How about this for a New Year’s resolution? Be Safer.
Use and apply one of our top tips to reduce your breast cancer risk. We at BCPP want to help you make simple changes to protect your health and wellness. Join us in creating a healthier world by protecting our families, our communities and future generations from toxic harm. This week we will be posting ideas for your 2018 goals!
Safer Cosmetics & Beauty Products
Avoid fragrance
The word fragrance is a cocktail of ingredients and may include dozens or more potentially harmful chemicals, and can be found in nearly half of all personal care products. Fragrance on a product label can mask countless carcinogens and hormone disrupting chemicals. Avoid purchasing and using products with the word fragrance or parfum on the label. Be especially vigilant on children’s products.
Safer Cosmetics & Beauty Products
Use online tools and official seals to find safer products
Ditch your old daily routine and replace it with safer cosmetics and personal care products. Apps and websites like ThinkDirty, EWG’s Skin Deep, and the Good Guide will rate your personal care products for safety and toxicity and MADE SAFE,® is helping to make it easier to find safer products by labeling them with a special seal. Visit them often and stay up-to-date.
Safer Food Products
Include soy, but don’t overdo it
Natural plant-based estrogens in soy may provide healthy benefits in low doses, but may be a risk factor for breast cancer in higher doses. Include tofu and tempeh as part of your regular diet, but stay away from concentrated or isolated forms of soy derivatives, including genistein pills.
Safer Cleaning Products
Clean more naturally
Use baking soda to neutralize odors and soak up dampness, and vinegar to clean and deodorize. Add a cup of vinegar to your laundry to brighten up whites, remove odors, and lift tougher grime off fabrics. Add a few drops of your favorite citrus juice (think lemons, limes, oranges) or essential oils (try lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus) to a vinegar-based cleaning spray to fill your home with a fresh scent of your choice. Green your space with plants to clean the air you breathe. Vacuum with a HEPA filter to reduce sending chemicals into the air, and then your lungs.
Safer Cleaning Products
If you don’t know what’s in it, don’t use it
Labeling loopholes allow companies to avoid disclosing ingredients on cleaning product labels. Some cleaning product labels contain incomplete or misleading ingredient lists, so don’t be fooled by a short ingredient list. Only buy and use cleaning products which disclose all ingredients on the product label to avoid possible exposure to harmful chemicals.
Safer Workplace Health
Wash your hands
Washing your hands kills germs and reduces exposures to unsafe chemicals. Many chemicals from everyday products end up in workplace dust. Hand-washing reduces dust on the hands, and as a result reduces exposures to chemicals, like flame retardants. Make sure to use hand soap free of harmful chemicals.