I am Scott Daniska. I was a graduate student in the sciences, near the top of my PhD class, until a chemical exposure in the lab I worked in ended that in 2017.
Since then I have had ME/CFS, and I have spent nine years doing what amounts to a second research programme on myself: running tests, reading literature, designing my own imaging work, surveying the patient community, and eliminating theories one at a time until something finally fit. I have no institutional affiliation, no funding and no lab. The work on this site was done from a series of temporary living situations and, for the past two years, from outdoors.
I am not selling anything. There is no consulting service here, no supplement, no protocol and no paid tier. If this model is right, the value of it is that somebody with proper equipment tests it.
Source material
This site is a rewrite of work that previously existed as presentations, papers and talks. The originals are:
- The Role of Insoluble Nanoparticles and Other Environmental Triggers in Chronic Illness (2024) — the fullest written statement of the model, with references.
- Observations of an Environmentally Driven Disease — presented to Patients to Researchers, August 2026.
- Environmental Drivers of Disease in ME/CFS & Long COVID — presentation covering the titanium dioxide literature and tissue comparisons.
- Beneficial Treatments (2024) — what follows from the model, therapeutically.
- Advocacy remarks delivered at SOLVE M.E. Advocacy Week and related events.
An accompanying video walkthrough of the mechanism is available on YouTube: youtu.be/d3hh2l0bvac
Contact
I am most interested in hearing from researchers and clinicians who could test any part of this — particularly anyone with access to compositional analysis of tissue samples, electron microscopy, or a patient cohort willing to be asked systematic questions about their environment.
I also read messages from patients, though I should be honest that my capacity to reply is limited and varies enormously week to week. Please do not take a slow response personally.
If you want to help
- Test something. The most valuable thing anyone could do is take one falsifiable piece of this and check it — compositional analysis on the particles in the biopsy sample would be the highest-value single experiment.
- Ask your patients about their environment. If you are a clinician, systematically asking about building materials, recent painting or renovation, and whether symptoms change between locations costs nothing and would either build or destroy the case for this model quickly.
- Share it. The main obstacle for nine years has been that nobody with the means to evaluate this has read it.
Citing this work
Daniska S. The Environmental Basis of ME/CFS. Self-published, 2026. Available at: https://environmentalillness.org
Standing of this work. This is independent, patient-led research. It has not been peer-reviewed, replicated, or tested in any controlled setting, and it comes from a single subject. The published studies referenced are real and independent of me; the synthesis, the interpretation and the application to ME/CFS are mine alone and remain unproven.
Nothing here is medical advice, a diagnosis, or a treatment recommendation. If you are unwell, work with a clinician who knows your case.