Inside Prevention

Breast cancer awareness should be a year-round event (Huffington Post, 10/27/2011)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) champions breast cancer prevention and elimination of the environmental causes of this disease in a piece for the Huffington Post. In it she mentions some of our proudest achievements, including our State of the Evidence report on environmental exposures linked to breast cancer, as well as a ban on phthalates in children's toys that Sen. Feinstein authored and we supported through its passage in 2008.

Mounting scientific evidence links exposure to everyday chemicals -- in our food, our products, our air and our water -- to breast cancer. The President's Cancer Panel released a report in 2010 that highlighted how little we know about environmental links to cancer and the need for more research.

I could not agree more with the report's recommendation that "a precautionary, prevention-oriented approach should replace current reactionary approaches to environmental contaminants."

Similarly, the Breast Cancer Fund's 2010 report, the State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment, linked breast cancer to synthetic hormones in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and meat, pesticides in food, solvents in household cleaning products; bisphenol A (BPA) in food containers and flame retardants in furniture, to name a few.

In our daily lives, we can take steps to reduce exposure to some chemicals, such as buying BPA-free products. But we need more than personal action; we need policies that ensure the public is protected. And we need to understand the chemicals we interact with every day and what they are doing to our bodies. (Read complete article.)

Thank you, Sen. Feinstein, for standing up for environmental health. Human health depends on it.

Feinstein thanks the Breast Cancer Fund for BPA work

Last week, after the American Chemistry Council reversed its position on BPA in baby bottles, the Breast Cancer Fund received a very special thank-you letter from Sen. Dianne Feinstein for our hard work in the fight against BPA. In the letter, the Senator says:

Your efforts have paid off; the chemical industry is listening… At both the state and federal level, the chemical industry has spent millions lobbying against any restriction on the use of BPA. You helped lead the way in California, and now the chemical industry has realized that consumers, advocates, and legislators will not stand down against a chemical that could harm their health… My sincere thanks.

We're honored by the Senator's recognition, and we're thankful for her strong leadership in Congress on critical environmental health issues including BPA. Last November, after the chemical industry successfully blocked her amendment to the food safety bill that would have instituted a federal ban on BPA in baby bottles, Sen. Feinstein said so eloquently:

One day our children will look back and wonder why we willingly risked our health by exposing ourselves to harmful chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA)... Unfortunately, chemical industry lobbyists wish to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. Just as the tobacco industry once told us it was safe to smoke cigarettes, the chemical industry is trying to tell us it's OK to ingest harmful chemicals. It's not OK.

Thank you, Senator, for using your clear and compelling voice to amplify the message that BPA has no place in our food packaging.

Study: BPA, methylparaben block breast cancer drugs (San Francisco Chronicle, 9/13/2011)

For years, the Breast Cancer Fund has advocated to eliminate BPA (in hard plastics and can linings) and parabens (in cosmetics) from consumer products because of their links to breast cancer risk. Now we have new evidence that BPA and methylparaben not only spur normal human breast cells to behave like cancer cells, they also resist the cancer-inhibiting effects of the drug tamoxifen.

Our CEO Jeanne Rizzo spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle about this new research from California Pacific Medical Center:

Jeanne Rizzo, chief executive officer of the Breast Cancer Fund, a San Francisco advocacy group, said the study shows that BPA and methylparaben have a triggering effect when it comes to cancer. The next step, she said, has to be for consumers to demand changes that reduce environmental exposure to these chemicals.

A bill sitting on the governor's desk would ban BPA in sippy cups and baby bottles manufactured or sold in California. AB1319 was authored by Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, D-Los Angeles.

This research is sharp warning to consumer, legislators, manufacturers and researchers alike. As the Chronicle article explains:

Since most breast cancers are driven by the hormone estrogen, the bulk of the drugs used to treat breast cancer are designed to knock down estrogen. BPA and methylparaben not only mimic estrogen's ability to drive cancer, but appear to be even better than the natural hormone in bypassing the ability of drugs to treat it, [lead researcher Dr. William] Goodson said. (Read complete article.)

Time for a food makeover (ABC World News, 3/30/2011)

This great piece on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer educated millions (the program averages 8 million viewers) about our study on BPA in food packaging, the dangers of BPA and how to lower exposure.

After you watch the video, check out the written story for more information about the study and tips for avoiding BPA in food packaging.

How to reduce BPA levels by 60 percent in 3 days

We know BPA is all around us, and the CDC tells us the chemical is in almost 95 percent of us. And we know that laboratory studies have linked BPA to breast cancer, along with a whole host of other serious health problems. But what is the leading source of the BPA that contaminates our bodies? If we removed that source, how much would our BPA levels drop?

The Breast Cancer Fund and Silent Spring Institute conducted a study, published today in Environmental Health Perspectives, to find out. We enlisted five families for a week-long investigation. First, the families ate their normal diets. Then, we provided them with three days’ worth of freshly prepared organic meals that avoided contact with BPA-containing food packaging, such as canned food and polycarbonate plastic. Finally, the families returned to their normal diets. We measured their BPA levels at each stage.

While the families were eating the fresh-food diet, their BPA levels dropped on average by 60 percent. Those with the highest exposure levels saw even greater reductions: 75 percent.

These groundbreaking results tell us that removing BPA from food packaging will eliminate our number one source of BPA exposure.

Here’s a summary of the kinds of changes we made to the family’s diets and how you can replicate them in your own kitchen:

- Switch to stainless steel and glass food storage and beverage containers.
- Move foods to ceramic or glass food containers for microwaving.
- Consider a French press for coffee – home coffee makers may have polycarbonate-based water tanks and phthalate-based tubing.
- Eat out less, especially at restaurants that do not use fresh ingredients.
- Limit canned food consumption. Download our 10 Canned Foods to Avoid wallet card for your next shopping trip. And share it with people you care about.
- Choose fresh fruits and vegetables when possible, and frozen if not.
- Soak dried beans for cooking (you can make extra and freeze them).

While we can take steps to reduce our BPA exposure, we need big-picture solutions to ensure that everyone is protected from this chemical. That's why we're telling industry and government that we want safe, non-toxic food packaging now. We’re urging our elected officials to pass laws that will eliminate harmful chemicals from food packaging. We’re demanding reform of the broken system that allows these chemicals to be in our food packaging in the first place. Thanks for lending your voice to this critical work.

Building drumbeat in new Congress for BPA-free food

With the new Congress just back in session, we’re already building the drumbeat for BPA-free food. Yesterday, we joined Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., in heralding the re-introduction of his legislation to ban the hormonally active chemical BPA from all food and beverage containers.

In the past two years, we’ve worked with Rep. Markey in the House and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in the Senate to build momentum in Congress to ban BPA from food and beverage containers. As you may recall, late last year, the chemical industry managed to make sure that the Senate blocked the inclusion of any BPA provision in the food safety bill. Now it’s time to redouble our efforts and make our message to Congress crystal clear: our health over chemical industry special interests. Tell your Representative to support Markey's bill.

Quit the pesticide man (Huffington Post, 1/5/2011)

The "Dirt Diva" herself, Annie Spiegelman, has a great recommendation for your new year: ditch the pesticides. That includes household weed killers, chemical fertilizers, rat poison, ant traps, cockroach killer...all that stuff designed to kill other living things is likely not so good for you.

She wrote a piece on the Huffington Post this week featuring our Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) colleague Kristin Schafer, and together they do a great job weaving strawberry pesticides, breast cancer (and our State of the Evidence report), the problem with the EPA, safe cosmetics and being a Debbie Downer into something that you really do want to read:

Annie: Recent scientific studies show that the weedkiller atrazine changes the sex of male frogs. The pesticide methyl iodide, which is a known neurotoxin (nerve poison), will now be legal to fumigate onto California strawberry fields. American beekeepers believe the pesticide clothianidin, with a soil half-life of up to 19 years in heavy soils, is taking away their livelihoods. The latest President's Cancer Panel report on carcinogens in our environment is especially gloomy. Should we all just go hide under the covers?

Kristin: No. The more we know, the smarter choices we can all make. For the first time ever, the President's Cancer Panel analyzed the contribution carcinogens in our environment play in causing cancer. The Bush-appointed cancer scientists on the Panel found that the importance of these chemicals has been dramatically underestimated. They were so concerned that they actually recommended President Obama do something: get toxic chemicals that cause cancer out of our food, water and air. (Read complete article.)

TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch ... and breast cancer

Untold tons of plastic swirling in the ocean is plenty sobering as an environmental concern. But what affect does all that plastic have on our health?

Breast Cancer Fund President and CEO Jeanne Rizzo was invited to tell that very side of the story in November at TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch, an independently organized offshoot of the TED conference:

With thousands of people watching around the world, scientists, activists, environmentalists and health experts gathered to tell the many-sided story of plastic and what we can—and must—do about plastic pollution.

Big thanks to the Plastic Pollution Coalition for organizing this inspiring event! For more TEDx talks from around the world, drop in on the TEDx YouTube Channel.

Jeanne Rizzo to speak at TEDx - watch live this Saturday!

On Saturday, November 6, Breast Cancer Fund President and CEO Jeanne Rizzo will speak at a very special TEDx event on plastic pollution. Jeanne, who will talk about plastic and its connections to breast cancer, will be among other prominent thought leaders, innovators and artists who will share what they know, explore solutions and present plans for action.

The event will be broadcast live on the TEDx Web site from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Pacific Time. Jeanne's talk will occur during the Plastic Pollution and Public Health segment from 11:10 to 11:55 a.m., along with talks by Arlene Blum, Ken Cook and Stacy Malkan. Bring friends together and join in this historic event by hosting a watch party!

Ask Umbra addresses environmental links to breast cancer (Grist.org, 11/1/2010)

October may be over, but breast cancer prevention is a year-round affair at the Breast Cancer Fund. A reader writes to Ask Umbra in today's Grist asking about breast cancer prevention, and she points him to the Breast Cancer Fund, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (also a Breast Cancer Fund project) and our friends at Silent Spring Institute:

Many of the chemicals we’re exposed to have only been around since World War II. According to the Centers for Disease Control, "less than two percent of chemicals on the market have actually been tested for carcinogenicity."

It’s as if a kid held back in 5th grade for over 60 years is doing a science fair project and we’re all the unfortunate subjects.

Don't miss Ask Umbra's Best for the Breasts List, inspired by our collective work. (Read complete article.)