Issue #30, Fall/Winter 2004

Stop the Epidemic is the Official Newsletter of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition

• The 26th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
  My first time attending the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (www.sabcs.org) gave me a surreal glimpse into the research world of breast cancer treatment and cure.
  
  
• Science on Trial: Conflicts of interest jeopardize scientific integrity and public health
  The notion that scientists pursuing knowledge about the physical or biological universe could have competing interests that might affect their objectivity is, for them, a hard pill to swallow. Most scientists still do not believe that ethical concerns over conflicts-of-interest apply to them.
  
  
• Where Does Our Toxic Exposure Come From?
  Massachusetts’s communities are threatened by numerous toxic pollution sources. The use of toxic chemicals by large corporations all the way down to the consumer products we use, threaten the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil on which we play and grow our food.
  
  
• Follow the Money Alliance for Accountability in Breast Cancer
  As the beneficial owner of one share of Avon Products common stock, the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition has resubmitted a shareholder proposal to be considered at the 2004 Avon Corporation’s Annual Meeting.
  
  
• Air and Dust Harbor Chemical Contaminants in Homes
  Massachusetts homes harbor dozens of chemical contaminants that can mimic or disrupt hormones, according to results of Silent Spring Institute’s Household Exposure Study, which was published as the cover story in the scientific journal Environmental Science & Technology this fall.
  
  
• Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow
  In Communities, ACT for a Healthy Massachusetts - information
  
  
• NIH Announces New Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers
  On October 14, 2003, the National Institutes of Health announced the formation of four new Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers to study the prenatal-to-adult environmental exposures that may predispose a woman to breast cancer.
  
  
• Fundraising Notes
  As usual we have been fortunate this fall with Special Events that we put on as well as those that others have been a part of and designate their income from these events to come to the MBCC. To all of you, we are so very grateful!
  
  
• United We Stand for Public Health
  State funding for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has been cut by $150.8 million (28 percent) over the past three years.