Breast Cancer Advocates Want Ban On Key Plastic Ingredient

By Alex Harris 

The Breast Cancer Fund held a briefing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to urge passage of the Ban Poisonous Additive Act of 2011 that will  ban bisphenol A (BPA), one of the most pervasive chemicals in the environment used in food and beverage containers, and one of the main components in breast cancer, according to experts.

BPA is used to make many items that are used by Americans every day, like plastic. Studies have linked BPA directly to numerous health problems, including breast cancer. “More than 93 percent of Americans have detectable levels of BPA in their bodies,” acccording to the bill, which was sponsored in the House by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and in the Senate by Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Connie Engel is a program director at the Breast Cancer Fund, and one of several activists nationwide that are encouraging Congress to ban BPA completely by passing the bill.

“There are many other chemicals that need to be banned, but right now BPA is our main priority,” Engel said.

Activists who want BPA banned say that the chemical plays a significant role in the development of breast cancer. They say that BPA acts in a way that is almost identical to natural estrogen in a woman’s body, and that being exposed to BPA early in life can cause abnormalities in mammary tissue development. They also argue that prenatal exposure to BPA can also be linked to breast cancer.

Deb Cole a member of the Young Breast Cancer Survivor and Breast Cancer Fund, questioned how the government can turn a blind eye to BPA. Cole, a breast cancer survivor, has raised thousands of dollars to bring awareness about the effects of BPA in breast cancer.

The full list of panelists included: Engel, Cole and Janet Gray author of “State Of The Evidence: The Connection Between Breast Cancer and the Environment.”