Inside Prevention

What price beauty? New legislation seeks safety regulations (Huffington Post, 9/19/2010)

The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010, introduced in July, is a priority for both the Breast Cancer Fund and our coalition effort, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. What does the act do and why does it matter? Janet Nudelman, our director of program and policy, spoke to a blogger for the Huffington Post:

"Why do companies use harmful ingredients when they can do a product without it?" Nudelman asked rhetorically. Her answer was, "Because they can, and there is no standard definition of safety. It's business as usual. It's what they have always done." (Read complete article.)

Calif. Senate fails to protect babies from BPA

Minutes before midnight on August 31, California’s dream of becoming the eighth state to restrict BPA died on the floor of the state Senate. A late-night vote on a bill that would have banned BPA from all infant food containers fell two votes short of passage. This same bill had already passed the Senate last year, but faced a challenge during this year’s concurrence vote, as two senators who had been strong supporters of the bill were ill and not able to make it back to Sacramento for the final vote.

The Breast Cancer Fund is deeply disappointed by this loss. In the seven states that have voted to restrict BPA, both Republicans and Democrats have joined together to protect children. So why did California not step forward to protect children from this toxic chemical? Could it have to do with the intensive and expensive lobbying campaign by the chemical and pharmaceutical industries? It’s a sad day in California when big money trumps the health of babies.

Luckily, children’s health does not depend on California alone. In addition to the seven states that have already acted to restrict BPA, now Congress is poised to take action, and innovative companies are voluntarily removing BPA from their products.

Read the Breast Cancer Fund’s statement on the loss in California, and why this loss won’t stop the momentum to reduce our exposure to this toxic chemical linked to breast cancer.