Inside Prevention

Fix our broken chemical system AND save health care costs AND reduce human suffering

Our friends at Safer Chemicals Healthy Families released a report today that's another nail in the coffin of the antiquated law that governs our broken chemical management system, the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA. Check out the Breast Cancer Fund's statement:

Statement in Support of The Health Case for Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act

The Safer Chemicals Healthy Families campaign, of which the Breast Cancer Fund is a member, released a report today:  The Health Case for Reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act. This report affirms that a growing body of scientific evidence links chemical exposure to a wide range of serious diseases and draws attention to the urgent need to reform how chemicals are managed in the United States. It points to the fact that, by reducing exposure to toxic chemicals, we will reduce disease incidence and the related health care costs.

This analysis supports the findings of the Breast Cancer Fund’s State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment – a comprehensive report that aggregates the scientific evidence linking chemicals and radiation to increased risk of breast cancer and outlines research and public policy changes needed to reduce breast cancer risk.

The Breast Cancer Fund joins Safer Chemicals Healthy Families in calling for the overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the federal law governing chemical safety which has never been significantly amended since its adoption in 1976. By passing legislation to bring the toxics law into the 21st century, we will not only reduce disease incidence and health care costs, we will also achieve unquantifiable “human savings,” as we will prevent countless families from having to confront the suffering and death of loved ones.

As science confirms the links between chemicals and disease, it becomes an ethical imperative that we fix our broken chemical management system, which will help control skyrocketing health care costs and reduce human suffering.

FDA taking positive steps on BPA, but its actions don't go far enough

The Breast Cancer Fund released the following statement this afternoon in response to today's long-awaited announcement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the safety of BPA in children's products:

The Breast Cancer Fund is heartened that the FDA has registered concern about BPA and is advising parents to reduce children’s exposure while it further investigates the chemical. We support the measures announced by the FDA to encourage industry efforts to replace BPA in baby bottles and infant formula, to further develop alternatives, and to replace or minimize BPA in other food containers.

We agree with the FDA’s assessment that a complete overhaul of the regulatory framework that allowed BPA to be approved as a packaging additive is critically needed.

But we are concerned that the announcement today does not go far enough to protect public health, and even sends a mixed message to consumers.

Fortunately, there is legislation in front of the Senate that would take more decisive action to protect children’s health, and it goes one step further by protecting pregnant women as well. The bill, introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would ban BPA from baby bottles, sports water bottles and reusable food containers. The bill would also ban BPA from canned foods where safe alternatives exist and require labeling where they don’t. And the bill would give the FDA the authority to modernize its process for reviewing and approving food-packaging additives like BPA.

The Breast Cancer Fund calls on Congress to prioritize the passage of this important public health legislation.

Breaking BPA news: FDA to say BPA affects development, should not be used in baby bottles

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Meg Kissinger is reporting that the FDA is expected to make a major announcement about BPA today:

Posted: Jan. 15, 2010 10:56 a.m.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce Friday that bisphenol A affects human development and should not be used in infant formula cans and baby bottles, the Journal Sentinel has learned.

The agency has scheduled a press briefing for noon.

We will update this story as more information is available. (Visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Web site for more on the story.)

Eight going on eighteen (Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families blog, 1/8/2010)

Is early puberty really cause for concern? Yep, it's a risk factor for breast cancer. And, like breast cancer, it may be triggered in part by hormone-disrupting chemicals in our everyday environment. If you have a daughter, today's blog post from the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition (of which the Breast Cancer Fund is a part) is a must-read:

A few years ago, I noticed that my beautiful, vivacious seven-year-old daughter had breasts. Wasn't this a little young? She was into Harry Potter, rainbow sherbet and puppies — not bras and pads. (Read complete post.)

For more information, access our free publication, The Falling Age of Puberty.

Bill sponsor sees support for BPA ban (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/6/2010)

Could Wisconsin become the latest state to ban BPA from baby bottles and sippy cups? The bill's sponsor thinks so, as reported yesterday:

The sponsor of a state bill to ban bisphenol A in baby bottles and sippy cups said Wednesday she is confident there is enough support to institute such a ban in Wisconsin.

State Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) said a Senate committee vote on the matter could come in the next few weeks. (Read complete article.)

Wisconsin is one of dozens of states, counties and cities nationwide that have considered laws to limit human exposure to this estrogenic chemical. Alongside these efforts, the Breast Cancer Fund is working on a proposal now in Congress that would enact a nationwide ban on BPA in food and beverage containers. So no matter where you live in the U.S., you can voice your support for protection from BPA.

A missed deadline (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/5/2010)

Editorializing on BPA and the FDA's failure to act, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said earlier this week:

It's better to make the right decision than a hasty one. But we know this: There is ample reason to suspect BPA in a range of human illnesses. The ubiquitous chemical is found in everything from hardened plastics to the lining of metal food containers and is present in the urine of more than 93% of American adults and more than 90% of newborns. Even at very low doses, it is believed to interrupt the body's endocrine system. (Read complete article.)

We certainly agree.

FDA to miss third deadline on BPA ruling (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/29/2009)

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel continues to track the BPA story, reporting most recently on the FDA's lack of action. If you haven't been following closely, the agency has now postponed its ruling on BPA's safety three times. For some insight into why this matters, the paper spoke with our policy director:

"I'm extremely frustrated by the FDA delay, and I'm even more frustrated by their silence about the delay," said Janet Nudelman, policy director at the Breast Cancer Fund. "Each day it further delays taking action, more newborn babies, children and pregnant women are left unprotected from this hormone-disrupting compound linked to breast cancer and birth defects." (Read complete article.)