California Legislators to Hold October 23 Hearing on the Environmental Causes of Breast CancerBreast Cancer Fund Scientists and Health Advocates to Submit Research and Policy Recommendations to Address the Relationship between Environmental Toxins and Breast Cancer The California Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the Assembly Health Committee will hold a joint hearing on Breast Cancer and the Environment on October 23 in San Francisco to hear testimony on evidence of links between toxic chemicals in our environment and escalating rates of breast cancer.  Due to the interest generated by the first-ever informational hearing on breast cancer and the environment, organized last February by a coalition of breast cancer groups at the request of California State Senator Deborah Ortiz, scientists and breast cancer advocates will report on the policy and research recommendations that emerged from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded International Summit on Breast Cancer and the Environment held in May. "Breast cancer rates have nearly tripled in the past fifty years, and we can no longer ignore the scientific evidence linking environmental toxins to the rise of this disease," said Jeanne Rizzo, executive director of The Breast Cancer Fund. "In order to stop the breast cancer epidemic, we must take action to reduce exposures to cancer-causing chemicals. The California legislature is leading the country by addressing this issue and considering policies that will help us to better understand the link between breast cancer and synthetic chemicals found in our environment." The agenda for the hearing, co-convened by Senate Health & Human Services Committee Chair Deborah Ortiz and Assembly Health Committee Chair Dario Frommer, will include:
Biomonitoring -- which measures the actual human exposure to environmental toxins through analysis of blood, urine and breast milk samples -- identifies the presence of harmful chemicals in our bodies. This information is needed to reduce exposure to environmental toxins and ultimately prevent breast cancer and other diseases. Breast milk is an important biospecimen because chemicals accumulate in the fatty tissue of the breast. Consequently, breast milk monitoring provides information on the toxins a woman has been exposed to over many years. Biomonitoring also provides a barometer of the health needs and concerns of communities. "Tracking toxic chemicals in our breasts and bodies is critical to preventing breast cancer and other diseases," said Rizzo. "A model biomonitoring program that uses breast milk as a marker of community health will allow us to identify the cancer-causing chemicals that exist in different communities around the state, and act to remove these toxins. We believe the state legislature should be a leader in supporting this program, in order to respond to a variety of environmental health and environmental justice concerns, including breast cancer." The call for a national biomonitoring program, including breast milk as a marker of community health, emerged as the key policy recommendation from the CDC-funded Summit in May. Speakers at the hearing will also report on other policy and research recommendations, including the need for more community-based research, better research methods to assess exposure to toxic chemicals, and improved communication between scientists, advocates and community members. The Summit brought together for the first time international researchers, breast cancer and environmental health advocates, and community members to create a new agenda for breast cancer research and public policy. Prior to the October 23 hearing, the Summit's Steering Committee of researchers and advocates will release a report to the CDC summarizing these recommendations. "We need a statewide commitment in order to understand the environmental causes of breast cancer and institute policies to prevent more women from suffering from this devastating disease," said Rizzo. "Mammography does not stop women from getting the disease, nor does it explain why incidence rates are escalating at a terrifying pace. Only prevention will save women's lives."
For more information, or to contact Breast Cancer Fund, see their website at: www.breastcancerfund.org |
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