A. Implementation of California’s Safe Cosmetics Act: BCA was a co-sponsor of SB-484, the California Safe Cosmetics Act, along with The Breast Cancer Fund and the National Environmental Trust. The bill passed the Legislature despite enormous industry opposition and was signed by the Governor. SB-484 requires manufacturers to notify the state Department of Health Services (DHS) of all cosmetics and personal care products that contain chemicals that are known or probable carcinogens or reproductive toxins. It is the first legislation of its kind in the United States. Funding for implementation is included in the state budget.   

In 2007, with our allies in the women’s health and environmental health communities, BCA will continue to provide regular input to DHS on program structure to ensure the bill is implemented in the way it was written, in a timely manner and in the way it will be most beneficial to the public.  We will also educate elected officials, our membership and the general public about opportunities for further policy progress in this area. We will continue to work with the Cancer and the Environment Team of the California American Cancer Society to bring the considerable resources of the ACS to bear on the next phase of implementation to ensure that the public has access to the information collected.  

In the first year of implementing the California Safe Cosmetics Act, we anticipate that the major cosmetics firms are likely to clean up their products rather than disclose the reproductive toxins in them. We are also supporting  research in affected communities, including a request by the Northern California Cancer Center for research funding on exposures of Vietnamese beauty salon workers.  BCA will also continue to advise our allies in Oregon working to pass similar safe cosmetics legislation. 

B. Think Before You Pink:  BCA will use its national media campaign and Think Before You Pink website to educate the public about safe cosmetics. This campaign highlights companies that engage in “pinkwashing” – conducting “pink ribbon” marketing to demonstrate their commitment to the breast cancer issue, while manufacturing products that may contribute to breast cancer and other diseases of the reproductive system. Many cosmetics companies using pink ribbon marketing sell products containing chemicals including parabens and phthalates which have been liked to cancer and birth defects. 

In 2007, Breast Cancer Action will continue to educate and activate our membership and the public to urge these cosmetics companies —claiming to support the fight against breast cancer— to explore alternatives to chemicals in their products that appear to be linked to the disease. Our activities will include: media advocacy, maintaining our website http://www.thinkbeforeyoupink/.org as a resource for safe cosmetics information, doing critical analysis of pink ribbon marketing campaigns to post online a  Parade of Pink of companies engaging in egregious “pink” cause marketing, and educating and engaging the public through presentations, print and online materials. 

C. Chemical Policy Reform:  The current ineffective and outdated regulatory system is blocking progress toward safer chemical manufacturing. Many major businesses in California are trying to clean up their chemical supply chains but are hampered by the lack of available health and safety data and the lack of infrastructure for producing safer chemicals.  

In March 2006, UC Berkeley released a report that outlines a framework for chemical policy reform which recommends that California take the lead in establishing a comprehensive chemical policy or face a growing set of health and environmental problems and risk being left behind by the global economy. BCA is participating in a statewide chemical policy reform working group, Californians for a Healthy and Green Economy (CHANGE), to guide the development of policies that will address public and environmental health concerns while also building long term capacity in the design, production and use of chemicals that are safer for humans and the environment over the next 10-20 years. Its work will educate the public and local, state and federal officials about reducing environmental threats to human health, and urge them to pursue appropriate policy solutions.  

CHANGE is focusing first on chemicals used in high volume about which we have no information on toxicity. The current strategy is to create a simple policy that builds on current chemical information gathering systems to address these high volume chemicals and use that approach to lead to more comprehensive changes such as a bill banning certain toxic chemicals.  Breast Cancer Action’s CHANGE-related activities in 2007 will include conducting public outreach on chemical policy reform to engage and activate California residents (including BCA’s 10,000 person California membership), helping to establish the structure and leadership of CHANGE coalition, serving on the Outreach committee, and helping to determine policy priorities. BCA will also work to help bridge the divide between policy advocates and environmental justice groups.  

D. Precautionary Principle: Public health demands a precautionary approach to the regulation of toxic chemicals. Where there is plausible scientific evidence of harm from particular chemicals, action should be taken to reduce or eliminate that harm, despite scientific uncertainty about a cause-and-effect relationship.  The principle is understood by the public in many contexts as “better safe than sorry.”  

As a founding member of the Bay Area Working Group on the Precautionary Principle (BAWG), BCA’s role in 2007 will work with government officials in Berkeley and San Francisco to ensure that their recently passed environmentally preferable purchasing ordinances are successfully implemented. By guaranteeing that the principle is applied in all city purchasing decisions, these ordinances will protect residents and visitors from unnecessary exposure to known and potentially harmful substances. BCA will recruit activists for the BAWG’s work and educate our membership and the public about ways to take action to hold local governments and corporations accountable for putting public health first. BCA will also give eight to ten public outreach presentations that include our work on the precautionary principle and be a resource for other communities looking to move precaution forward.