Plastics can cause or contribute to breast cancer. Our dear friend Janet has breast cancer and we can't help but wonder if some plastic chemicals have played a role in the development of her disease. When she was first diagnosed, she had stage 3 breast cancer in 2005 and was still breastfeeding her 6 month old son. Stage 3 means that although her cancer had not spread to other organs, some cancerous cells had been found in her lymph nodes. She immediately had her right breast surgically removed and started chemotherapy. Two years later, her cancer progressed to stage 4 when metastases were found in her lungs. After treatment her cancer went into short remission and then last summer, a tumour was found in her brain. As she puts it, she "tripled" her prognosis and one year later leads a very full and active life. She continues to be very involved on the advocacy front, trying to help traditional medicine embrace a more holistic approach toward cancer.
We are writing all this to bring attention to the fact that plastics - for example, bisphenol A (BPA) - have been associated with breast cancer. More research needs to be done on the links between chemicals found in products available at your local grocery store, but some university programs, such as Cornell University program on the Cancer Risks of Environmental Chemicals in the Home and Workplace which ended on March 31, 2010, are closing apparently because of a lack of funding. Increased awareness of the issue, means increased funding.
Please take a look at the video posted on http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/research/endocrine/videos/plastics.cfm and consider offering a donation to one of the two following charities that were suggested to us by Janet:
IN CANADA: http://rethinkbreastcancer.com/
IN USA: http://nosurrenderbreastcancerhelp.org/index.html
Chantal Plamondon & Jay Sinha, OwnersLifeWithoutPlastic.com
