Allergy to Hemp

April 25, 2013, by Debra Lynn Dadd

Question from Donna

Hi Debra, Have you ever heard of anyone being allergic to hemp fabric? 

I had some organic hemp/tencel roman shades made for my son's room, as he has asthma. The first night we installed the shades, he started wheezing. He slept in our room the next two nights and was fine. We put him back in his room, and he started wheezing again. The pediatrician said it's the pollen (it's pollen season here), but I think it's the shades. The designer who made the shades said that they are completely organic and not treated with any chemical, but when the sun shines on them, I can smell a very faint, sweet odor. 

Debra's Answer

Anyone can be allergic to anything, particularly if it is a natural material. And if you say that there is a faint sweet odor when the sun shines on it, it sounds like hemp to me.

Hemp used in fabric and marijuana the drug are both the same plant, but they are grown differently for their different purposes. Hemp grown for fabric and other product uses contains very little THC, the substance that makes you high in the drug marijuana.

The bottom line is, if the windowcoverings are making your son wheeze, take them down.