BCPP’s Top Tips to Reduce Your Risk of Breast Cancer

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Naturepedic is excited to share this blog post from our friends at Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP). We hope you find this post informative, and we encourage you to check out BCPP’s October Gift Guide to help find non-toxic products.

What can be done to reduce your risk of breast cancer? Awareness and adoption of our tips can help redefine your daily routine and help you reduce your risk for the disease. We’ll help you identify some known and suspected breast cancer risk factors, and give you tips on how you can make simple changes to protect your health.

It is perfectly legal for companies to use ingredients linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, and reproductive harm in personal care products, cosmetics, cleaning products and food packaging.

Check out BCPP’s Glossary of Exposures and our Campaign for Safe Cosmetics’ Chemicals of Concern glossary for toxic ingredients to avoid. You can also use an app or web browser extension like Clearya, Think Dirty, or Skin Deep to help identify harmful ingredients in products as you shop.

Product labels that list “fragrance,” “parfum,” or “flavors” may contain a cocktail of dozens of potentially harmful chemicals.

Choose personal care products, cleaning products, air fresheners, and candles that list all fragrance and flavor ingredients. Shop with companies that do list all fragrance and flavor ingredients – check the company website for their ingredient disclosure policy.

Washing your hands kills germs and reduces exposures to unsafe chemicals. Many chemicals from everyday products end up in household and 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 like  Triclosan is an antimicrobial agent which has been found to be a potential endocrine disruptor, and is harmful to the environment and Parabens chemicals that prevent the growth of mold and bacteria and are added to body wash to stabilize the product and extend its shelf life.

Choose fresh, organic and hormone-free foods in order to avoid exposure to pesticides, added hormones, and other possible toxic chemicals in packaged foods. Buying products grown organically reduces pesticide use, which is good for families, farm workers, and the environment. Plus, eating fresh (or frozen) foods helps you to avoid chemicals in food packaging like BPA, PFAS “forever chemicals,” and phthalates.

1. Turn off TVs and minimize blue electronic lights.
2. Take advantage of the “red or night shift” function on your electronic devices if you are using them after dark.
3. Wear a sleeping mask.
4. Get light-blocking curtains.

Physical activity reduces risk of breast cancer, with vigorous physical activity being the most protective.

1. Regularly get active. Adults: Sit less; a weekly minimum of 150–300 minutes moderate intensity OR 75-150 minutes vigorous OR a combination of both; strength training twice per week.
2. Encourage the youth.
3. Develop strong habits in children, adolescents to support a life-long practice of physical activity.

Ask about alternatives to CAT scans and X-rays. Discuss with your or your child’s medical care team whether or not X-rays or CT scans are necessary and whether there are radiation-free alternatives. If you decide to seek out a second opinion, request that the original screening information be shared, to minimize the need for a second set of exposures if they are not necessary.

1. Drink less.
2. Avoid binge drinking.
3. Substitute one drink a day or one drink each week with another beverage or even a favorite food.

Companies use savvy marketing to sell products, so don’t let false claims trick you into buying products with harmful ingredients. Watch out for products designed to look like they are good for the environment or natural. This is called greenwashing — words like “natural” have little, if any, meaning without ingredient labels to back them up.

Be wary of products boasting a pink ribbon, too; many pinkwashed products contain chemicals linked to cancer, and often do little to prevent or reduce breast cancer.

Let’s change the system to make the healthy choice the easy choice for everyone. Together, we can change laws to remove toxic exposures linked to breast cancer from our environment and hold corporations responsible for the safety of the chemicals in their products.

Take action to prevent breast cancer.