Cancer Fund president warns about chemicals
• Environmental factors can be controlled for cancer-free lifestyle by avoiding certain products
By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune
By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune
JEANNE RIZZO
Do cell phones cause cancer? Is there a connection between pleasant smells and toxins? How about those plastic dishes in the microwave?
Jeanne Rizzo, president of the Breast Cancer Fund, was in Homer Friday to give a talk called “Breast Cancer Prevention — Science to Action,” which answers those questions. Rizzo, and the Breast Cancer Fund, is a national leader in translating a growing body of evidence linking breast cancer and environmental exposures into strategic policy initiatives. Rizzo was brought to Alaska by the Alaska Community Action on Toxics for speaking engagements at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Anchorage Museum and in Homer at the Pratt Museum.
As for cell phones, Rizzo cautions people to switch to head sets to avoid having an electro magnetic field so close to their head.
“This is an emerging area of concern. The problem is that we wait to see if something bad happens (from products) instead of proving that it is safe before it goes on the market,” Rizzo said. “There needs to be a paradigm switch. We should change to ‘prove safety’ instead of ‘prove immediate harm.’ There are over 80,000 chemicals used commercially and fewer than seven percent has been tested for its impact on health and the environment.”
Rizzo advocates that people work to get chemicals out of their lives, from chlorine-based cleaners to certain cosmetics, flame retardants, plastics and packaging lined in toxins.
There is a link between breast cancer risk and chemicals, Rizzo said, particularly one that was identified for a public awareness campaign: Bisphenol (BPA).
This is a lining used in canned food – vegetables, tomato sauce, canned milk – that is estrogen-based. A 2010 report from the United States Food and Drug Administration raised concerns regarding BPA exposure to fetuses, infants and young children. In September 2010, Canada became the first country to declare BPA as a toxic substance. But the U.S hasn’t banned its use.
BPA can cause early puberty and breast cancer.
“If we conducted urine tests, BPA would show up in tests for most of the population,” Rizzo said. “It’s coming from the canned foods we eat. In a controlled diet, after three days the tests showed no BPA. That demonstrated that BPA was coming from the food packaging.”
Coca-Cola has volunteered to stop BPA use in its cans, though that content is minimal in Coke products, but most other corporations deny it is harmful. Rizzo continues to push for change through political strategies aimed at convincing Congress and the public to be focused on prevention or to “connect the dots between breast cancer and the environmental risks associated with the disease.”
In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Rizzo the Environmental Achievement Award in recognition of her organization’s progress in promoting education and legislative initiatives.
So, is there a connection between toxins and pleasant scents? In some products more than others, Rizzo said. When you see “fragrance” on a label, it could be used as a catchall ingredient that hides any of dozens of chemicals, including cancer-causing phthalates.
And plastic containers used for leftovers, or work lunches? Never heat food in plastic in a microwave, she cautions, since plastic is petroleum-based and contaminates food in small amounts that have a net impact. Cleaning products like chlorine bleach are powerful chemicals known to cause cancer.
The problem with thousands of chemicals in use is that babies and children are particularly at risk. The short window of time during which rapid cell growth occurs as babies grow particularly makes them susceptible. The result shows up later, in the early on-set of puberty – documented by doctors and teachers across the country as a real phenomenon – has social ramifications, Rizzo points out. “When girls develop breast at a younger and younger age, it increases other risks. They are saddled with an increased risk of promiscuity, or being taken advantage of, even of smoking and drug use,” she said.
Through careful shopping choices and concerted efforts, thousands of chemicals can be eliminated.
At the website www.safecosmetics.org consumers can find out about a variety of common products that could be replaced with safe ones. Breastcancerfund.org explains what common products contain in a room-by-room audio-visual presentation.
Jeanne Rizzo, president of the Breast Cancer Fund, was in Homer Friday to give a talk called “Breast Cancer Prevention — Science to Action,” which answers those questions. Rizzo, and the Breast Cancer Fund, is a national leader in translating a growing body of evidence linking breast cancer and environmental exposures into strategic policy initiatives. Rizzo was brought to Alaska by the Alaska Community Action on Toxics for speaking engagements at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Anchorage Museum and in Homer at the Pratt Museum.
As for cell phones, Rizzo cautions people to switch to head sets to avoid having an electro magnetic field so close to their head.
“This is an emerging area of concern. The problem is that we wait to see if something bad happens (from products) instead of proving that it is safe before it goes on the market,” Rizzo said. “There needs to be a paradigm switch. We should change to ‘prove safety’ instead of ‘prove immediate harm.’ There are over 80,000 chemicals used commercially and fewer than seven percent has been tested for its impact on health and the environment.”
Rizzo advocates that people work to get chemicals out of their lives, from chlorine-based cleaners to certain cosmetics, flame retardants, plastics and packaging lined in toxins.
There is a link between breast cancer risk and chemicals, Rizzo said, particularly one that was identified for a public awareness campaign: Bisphenol (BPA).
This is a lining used in canned food – vegetables, tomato sauce, canned milk – that is estrogen-based. A 2010 report from the United States Food and Drug Administration raised concerns regarding BPA exposure to fetuses, infants and young children. In September 2010, Canada became the first country to declare BPA as a toxic substance. But the U.S hasn’t banned its use.
BPA can cause early puberty and breast cancer.
“If we conducted urine tests, BPA would show up in tests for most of the population,” Rizzo said. “It’s coming from the canned foods we eat. In a controlled diet, after three days the tests showed no BPA. That demonstrated that BPA was coming from the food packaging.”
Coca-Cola has volunteered to stop BPA use in its cans, though that content is minimal in Coke products, but most other corporations deny it is harmful. Rizzo continues to push for change through political strategies aimed at convincing Congress and the public to be focused on prevention or to “connect the dots between breast cancer and the environmental risks associated with the disease.”
In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Rizzo the Environmental Achievement Award in recognition of her organization’s progress in promoting education and legislative initiatives.
So, is there a connection between toxins and pleasant scents? In some products more than others, Rizzo said. When you see “fragrance” on a label, it could be used as a catchall ingredient that hides any of dozens of chemicals, including cancer-causing phthalates.
And plastic containers used for leftovers, or work lunches? Never heat food in plastic in a microwave, she cautions, since plastic is petroleum-based and contaminates food in small amounts that have a net impact. Cleaning products like chlorine bleach are powerful chemicals known to cause cancer.
The problem with thousands of chemicals in use is that babies and children are particularly at risk. The short window of time during which rapid cell growth occurs as babies grow particularly makes them susceptible. The result shows up later, in the early on-set of puberty – documented by doctors and teachers across the country as a real phenomenon – has social ramifications, Rizzo points out. “When girls develop breast at a younger and younger age, it increases other risks. They are saddled with an increased risk of promiscuity, or being taken advantage of, even of smoking and drug use,” she said.
Through careful shopping choices and concerted efforts, thousands of chemicals can be eliminated.
At the website www.safecosmetics.org consumers can find out about a variety of common products that could be replaced with safe ones. Breastcancerfund.org explains what common products contain in a room-by-room audio-visual presentation.
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Posted by Newsroom on Jun 8th, 2011 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response by filling out the following comment form, or trackback to this entry from your site. Please read the comment policy before commenting.
Posted by Newsroom on Jun 8th, 2011 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response by filling out the following comment form, or trackback to this entry from your site. Please read the comment policy before commenting.
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