By BCPP Staff Erika Wilhelm
From naming a new CEO, to taking on Strength of Nature for their toxic shampoo, to a new CA Right to Know bill, and a fresh one-of-kind science video series, it’s safe to say we’ve been busy at BCPP this past quarter! Check out our bulletin below for the top news from your trusted breast cancer prevention organization.
SB 574: Let’s end toxic secrets in fragrance & flavors
BCPP and our partners – Black Women for Wellness and Women’s Voices for the Earth – teamed up with Senator Connie Leyva to draft and introduce the California Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Ingredient Right to Know Act of 2019 (SB 574). For the first time ever, manufacturers that sell beauty and personal care products in CA will be required to report hazardous fragrance or flavor ingredients to the California Safe Cosmetics Program. In addition, companies will not be allowed to claim trade secret or confidential business information protection for any of these ingredients.
BCPP is leading advocacy efforts such as educating legislators about the need for fragrance disclosure, building coalition support within the NGO and business communities, and utilizing our action network and social media channels to generate broad-based support for this bill.
It’s our supporters who give us this momentum. The past two years we’ve prioritized Right to Know advocacy and your donations and actions have helped to make these goals a reality. We did it first with our Cleaning Product Ingredients bill (SB 258) and then again with our Salon Products bill (AB 2775). Help us push SB 574 through. Donate today to support our efforts!
No more cancer-causing shampoo
Not only do we take our fight for safer products to legislators, but we also go straight to companies demanding change! Our current target? Strength of Nature.
Last year, BCPP released our report Right to Know: Exposing toxic fragrance chemicals in beauty, personal care and cleaning products, which investigated to what extent companies that make beauty, personal care, and cleaning products hide unlabeled toxic chemicals in their products. Out of the 32 household products we analyzed, the kids’ shampoo Just for Me, made by Strength of Nature, had the most toxic chemicals – including 4 carcinogens, 6 developmental toxicants, and 19 hormone disrupting compounds!
So, last month we sent a call to action to our supporters, asking them to join us in demanding Strength of Nature remove these toxic chemicals from their shampoo. Thousands within our community rallied. Shout out to those of you who already took action. But our demands are not done until Strength of Nature ditches their toxic formulation. Will you act today and share this action with a friend? Every voice helps move the needle for corporate accountability.
Going Behind the Science with renowned experts
Science is our backbone. That’s why BCPP is committed to grounding our work in the latest scientific information on the complex relationships between environmental factors and breast cancer. We’ve got a go-to crew of top-notch scientists that help make this happen. Our Science Advisory Panel (SAP), made up of over 20 experts, are always there for us to offer advice when we are exploring scientific data or planning new initiatives based on the latest evidence.
Because we rely on these experts, we thought you should too! So we launched the first episode of our Behind the Science video series which covers adult and prenatal chemical exposures. This unique online series will consist of exclusive interviews with our SAP scientists covering a variety of breast cancer and environmental health topics that matter to you. We’ll answer frequently asked questions from our community, so let us know what you’d like to ask a scientist!
Welcome Amanda Heier – Our new CEO!
On April 2nd, BCPP officially announced that Amanda Heier will serve as our new Chief Executive Officer. After carefully conducting a national search that considered many highly impressive candidates, the BCPP search committee and board unanimously selected Amanda. A passionate public health leader, Amanda has extensive non-profit experience mobilizing diverse teams, enhancing programs that optimize community impact, and implementing organizational growth. She is equipped with the talent, experience, and heart needed to lead this organization closer to our goal of stopping breast cancer before it starts.
Amanda will be only the third person to hold the position of CEO since the founding of BCPP (formerly Breast Cancer Fund) in 1992.
Amanda has previously served as Executive Director for Raphael House, the Mary Elizabeth Inn and, most recently, as CEO of the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation. Amanda’s first day at BCPP will be May 8.
P.S. Will you be free the evening of May 23rd? Join us for a female-focused exclusive LUNAFEST San Francisco film festival event at Dolby Laboratories. Tickets are going fast!
