From outdoor events to safer cosmetics and cookware bills, BCPP is proud to give you a full update on what has happened this last quarter thanks to your support.
Recap: Our Biggest Climb Against the Odds
From June 9 – 18, two amazing teams of 41 climbers took on BCPP’s annual mountaineering expedition on Mt. Shasta. Our CAO 2020 Redux team has been waiting as long as 2 years to climb for breast cancer prevention. Though faced with many obstacles – including cold temps, high winds, and thunder and lightning – that could easily demoralize any trekker, the 2020 team rallied together closer than ever and gave their best attempt to summit. The weather was kinder to our 2021 team, which featured 3 mother/son duos and two BCPP staff members. 12 climbers summited, and everyone reached their personal high points! Congratulations and thank you to all 41 of our climbers this year, who put in the hard work, determination, and mental and physical strength to create the largest annual Climb Against the Odds BCPP has had in years.
Read more about our teams’ journey and see stunning photos of the climb: Team CAO 2020 Redux; Team CAO 2021.
Multiple Federal Cosmetics Bills
A longtime leader in pushing for stricter federal cosmetics legislation, BCPP is spearheading not one, not two, but FOUR bills, and supporting four others, to achieve true comprehensive cosmetic reform. We are excited to share that our bill package to get toxic chemicals out of beauty and personal care products will be introduced in congress the last week of July, followed by an insider press conference on 7/29 to which you are cordially invited to!
Our bill package will focus on critical areas of cosmetic safety reform that have been ignored, are putting the public and workers at risk, and need immediate attention. These bills will 1) ban 11 of the most toxic chemicals on the planet from beauty and personal care products sold in the U.S., including mercury, formaldehyde, parabens, phthalates, phenylenediamines (hair dye chemicals), and the entire class of PFAS “forever” chemicals; 2) require disclosure of the secret, unlabeled, and often toxic fragrance and flavor chemicals hiding in our personal care products; 3) create a set of much-needed federal protections for women of color and professional nail, hair, and beauty salon workers – two extremely vulnerable populations who are over-exposed to toxic cosmetic chemicals given the products they use and/or work with daily; and 4) force supply chain transparency, so cosmetic companies can get the information they need from upstream suppliers in order to make safer products.
Join us at 9AM PDT on Thursday, July 29th: RSVP here.
California Safer Food Packaging and Cookware Act (AB 1200)
BCPP is reigniting our work in the food realm, which includes cosponsoring the California Safer Food Packaging & Cookware Act of 2021 (AB 1200 – Ting), introduced in February 2021. Supported by 4 company/industry associations, 2 public agency associations, and 65 NGOs and counting, this bill would ban paper-based food packaging that contain PFAS chemicals; require cookware manufacturers to disclose the presence of hazardous chemicals, and; prohibit misleading advertising on cookware packaging. AB 1200 has the power to drastically reduce toxic PFAS pollution in our food, bodies, waterways, and communities and make safer, more transparent, cookware shopping easier for consumers throughout CA and potentially the nation. To date, the bill has passed both the Assembly floor and Senate Health Committee! Now we wait for the next stage, the Senate Environmental Quality Committee in July. Learn more about the bill.
How to Find and Read Cleaning Product Ingredients
Do you remember the BCPP-sponsored CA Cleaning Products Ingredient Right to Know Act of 2017? A long-awaited piece of this important legislation went into effect in January 2021: cleaning products sold in California are now required to include a list of ingredients on the product label, providing the crucial information in stores so shoppers can choose safer products. Finding and understanding ingredient lists can be challenging, so we created a brief guide and accompanying video to help familiarize our supporters on the process of researching and reviewing the potential hazards of cleaning product ingredients.
Food and Chemical Alliance – New Website!
At the federal level, BCPP continues to advocate for stricter oversight and regulation of toxic chemicals that are used in processing and packaging materials for food. Much of our work this year has been through our collaborative Food and Chemicals Alliance, led by 8 NGOs demanding that the FDA follow the law and use the latest science to make our food safer. We recently launched a micro website, #ToxicFreeFoodFDA, to educate the public on the issue, urge them to take action, and encourage them to spread the word by sharing eye-catching social graphics.
Peak Hike: NEW location and Save the Date
We’re excited to host a hybrid virtual/in-person Peak Hike this year! Choose a favorite trail near you or come to our in-person event on October 16th, at a new location: The Point Bonita YMCA. This year, we will be hiking a 7-mile route in the Gold Gate National Recreation area. Post-hike, enjoy a delicious lunch and healthy-living expo. Register now with early bird discount code PEAK for $10 off (expires July 31)!
Paths to Prevention: Alcohol
Each month we are highlighting key information from our Breast Cancer Primary Prevention Plan. We recently published a new fact sheet on the topic, a brief video with our Director of Science, and a blog post with tips to reduce your alcohol risk.
Webinar: Breast Cancer & the Environment
Watch the recent BCPP and AnticancerLifestyle discussion featuring Dr. Sharima Rasanayagam, Ph.D. to learn about environmental exposures, steps to reduce our exposures, and how we can make our communities healthier for all. And check out this nifty infographic!
Supporter Highlight: Bridget Vanoni
Last you heard, Bridget was preparing to climb Mt. Shasta for her third time, in honor of her mother who passed in 2019 from breast cancer. Bridget joined her mom to challenge Mt. Shasta in 2013 and 2014, after her mom was unable to reach the top in 2012. Together, they hiked, bonded, trained hard and were able to summit both times! This year, Bridget climbed against a woman’s 1 in 8 odds of facing breast cancer with our 2021 team, summitting at 11:28am with her cousin, Kayla. You can see photos of her and her team’s journey here.
With so much momentum in the first half of 2021, we look forward to the positive change we can make throughout the rest of the year. Please consider making a donation today.
