Peanut allergies. In the 1950's, were school children occasionally carted off from the lunchroom experiencing.....

[Wicked Blue]

31. One of my daughters has severe peanut and tree nut allergies

She was born in the early 1980s. We discovered the allergies when she reacted to a cookie made with black walnuts when she was 4. She was also found to be allergic to eggs and cows' milk at the time, but those went away after a few years. At the time, peanut allergies were rare, and her elementary school had no procedures to protect her.

She was always allowed to play outdoors. In South Plainfield we had a big back yard. One problem was that half the yard flooded badly when Bound Brook overflowed. That particular waterway was loaded with all sorts of nasty chemicals from the many nearby chemical manufacturing companies. I wouldn't be surprised if some were deposited in our yard by the floods. I can't prove any kind of connection, but I wonder whether exposure to some unknown chemical may have triggered her immune system to react to certain proteins.

I also wonder if the ever-increasing number of chemicals and plastics we are all exposed to may be affecting immune systems, particularly in babies and children. Maybe some substance became widespread in the 1980s and 1990s that wasn't around earlier. I doubt we'll ever know the answer, though.

RFK Jr's blaming vaccinations is ridiculous nonsense and has been disproved.