Inside Prevention

Kaiser Permanente detoxes AND saves money

Great news! Yesterday, health-care giant Kaiser Permanente announced it would stop using IV medical equipment made with the toxic chemicals PVC and DEHP.

 

When PVC is made, vinyl chloride—a known human carcinogen— is released, so any move to reduce the use of PVC plastic decreases our exposure to these toxic pollutants linked to cancer. DEHP is one of a group of endocrine-disrupting chemicals called phthalates that have complex effects on several hormonal systems. DEHP has been shown in lab studies to increase breast cancer cell proliferation and to interfere with breast cancer treatment.

 A Washington Post story notes that this switchover affects nearly 100 tons of medical equipment — 4.9 million IV tubing sets and 9.2 million solution bags — each year. Great, right? But it gets better: the change is also expected to save Kaiser almost $5 million a year.

Way to go, Kaiser, for showing that you can do the right thing to reduce toxic exposures and even save money along the way.

Johnson & Johnson, amid activists' push, steadily removing toxic chemicals from baby products (Associated Press, 11/16/2011)

Iconic baby shampoo maker Johnson & Johnson has committed to a two-year timeline to remove formaldehyde-releasing preservatives 
from its baby products worldwide, under pressure from the Breast Cancer Fund's Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. Formaldehyde is a known human carcinogen. The Associated Press broke the news late yesterday, based on a letter from J&J to the Campaign. (Read the letter and the Campaign press release.)

Also included in the letter is confirmation from J&J that it is actively working to strip the carcinogen 1,4-dioxane from its baby products, and it has already removed phthalates (hormone-disrupting chemicals) from all baby products worldwide, including phthalates found in fragrance.

The letter and transparent public commitment follow the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics' Nov. 1 release of an analysis, Baby's Tub Is Still Toxic, that found different formulations of Johnson's Baby Shampoo in different countries--some of which were already using safer formulations.

From the Associated Press:

Amid pressure from activists, Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday that it is continuing efforts to remove traces of two harmful chemicals from its baby products around the world.

An international coalition of consumer and environmental groups has been pressing J&J since May 2009 to remove two potentially cancer-causing chemicals from products including its signature Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, long advertised under the slogan “No More Tears.”

...

The New Brunswick, N.J., company generally still has a Teflon reputation, but questions about the safety of its baby products led to a rebuke from the Chinese government earlier this month and thousands of consumers writing the company that they would no longer buy those products, according to the campaign. (Read complete article.)

This is a monumental victory for children's health and safety, and for the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. At the Breast Cancer Fund, we're incredibly proud to have been part of this win. Today we celebrate the tireless work by our staff and partner organizations; together over the last two and a half years we moved a corporate giant to make lasting global change in the name of health.

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.

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.)