In honor of October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month I want to highlight another benefit of leading a “greener” lifestyle: that is, you could lower your risk of getting breast cancer. The links between breast cancer and environmental factors are gaining an increasing focus in scientific research. And like the ghosts and goblins that share October with breast cancer awareness, I must warn you that some of the information I found is scary. But my intent is not to scare you, but rather to unmask the environmental goblins and help you to discover the likely potion for a healthy future.

After sifting through the relatively few (in my opinion) websites I found on the topic, I became scared to touch anything. The unnatural concoctions we humans have stirred together to attempt to make our lives “easier” turn out to be human and environmental health hazards in disguise. So many of the products we use on a normal basis contain synthetic chemicals or emit radiation that scientists speculate might be linked to breast cancer. For example, my deliciously fragrant black currant vanilla lotion has parabens in it; parabens are considered xenoestrogen, or chemicals that mimic the actions of estrogen. Excess estrogen is a common culprit for the growth of breast tumors. Disturbingly, scientists have found completely intact parabens in human breast tumors, meaning our bodies aren’t able to break them down and thus hinting a possible link with breast cancer. Also, my old shower curtain was plastic, a.k.a. PVC – another xenoestrogen, which is also commonly linked to breast cancer. (Luckily I recently switched to a fabric shower curtain that not only lacks PVC, but is also machine washable – hence one less giant piece of not-yet-recyclable plastic in a landfill…well, I guess it more offsets the old one I inevitably threw out.) Finally, who knows what kind of crazy radioactive waves are being sent from my microwave to my body each time I heat up my leftovers.

Image via www.pureprevention.org.

And now for the frightening statistics:

• Industrialized countries have much higher rates of breast cancer than non-industrialized countries.
• A woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is one in 8.
• Less than one in 10 cases of breast cancer occur in women with a genetic predisposition to the disease, and half of all breast cancer cases happen to women with no known risk factors. This alludes to the correlation with environmental factors.
• There are 100,000 synthetic chemicals utilized in the numerous products that Americans use every day. More than 90 percent of these chemicals have never been tested for their effects on human health.
• As I mentioned in my first blog, one third of all personal care products contain at least one chemical linked to cancer. These chemicals hang out in our body fat and breast tissue for decades; and although it’s not known for sure yet what most of these chemicals do, let’s just say they’re likely a bad influence on your healthy cells.
• Numerous studies on cell behavior disprove the belief that “the dose makes the poison” – even exposure to certain chemicals at a very low dose during a critical window of an organism’s development can cause permanent damage to organs and systems.

Yikes! Now you’re probably scared touch anything too. What’s even scarier? I could have gone on. However, like I said, my intention is not to frighten you. Instead, if you and your friends want to read the scary stories on your own time, I recommend reading the Breast Cancer Fund’s publication “The State of the Evidence,” which summarizes more than 350 studies that link exposure to radiation and synthetic chemicals to an increased risk of breast cancer and discusses the ongoing controversies of breast cancer research.

Now, let’s change gears and discuss what we can do in our everyday lives to help ward off the breast cancer demons. Thankfully, the research has been done for us by the Breast Cancer Fund and Luna Bar, who have teamed up to create Pure Prevention, a campaign to “empower women to live actively, healthy and well.” The campaign encourages us to implement five simple and sustainable strategies into our daily routine, which will help us to combat the threat of breast cancer. As Portlanders, I don’t think we’ll have much trouble adopting these strategies:

1. Create a healthy home: Use non-toxic household items and cleaning products that don’t contain cancer-linked chemicals such as bleach, pesticides and plastics. Try the products and/or services of local companies such as BioKleen, Yolo Colorhouse, and TerraClean (and save money by using their coupons from the Chinook Book).
2. Eat Smart: Certain pesticides and hormones in foods increase your risk of breast cancer. So, eat local and organic – visit the Portland Farmers Market or buy organic foods from the many natural and organic food grocers in the city.
3. Choose safe cosmetics: Reread my first blog.
4. Get outside: Physical activity reduces your exposure to certain ovarian hormones and lowers your level of circulating estrogen – hence a lower risk of breast cancer. So, take a walk in Forest Park, go for a hike in the Gorge, or bike around the Esplanade. Reduce both your risk and your stress level.
5. Join the campaign: Help Pure Prevention spread the word about breast cancer prevention by taking their pledge, donating to the cause, and sharing the knowledge.

Although there’s no doubt that breast cancer is frightening, it doesn’t have to haunt our future. With the power of prevention, we can trick those breast cancer ghouls and treat ourselves with a healthier and happier life.

For additional comprehensive information on the environmental links to breast cancer, check out what these informative sites have to say:

Breast Cancer Action
Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers
Silent Spring Institute

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Editor's Note: Preview Chinook Book coupons for BioKleen and TerraClean here.