Can your shampoo or cologne make you sick?  The answer is yes!

Many of the leading personal care products and cosmetics on the market today contain toxic substances, from lead in lipstick to carcinogens in baby shampoo to neurotoxins in nail polish to chemicals found in men's aftershave lotions that cause birth defects. Many cosmetic manufacturers that publicly pledge their support to "finding the cure" for breast cancer place parabens in their products.  These endocrine disruptors mimic estrogen and are an important source of breast cancer.  This is pinkwashing.

Removing these toxics from America's medicine cabinets could save countless lives.  Researchers from the Silent Spring Institute; Harvard’s Medical School and School of Public Health; the Roswell Park Cancer Institute; and the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California have found that reducing exposure to some 200 chemicals of concern could prevent many women from developing breast cancer.

Come join us on Monday, January 23rd from 5:30-7:00 to hear Mia Davis, former Organizing Director of the Safe Cosmetics Campaign, and Erin Boles, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, discuss how environmentalists and breast cancer activists are coming together to end pinkwashing and promote a more prevention-oriented approach to the cancer epidemic. 

The event is free, and will be held at 10 Behrakis Health Science Building, 30 Leon Street, Northeastern University.  Sponsored by the Northeastern Environmental Justice Research Collaborative (NEJRC) and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, this event is part of the Leaders in the Environmental Movement public lecture series at Northeastern University this Winter season.  For more information, contact Daniel Faber, Director of NEJRC, at d.faber@neu.edu.