Issue #32, Fall 2004

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

• The Larger the Pink Ribbon the Closer to the Cure?
  Is World’s Largest Pink Ribbon honestly going to get us any closer to ending the breast cancer epidemic? Or is it just a marketing gimmick to boost 3M’s Post-It Sales?
  
  
• FACE FACTS: TOXIC CHEMICALS IN BODYCARE PRODUCTS
  According to industry estimates, on any given day an average consumer may use as many as 25 different cosmetic and personal care products containing more than 200 different chemical compounds.
  
  
• Safe Cosmetics Campaign Platform
  We call on all manufacturers of personal care products and cosmetics to:
  
  
• COMING TO CONSENSUS – COMING TO A COMMON SENSE
  The current administration in Washington seems to be frequently landing on the idea of precautionary prevention in response to the threat of terrorism to our way of life. At a recent campaign stop, President Bush stressed the need to react to gathered intelligence by saying, “Prevention of a suspected threat is sound policy. It is better to react than wait until after an incident, even without concrete evidence.”
  
  
• MIXED RESULTS ON BREAST CANCER RISK AND PESTICIDE USE ON CAPE COD
  Pesticides were one of the earliest suspects in the search for environmental factors in breast cancer; because laboratory studies show that many pesticides can mimic estrogen, a known breast cancer risk factor, or disrupt other hormones. Investigating this link is difficult, though, because we have all been exposed to multiple pesticides via multiple pathways. To study the effect on breast cancer, we need the right way to measure those exposures.
  
  
• More aggressive breast cancer tumors four times more likely in African American women
  A genetic mutation related to a more aggressive form of breast cancer occurs four times more often in African American patients than their white counterparts, Yale researchers report in the August 9, 2004 online edition of the journal Cancer
  
  
• CABINET CONFIDENTIAL: TOXIC PRODUCTS IN THE HOME
  The past 10 years have seen major changes in what were thought to be truisms about toxic chemicals and human health - that there was a clear dose level below which health effects would not occur and that the U.S. population as a whole had been exposed to few toxic chemicals.
  
  
• IMPORTANT WORK AHEAD - ACHIEVABLE SUCCESSES WITH YOUR HELP
  Our supporters make MBCC’s programs possible. Well over 75% of our income comes from individual donations, including receipts from special events.
  
  
• Against the Tide 2004
  When Maria Vetrano and Helen Privett first came up with the idea for Against the Tide, sitting on the beach at Walden Pond in the summer of 1991, there was no Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk, and many of the other walks and rides were still in their infancy.
  
  
• DO YOU PAY TOO MUCH FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS?
  The Prescription Access Litigation Project ("PAL") is a national coalition working to make prescription drugs more affordable for consumers. PAL uses class action litigation and public education to bring an end to illegal pharmaceutical price inflation.
  
  
• AT THE 13TH HOUR – THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION ENDED
  At approximately 1 am Saturday morning, July 31, the Senate adjourned the 2003-2004 legislative session and they did NOT take up the TURI Safer Alternatives budget veto override. They are not expected to re-convene this year and so, sadly, that means we lost the funding for the Safer Alternatives analysis for this session.