This October, Prevent Breast Cancer with the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

Guest blog post by Erika Wilhelm, Director of Marketing & Communications, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a program of BCPP

 

Let’s face it. When it comes to health, it’s not just what we put in our bodies that matters. What we put on our bodies matters, too. Did you know you can reduce your breast cancer risk by using and advocating for safer personal care products?

 

October is traditionally known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but for us, it’s Breast Cancer Prevention Month! We are facing reality: 90% of breast cancer is not linked to genetics. For some of these cases, environmental exposures–including chemicals in beauty products– play a role.  Every two minutes, someone hears the words “you have breast cancer.” Likely, you know someone who has been diagnosed, but had no genetic link.  The good news: there are things we can do to prevent cancer at the individual and societal levels, and YOU are key.

 

Hi, I’m Erika from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. We’ve been around for almost 20 years;  and we are proud to be the original clean beauty trailblazers. In this blog, I’ll share a little bit about who we are, what we do, and how you can take action to prevent breast cancer. 

 

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics’ (CSC) mission is to make beauty and personal care products safer for all. CSC is a program of Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP), the only national, science-based advocacy organization working to prevent breast cancer and other diseases by eliminating harmful environmental exposures.

 

Most of us assume beauty products are tested for safety before they are sold. But this is not the case.  Companies can and do legally sell cosmetics with ingredients linked to cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm.

 

BCPP’s Campaign for Safe Cosmetics educates the public; transforms the beauty industry to make products safer; and advocates for health-protective laws that benefit everyone regardless of where they live, work, or shop.
CSC focuses on eliminating dangerous chemicals linked to cancers (like breast and ovarian) and other serious health concerns like endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity, diabetes, developmental harm, early puberty, infertility, and allergic reactions.

 

Since our start nearly two decades ago, CSC has educated and engaged millions of consumers throughout the nation to move the $100 billion cosmetics industry toward a new standard: ingredient transparency and safer products for everyone. 
More than 175 organizations and 1,000 forward-thinking companies have endorsed the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics platform, indicating their support for the CSC’s overarching goal: stricter federal oversight and regulation of the cosmetics industry and safer personal care products for all people and our environment. 

Of our many victories over the years, we are most proud of fearlessly taking on multinational cosmetic giants and moving them away from their use of cancer-causing chemicals in their products. You can learn more about our accomplishments over the years here.  

 

Join the movement & take action!

The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (FFDCA) includes 112 pages of standards for food and drugs, but just two pages for cosmetic safety. The cosmetics title of the FFDCA, has not been amended significantly since it was enacted more than 80 years ago (since the ballpoint pen was invented!). It provides the FDA with virtually no power to regulate the safety of our domestic cosmetic industry.

 

That’s a big problem when most of us use an average of 12 beauty and personal care products every day.
These products can contain hundreds of unique chemicals that we absorb, inhale and ingest – some are linked to breast and other cancers, birth defects, learning disabilities and other serious health problems.

Lax regulation means the beauty industry can sell products made with virtually any industrial chemical, without FDA safety testing or review. But we believe in safer beauty for all.

 

One way to achieve that is by passing the federal Safer Beauty Bill Package.

These bills will: 
- Ban 11 of the most toxic chemicals. Learn more
- Protect people who are most highly exposed to toxic chemicals. Learn more
- Require the disclosure of secret, unlabeled, and often toxic chemicals in our personal care products. Learn more
- And ensure that cosmetic companies have the information they need to make safer products. Learn more

This October, make an impact with use. Focus on PREVENTING breast cancer before it starts.

WRITE: In 60 seconds or less: send a letter urging Congress to support the Safer Beauty Bill Package.
CALL: We provide you with a script plus facts about the bills, and then connect you directly to your member of Congress.
SHARE: Be a safer beauty micro-influencer! Advocate using the official campaign toolkit or simply share our post with #SaferBeauty4All.

 

Let’s make history, help us pass the federal Safer Beauty Bill Package to get toxins out of cosmetics: Take Action >

 

CSC’s Non-Toxic Black Beauty Project

Did you know that Black women face both disproportionate exposure to breast carcinogens and the highest risk of serious health impacts from the disease? This Prevention Month, check out our newly launched Non-Toxic Black Beauty Project to find out how we are tackling the environmental injustice of the beauty industry.

 

Thanks for getting to know the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, and for taking action. Visit www.safecosmetics.org to learn more.

 

Together, we can make clean beauty for all a reality!