Hello! It's time for another installment of Breast Cancer Action's monthly e-newsletter-- a collection of news, notices and action alerts for people concerned about the breast cancer epidemic. Welcome to any new e-alert members! If you think you've been added by mistake, please follow the directions at the bottom of the email to unsubscribe.
PLEASE SEND US YOUR SNAIL MAIL ADDRESSES - We just can't get enough of you. ..and hope that you can't get enough of us! If you're not already on our mailing list we'd love to send you our bi-monthly informational newsletter. (Check out the archives: http://www.bcaction.org/Pages/GetInformed/Newsletters.html ) Just reply to this email with your name and address. It will only take a second. Thanks!
In this issue...
1. CHEMICALS AND COSMETICS: Victory and Action!
2. BCA TAKES TO THE STREETS: Raise Your Voice to Hold Avon Accountable, 5/13 San Francisco
3. ACTION ALERT: Volunteer at San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration, 6/27
4. MARCH FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE: March for Our Lives 5/12, March for Universal Health Care 6/19
5. BAY AREA UPCOMING EVENTS: Precautionary Principle Workshop 5/12, Protecting California's Drinking Water Conference 6/11-12, Lesbian, Health, and Law Conference 6/19
6. FAQ of the MONTH: How can I find out about the pollutants being used and released in my neighborhood?
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1. CHEMICALS AND COSMETICS: Victory and Action!
Cosmetic companies are responding to activist pressure. Many of you have told cosmetic giants Avon, Revlon, Estee Lauder, and Mary Kay - all companies with pink ribbon breast cancer campaigns - that if they really care about women with breast cancer they need to remove harmful chemicals from their products. Thank you for making your voices heard!
Avon and Estee Lauder recently announced that they will take steps in the right direction by removing phthalates - a chemical that disrupts hormone function and may be linked to breast cancer - from their products. Phthalates are found in many body care products including hairspray, deodorant, nail polish and perfume and can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled as fumes.
We need to keep the pressure on and demand that they remove all of the harmful chemicals from their products.
TAKE ACTION:
Go to http://www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org/Pages/TakeAction.html to:
-Send a postcard to the cosmetics companies
-Be a more informed consumer
-Give the chemical industry a piece of your mind
-Tell your friends about the issue
(Please let us know when you take action by emailing kklein@bcaction.org)
Take to the streets:
Join us as we raise our voices to hold Avon accountable
Thursday, May 13th, 4:00 pm
San Francisco General Hospital, Potrero Avenue at 22nd Street
See more details below.
EDUCATE YOURSELF:
BCA's Think Before You Pink Campaign:
http://www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org
BCA and the Follow the Money Alliance: http://www.bcaction.org/Pages/LearnAboutUs/FTMBCAActivities.html
The Environmental Working Group's report on phthalates and cosmetics:
http://www.ewg.org/issues/cosmetics/index.php
IN THE NEWS:
Activists Push for Safer Ingredients in Makeup, Women's E-news, 4/30
http://www.womensenews.com/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1811/context/archive
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2. BCA TAKES TO THE STREETS: Raise Your Voice to Hold Avon Accountable, 5/13 San Francisco
Raise Your Voice to Hold Avon Accountable
Thursday, May 13th, 4 pm
San Francisco General Hospital
meet at the corner of Potrero Avenue and 22nd Street
Do you want to make some noise about chemicals and cosmetics? Please join us to hold signs, march, and be a presence as we tell Avon:
- thank you for pledging to remove phthalates from your products,
- continue to be a leader by removing parabens (a chemical preservative that may be linked to breast cancer) and other harmful chemicals from your products, and
- be open and transparent about how much money you raise for breast cancer and where and how the money is spent.
Avon will be in town for the opening of the Avon Foundation Comprehensive Breast Center at San Francisco General Hospital.
For more information and to RSVP contact Kendra at 415-243-9301 or kklein@bcaction.org
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3. ACTION ALERT: Volunteer at San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration, 6/27
San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration
Sunday, June 27, 10 am - 5 pm
We need lots of volunteers for 2-hour shifts! We'll have a BCA information booth and will also have a 'bucket brigade' group collecting donations at one of the entrance gates. This is a great way to get the word out about BCA and to raise some money. You don't need to be an expert on BCA or breast cancer to help staff the booth, you just have to have enthusiasm about sharing information with others. If you'd like to help out contact Kendra at 415-243-9301 or kklein@bcaction.org.
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4. MARCH FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE: March for Our Lives 5/12, March for Universal Health Care 6/19
Did you know that California has the highest proportion of uninsured people in the country - 11.1 million in the past two years? 85-90% of them are working adults or their dependents ( http://www.healthcareforall.org ). Among them are thousands of breast cancer patients and people with serious illnesses. Breast Cancer Action is deeply concerned about the state of health care in our country and believes that we all have the right to comprehensive health care
( http://www.bcaction.org/Pages/LearnAboutUs/HealthCareAccess.html ). The movement to secure universal health care in California and the U.S. needs all of our support. Join other concerned individuals and organizations at the following marches for universal access to health care.
March for Our Lives
Wednesday, May 12th, 9:15 am
State Capital Building
Join the California Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign at the United for a Fair Budget March and Rally for a day of marching and teach-ins on health care and economic human rights for all. Car caravans will be leaving from Oakland at 7:00am at 499 15th @ Broadway and from San Jose at 80 South 5th Street. For more information call Michael at the Women's Economic Agenda Project at 510-451-7379 x233 through Tuesday May 12th or at 415-902-2616 on Wednesday May 13th.
March for Universal Health Care
Saturday, June 19th, 7 am
Crissy Field, San Francisco
Join the Service Employees International Union and Health Care for All for a six mile roundtrip march from Crissy Field across the Golden Gate Bridge in support of universal health care. Banners will declare support for SB 921 - The Health Care for All Californians Act and HR 676 - The United State National Health Insurance Act. For more information about the march or upcoming organizing meetings contact Don Bechler at Health Care for All at 415-695-7891 or dbechler@value.net
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5. BAY AREA UPCOMING EVENTS: Precautionary Principle Workshop 5/12, Protecting California's Drinking Water Conference 6/11-12, Lesbian, Health, and Law Conference 6/19
Precautionary Principle Workshop with Mary 'O Brien
Wednesday, May 12th, 12-12:30 registration, 12:30-5 program
East Bay Community Foundation, 200 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
Join Breast Cancer Action and the Bay Area Working Group on the Precautionary Principle for: a speakers training to develop new voices that are comfortable advocating with the precautionary principle; an overview of the principle's key components; and an in-depth discussion of how you can use the principle to further your work. RSVP to reissjm@aol.com. Please bring your own brown bag lunch, cookies and drinks will be provided.
Protecting Our Drinking Water at the Source: A California Statewide Conference
Friday and Saturday, June 11-12
East Bay Community Foundation, 200 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
Join Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund as they highlight what we've learned from over 16,000 Source Water Assessments completed for the state of California. This conference will be an excellent opportunity for public health advocates, water agencies and utilities, watershed enthusiasts, and other interested individuals to exchange ideas on source protection strategies, hear reports on state activities, learn from case studies from around the state, and get inspired to take action to protect our water. For more information and to register go to: http://www.cleanwaterfund.org/swp/ca-conf.html
Lesbian, Health, and Law Conference
Saturday, June 19, 9 am - 3 pm
Laurel Heights Conference Center, 3333 California Street, San Francisco
Join the Lesbian Health Research Center for an educational day of workshops, lectures and socializing focused on understanding your rights and responsibilities as they relate to your health. Topics include: coupling, marriage, parenting, having children, aging, and substance abuse. For more information and to register go to: http://www.lesbianhealthinfo.org
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6. FAQ of the MONTH: How can I find out about the pollutants being used and released in my neighborhood?
Thanks to the 1986 federal Emergency Planning Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), industries have to reveal the amounts they release of more than 600 designated toxic chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency posts the industry data in the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). You can use the links below to search for information about the chemicals being released in your neighborhood and community. To learn more about the connection between chemicals and breast cancer you can read a paper BCA co-published called "The State of the Evidence” at: http://www.bcaction.org/PDF/StateofEvidence.pdf
Keep in mind that the 600 chemicals that must be reported under the Right-to-Know Act represent only a small fraction of the over 85,000 chemicals on the market today. As we demand our right to know more about the chemicals we're exposed to and their health affects, we can use the precautionary principle of public health to limit and eliminate our exposure to toxic chemicals. ( http://www.bcaction.org/Pages/LearnAboutUs/PFPPrecautionary.html )
Scorecard
http://www.scorecard.org
A project of Environmental Defense that analyzes trends in U.S. pollution based on the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory data. Just enter your zip code and find out what pollutants are being released into your community - and who is responsible.
Trade Secrets: A Moyers Report http://www.pbs.org/tradesecrets/options/righttoknow.html
A collection of links that serve as a guide to information available under right-to-know laws and other important information on Bill Moyer's investigation of how the chemical industry has withheld vital details on the safety of chemicals from workers, the government, and the public.
The Right to Know Network
http://www.rtk.net
A service provided by OMB Watch that provides free access to numerous databases, text files, and conferences on the environment. With the information available you can identify specific factories and their environmental effects and assess people and communities affected.
-- YOUR INPUT WANTED: Is there a question you want answered, or an issue that you want BCA's opinion on? Send it to kklein@bcaction.org and we'll try to answer it personally or feature it in a future e-newsletter!
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That's it for this edition! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments about this listserv.
Thanks for your continued support of BCA. Until next time,
Kendra Klein, Community Organizer
Toll free at 877-2STOPBC (278-6722)
http://www.bcaction.org
http://www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org
Our members are the driving force behind our efforts to end the breast
cancer epidemic. Because Breast Cancer Action does not accept funding from
the government or the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, we need
your support. You can donate on-line at
http://bcaction.org/Pages/SupportUs/Donate.html , or call 415-243-9301, or
toll-free at 1-877-278-6722. All gifts are deeply appreciated.
Breast Cancer Action is funded in part by a grant from the California Wellness Foundation (TCWF). Created in 1992 as an independent, private foundation, TCWF's mission is to improve the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and disease prevention programs.
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