Breast cancer threats found in your house
If you’re reading this at home, you’re exposing yourself to the risk of breast cancer. And now you’re asking yourself this question: Am I just trying to get your attention, or am I serious? Let me put it this way: I wish I were just trying to get your attention.
According to new research, butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) – a common chemical that’s found in practically all plastic products used in your house – has been found to be an endocrine disruptor, which mimics the effects of hormones. And yes, that’s as bad as it sounds.
Endocrine disruptors have been implicated in reduced sperm counts and neurological problems in humans. Research has found that BBP caused accelerated breast development and genetic changes in newborn female lab rats – which could predispose them to breast cancer later in life. The fact that this is preliminary research doesn’t make it any less disturbing. As I said, BBP is used in just about everything that has plastic in it: plastic pipes, vinyl floor tiles, carpet backing, lipstick…you name it. And the research suggests that the lifetime effects of BBP on mammary glands can be incredibly harmful. The study concluded that, “To prevent breast cancer in adulthood, it is necessary to protect both the newborn child and the mother from exposure to this compound.” I would make a joke here about having to live your whole life in a plastic bubble … except that the plastic in the bubble can kill you.
It doesn’t take a genius to make a correlation between the rise in plastic use since the beginning of the 20th century, and the rise in the number of cases of breast cancer. Initial reactions to this study from the mainstream medical community are tepid. A doctor of environmental medicine at Yale responded by saying that other studies have failed to link BBP and cancer, and that “this study doesn’t add specific information on breast cancer and environmental interactions.” Well for some reason, I don’t feel comforted by that opinion. As I’ve been telling you for some time, there is ABSOLUTELY an environmental element to cancer risk.
The fact that it interacts with hormones makes is a huge cause for alarm. Mutated hormones are at the root of many cancers, and in spite of what the high-and-mighty ones at Yale are saying, I find the latest info on BBP unnerving and compelling. Anything with the power to alter your genetic code is extremely dangerous to the public health – not to mention yours and mine.
If further studies reveal that this research is accurate, and the BBP link is real, can you imagine the massive, wholesale changes that would need to be made at nearly every level of our society (here’s a start: building codes, food service, clothing manufacture … should I go on?) in order to decrease or eliminate exposure to such a ubiquitous substance?
