors office was so severe, the doctor had to give me a big antihistamine shot to stop my reaction. The information I learned prompted me to make some changes fast. The first thing I did was to get rid of my expensive but deadly bedroom set. I bought a glass and metal side table instead. My bed now consisted simply of a mattress and boxspring. Immediately I started feeling much better. The frequency of my migraines went down considerably and my backaches disappeared.

Over the next few years I continued to make improvements. However, my immune system had already been weakened and continued to deteriorate. I had to continue improving and purifying my environment just to maintain the same level of well-being.

After the removal of the bed set, my next improvement was to encase my mattress, pillows, and duvet in dust mite proof encasings. Next, I replaced the carpets with laminate flooring. I would have preferred real wood flooring but I found that the laminate flooring had much less smell and was more tolerable than real wood flooring. I had a whole house HEPA and ultraviolet filter installed in the main forced air HVAC system. In the master bedroom I installed a totally new HVAC system with the same HEPA and ultraviolet filter. This system was totally separate from the main HVAC system. By doing so I would have a safe haven in the bedroom if there were perfumes and other irritating substances in the air elsewhere in the home.

Over the next few years I became more allergic to my beloved dog and had to make him sleep outside my bedroom. I still allow him into the bedroom for limited periods but only when I have my air filter on and blowing across where I am. I also became more sensitive to the ozone that is produced by the UV filter in the whole house air filtration system. I now only turn the UV filter on for limited periods when I am not in the house.

I left my position as President at Smarthome about 5 years ago although I still maintain some ownership there. I left in part for health reasons but most importantly to found AlerG, Inc. Having had to purchase allergy supplies from other companies over the years I found that many of these suppliers did not really care or even understand the true nature of allergies and chemical sensitivities. The founders sometimes had children or wives that suffered from allergies or asthma but they themselves did not. Most are run simply to make a profit. It is easy to spot the worst offenders by looking at their product line. Some of them carry profitable products that do not work or are not really safe for allergy or chemically sensitive individuals.

I decided from the start that AlerG will only carry products we know work and are safe. I have turned down many requests by manufacturers to carry their products because I know they are not safe or do not work as well as they claim. This is why we may not have quite as broad a product line as some of the others.

Currently, the majority of the detergents and personal care products used by my family and me are the ones we sell at AlerG.com. I find the Magick Botanicals line of hair care and lotion the first personal care products that I have been able to tolerate well. (For those who may have tried this brand in the past, note that recently they completely removed all the plant extracts from the formula and this has made the line considerably more tolerable). The Free and Clear line is also comparable in"scentlessness" and their Vanicream Sunscreen is the first sunscreen I have found anywhere that doesn't make me instantly ill from the smell.

I have an air purifier in my bedroom, one in the hallway, one in my walk-in clothes closet (AustinAir Jr. to remove clothing scents) and one in the living room. By positioning them carefully I can direct a flow of clean scent free air over my face when I am with perfume/cologne wearing guests and when I am with my dog or on bad allergen days.

Recently I upgraded the air purifier in my bedroom from my long serving AustinAir Healthmate to an IQAir HeathPro Plus unit. The IQAir unit is a really, really NICE air purifier, on low speed it is considerably quieter than the AustinAir unit (which is already very quiet), it comes with a wireless remote control that allows me to quickly adjust air flow from my bed with one touch. But the most important difference is that the frequency of my migraines on heavy smog/allergen days has gone down considerably. What I had not realized until I founded AlerG is that many smog and allergen particles go down well below HEPA 0.3 micron size that the AustinAir was rated at. The IQAir unit on the other hand has a HyperHEPA filter that goes well below 0.3 microns and is claimed to be able to filter out ALL smog and other really small allergen particles. I believe it since I really do feel better since I have started using it. The AustinAir units seem quite adequate for the other locations in my house and is more economical to run.

On my shower I use a water filter. Although I have been using different shower filters for years, I recently switched to the Aquasana 2 Stage Shower Filter and got a really pleasant surprise. It not only reduced the back pressure allowing a higher water pressure shower, but the water smells and feels considerably cleaner. In fact it really is like showering in drinking water. I think the addition of activated carbon as well as the much larger filter media content has something to do with the performance.

I recently started using the Grossan Hydropulse Nasal Irrigator . It felt a little strange at first putting liquid up my nose, but I quickly got used to it. It really clears up my congestions and almost immediately after use I can breathe freely. I can really feel it working on my sinuses and I think it has eliminated any reoccurances of sinus headaches so far (touch wood).The trick I found to making the experience pleasant is to get the saline solution to a comfortable temperature before use. Then I start at a low pressure then turn it up so the pulsing action really gets a chance to work. It goes through solution pretty fast when you turn it up. Fortunately, you can use plain table salt (I use kosher salt since other brands usually have additives such as anti caking agents) to create the saline solution as an alternative to the medicated mixes or solutions if you want. I usually use a plain salt solution when I want a routine flush and either the SaltAire solution or BreatheEase Powder when I feel like I need something more.

I can usually tell the difference between an allergy attack or a chemical sensitivity attack because allergies tend to give me stuffy nose, coughing type symptoms while chemical sensitivity attacks usually give me severe migraines instead. Life with allergies and chemical sensitivity is not fun, but, with the right products and precautions, my condition seems to have stabilized and I am able to live a fairly normal life.

( 4/9/04)
I am using BreatheEase with my Grossan Hydropulse almost exclusely now. Over time I have found that the BreatheEase has a considerably better effect on me that plain salt, and with 60 applications per box, the cost is really quite reasonable.

I have modified the air purification system in my bedroom to include an IQAir GC unit with a Inflow ducting kit. The inflow ducting kit pulls fresh air from outside and purifies it before pumping it into my bedroom. I have had this running for a few months now and it adds a noticable improvement to the quality of air in the room. Not only am I getting a continual flow of fresh air together with the fresh oxygen it contains, but it creates a positive air pressure in the bedroom which pushes out stale air and prevents pollutants from entering the room even if I open a window or my patio door. Since I run the unit on low (1-2) to keep the sound level down, I still have my other IQair HealthPro Plus unit running as well at low (1-2).

Recently, I brought a BlueAir 501 unit in to my bedroom to test and was very surprised to find that not only was it super quiet, but it produced zero detectable ozone. At the 2nd highest speed (3) it is slightly quieter than the IQAir Healthpro at the lowest speed (1). The BlueAir 501 can't completely replace the IQair units due to the fact that it doesn't have the inflow ducting kit option and the amount of activated carbon gas absorbing media is significantly less than the IQAirs. However, the combined air purification power of the 3 purifiers has enabled me to allow my beloved dog back into my bedroom even though I am allergic to him. Many people may think it extreme to have 3 expensive air purifiers in one room, but I think the value of waking up feeling good and being able to sleep with my dog in the room, is to me almost priceless. Also note that I am running all the units on low which keeps the total sound level almost inaudible.

I will talk about some of the new products I have been using that have helped me quite a bit. I have added a de-humidifer to my bedroom and it has been wonderful in helping me with weather changes. I noticed that for some reason I would wake up feeling ill on days when it was raining or for whatever other reason the humidity was higher than normal (above 60%). When I started using the de-humidifier, it could rain cats and dogs and I wouldn't even notice it until I looked out the window. High humidity encourages the growth of mold/mildew and dust mites, and it may also have a direct effect on your body.

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Thanks for reading, I hope my story has been of some help to other allergy or chemical sensitivity sufferers. I will be updating this page as often as I can.

David

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