Breast Cancer and the Environment

For months when I was first diagnosed, I spent hours upon hours on the internet. I learned words I'd never heard before like BI-RADS, spiculated, tamoxifen...I could go on and on with my new vocabulary. I googled every word in my pathology report and then googled some more. While googling estrogen, I happened upon Cornell University's Breast Cancer and Evironment Risk Factors or BCERF website. 75% of breast cancers are estrogen positive and are fueled by estrogen. There are chemicals known as endocrine disruptors that can act as estrogens in the body. The research on these chemicals is controversial and is ongoing. They are found in everything from beauty products, to plastic, to detergents. If you have a few minutes and are interested, watch the educational videos about the estrogen connection in cosmetics, plastics and cleaning products.

I'm sad to say that BCERF has lost their state funding and will no longer be able to maintain the site. Please check it out while the site while it's still up.

You may also want to check out the Cosmetics Safety Database. Here you can search your beauty products and see on a scale of one to ten if they have ingredients associated with health risk.

Deb