Inside Prevention

Convenience at what cost: The connection between chemicals and breast cancer (Environmental Health Policy Institute, 6/16/2011)

Our colleagues at Physicians for Social Responsibility posed to top researchers, physicians and advocates the question, "What are we learning about the relationship between environmental toxicants and cancer? How should our regulatory system respond to this information?"

Of course this is a topic the Breast Cancer Fund is keenly interested—and deeply involved—in. Our staff Nancy Buermeyer and Connie Engel responded with a piece that focuses on breast cancer, of course, but also hones in on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs):

One of the most disconcerting set of chemicals linked to diseases, including breast cancer, are those termed endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), including BPA, phthalates and other chemicals found in our everyday products. EDCs disrupt the body’s hormone systems, which regulate nearly every aspect of the intricate and exquisite process of life—from the awe-inspiring process of fetal development to the dramatic changes in puberty to the everyday processes of turning food into energy. Since one of the known risk factors for breast cancer is increased exposure to estrogen, it stands to reason, and the research bears out, that exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals that look like estrogen to our cells would increase the risk of developing the disease.

EDCs are a perfect example of why the “dose makes the poison” logic is flawed. EDCs can sometimes exert their most significant effects at exquisitely small doses. This is no surprise, since the hormones normally affect physical processes at very low doses. (Read complete article.)

Their essay stands alongside essays from top experts in environmental health, which we highly recommend reading. You can view them all on PSR's website.

Girls hit puberty earlier than ever, and doctors aren't sure why (USA Today, 4/11/2011)

Because of the link between early puberty in girls and increased breast cancer risk later in life, the Breast Cancer Fund commissioned a report from author, epidemiologist and cancer survivor Sandra Steingraber. Four years after its publication, families, doctors and researchers are still grappling with the causes and impacts of early puberty. USA Today reporter Liz Szabo covers this important topic on today's front page:

Claudia and Joe's baby girl has been racing to grow up, almost from the moment she was born. Laila sat up on her own at 5 months old and began talking at 7 months and walking by 8½ months.

...

Even so, Laila's parents never expected their baby to hit puberty at age 6. (Read complete article.)

The article is part of a weeklong series called Saving Childhood.

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.

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!

Week Four: Breast Cancer Prevention Month

The release of our latest edition of State of the Evidence launched a month-long campaign to move the breast cancer conversation in October beyond awareness and to prevention. Through our online communities on Facebook and Twitter, we posted the latest themes in the emerging science linking breast cancer and environmental exposures, tips for reducing your risk, action opportunities and things you can share with family and friends to spread the word.

In the final week of October, we introduced another important theme, one that plays a big role in the work of the Breast Cancer Fund. While we know it's important to limit our exposure to toxic chemicals and radiation at every stage, there are certain critical windows when it's extremely important: gestation, childhood and pregnancy. For this reason, the Breast Cancer Fund has been a leader in efforts to ban certain chemicals of concern from children's products, including phthalates from plastic chewable toys and bisphenol A (BPA) from hard plastic baby bottles and sippy cups and from the lining of aluminum cans.

Science Monday
Scientists used to think "the dose makes the poison." But research over the last decade suggests exposures early in life can be extremely significant, and that even tiny doses can have a big impact on later-life risk of breast cancer. This is especially true for endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which interfere with the body's hormonal system.

Tip Tuesday
Because kids are especially vulnerable, here are a few tips for protecting your family: make sure your baby bottles and sippy cups are BPA free, limit the use of canned food and choose clean and green personal care products and household cleaners. 

Action Wednesday
Sign our petition to President Obama to make breast cancer prevention a top policy priority, by embracing his own cancer panel's recommendation for a national cancer prevention plan, giving the FDA direction to eliminate BPA from food and beverage containers and authority to ensure cosmetics are safe, and reforming the broken Toxic Substances Control Act.

Share Thursday
And help us continue to spread the word about prevention through sharing Breast Cancer Prevention Starts with Us. It's the tale of prevention told through the powerful voices of women and men touched by this devastating disease. 

Thank you again for helping us launch State of the Evidence and inserting prevention into the Breast Cancer Awareness Month conversation. In the coming year, we'll be continuing to disseminate this important information on the environmental links to breast cancer, and we hope you'll consider supporting our efforts!

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.)

It's Time for Breast Cancer Prevention Month (Huffington Post, 10/12/2010)

Read Breast Cancer Fund President Jeanne Rizzo's opinion piece on the Huffington Post about why it’s time to move beyond breast cancer awareness to prevention—very timely as we’re all awash in pink this month. Here's an excerpt:

It's that pink time of year again, Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But when virtually every American has been touched by the disease, who among us is not aware of breast cancer? What we need is Breast Cancer PREVENTION Month, and a focus on identifying and eliminating the preventable causes of the disease so fewer people ever have to receive that life-changing diagnosis. What we need is a national breast cancer prevention plan.

We know that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and that no more than 1 in 10 of them has a genetic history of the disease. We know that breast cancer rates have increased dramatically since the 1930s, when the first reliable cancer incidence data were established, and that, strikingly, the increase parallels the proliferation of synthetic chemicals. Today, approximately 85,000 synthetic chemicals are registered for use in the United States, more than 90 percent of which have never been tested for their effects on human health.

(Read the full article.)

New report catalogues chemical and radiation links to breast cancer

On the first day of what we at the Breast Cancer Fund consider Breast Cancer Prevention Month, we released the 2010 edition of our landmark report, State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment.

What emerges from the latest scientific research is a clearer picture than ever of how exposures to chemicals and radiation affect breast cancer risk. From this evidence, we create a roadmap for a national breast cancer prevention plan.

Read the full report and explore online content at www.breastcancerfund.org/evidence.

Read an excerpt from our press release:

New Report Catalogues Chemical and Radiation Links to Breast Cancer
Scientists, health advocates call for national breast cancer prevention plan

San Francisco – A report released today by the Breast Cancer Fund presents a comprehensive summary of the scientific data on the environmental causes of breast cancer. The report catalogues the growing evidence linking breast cancer to, among other factors, synthetic hormones in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and meat; pesticides in food; solvents in household cleaning products; BPA in food containers; flame retardants in furniture; and radiation from medical treatments. The report also highlights impacts on the most vulnerable populations (including infants, pregnant women, African-American women and workers), and outlines the policy initiatives required to develop a national breast cancer prevention plan.

The report, entitled State of the Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment, is the sixth edition published by the Breast Cancer Fund. “With each new edition of the report, the growing scientific evidence compels us to act to prevent breast cancer,” said Jeanne Rizzo, R.N., president of the Breast Cancer Fund. “This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, our message is clear: we must move beyond awareness to prevention.”

(Read full press release)

The Story of Cosmetics launches -- and Congress takes action

This could go down as one of the biggest days in the history of cosmetics safety in the U.S. Today the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (a project of the Breast Cancer Fund), all our partner organizations, and our friends at the Story of Stuff Project and Free Range Studios launched The Story of Cosmetics, a short online film that tells it like it is: right now there's no required safety testing of ingredients in personal care products, resulting in chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases in our shampoo, our lotion, our lipstick - and in us. Watch the whole fantastic video below.

It all sounds sort of grim until you get to this news: today Congress determined to do something about this ugly beauty mess.

Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., today introduced the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010, (HR 5786), which gives the Food and Drug Administration authority to ensure that personal care products are free of harmful ingredients.

Existing law, passed in 1938, granted decision-making about ingredient safety to the cosmetics industry - classic fox-guarding-the-hen-house scenario.

On this momentous day, there are three really important things you can go to help secure safe cosmetics for everyone:

(1) Watch the film

(2) Share the film

(3) Ask your Representative in Congress to represent your opinion: toxic chemicals don't belong in cosmetics. We need additional co-sponsors of the Safe Cosmetics Act!