Happy October and happy breast cancer awareness month! It’s hard not to notice the amount of products that go pink for breast cancer awareness month throughout October. Even NFL players and referees opted to wear pink cleats and sweatbands (and they sure are rocking them!). Surprisingly, about 1 in 8 women will end up developing breast cancer in their lifetime. As women, it is crucial to become educated on daily products we might be using that can lead to toxicity in our body or products that may put us at a higher risk for breast cancer to develop.
The Protect Our Breasts chapter here at UMass is an independently run student organization spreading the word about breast cancer prevention, as well as facts about environmental toxins that can be contributors to the development of breast cancer through the use of blogs, events, Facebook, and their website page. Many of the products you use daily could actually be bad for your health and you might not even know it! The Protect Our Breasts chapters at UMass, Trinity College, and Syracuse University make it their mission to inform women about the ingredients in products that might lead to a higher risk of breast cancer.
Protect Our Breasts has a team of researchers focusing on the Silent Spring Institute’s 216 cancer-causing chemicals found in everyday products. Students involved in Protect Our Breasts chapters share that knowledge and research with other students so they become aware and educated on the products containing higher toxicity levels, which can negatively impact your health.
The Protect Our Breasts mission statement states:
“Our mission is to share the conversation about chemicals in everyday products found on the grocery shelves that contribute to breast cancer; empowering women to make safer choices to protect their breasts during the most vulnerable periods of their lives.”
So make it your mission to protect your breasts and read the labels and ingredients of products you normally purchase and use daily. You can also check out the Protect Our Breasts website for more facts on what products are actually bad for your health and blog posts from UMass students involved in Protect Our Breasts! There’s also a Facebook page you can like and you can even follow them on Twitter. It’s always better to be educated on breast cancer awareness, prevention, and the many ways you can avoid synthetic chemicals from everyday products! Get involved by joining the “Don’t Pink About It, Think About It’ campaign today in the efforts to protect our breasts! Be happy, be healthy, and be aware! Remember, don’t pink about it, think about it!