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R E S E A R C H I N G T H E E N V I R O N M E N T A N D W O M E N S H E A L T H

S I L E N T S P R I N G R E V I E WS U M M E R 2R E S E A R C H I N G T H E E N V I R O N M E N T A N D W O M E N S H E A L T H S U M M E R 2

From Earth IndivisibTerry Tempest Williams reflectson the unbreakable links

between the health of our

planet and the health of our

own bodies.


2/122 S IL EN T SP RI NG R EV IE W

Forty-five years ago Rachel Carson captured the nations attention with her imagined portrayal

of wildlife imperiled by the indiscriminate spray of pesticides. The few birds seen anywhere

were moribund, she wrote. They trembled violently and could not fly. It was a spring with-

out voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of scores of bird

voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh.

When Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, her vivid prose and persuasive arguments

helped spark the modern environmental movement. The book also sparked the ire of

the chemical industry, whose representatives labeled Carson a hysterical woman and

tried to dismiss her as a priestess of nature, but then threatened her with lawsuits.Despiteor perhaps because ofher personal struggle with the breast cancer that

would kill her in less than two years, she reigned serene during those attacks. I have

felt bound by a solemn obligation, she wrote a friend, to do what I couldif I didnt

at least try I could never be happy again in nature.

Throughout this issue of the Silent Spring Reviewyoull find evidence of sereneeven

upbeatdefiance, in recognition of an oft-neglected truth: We are woven into the

tapestry of this earth, and what we commit to our environment we commit to our bodies.

In recognition of this truth, naturalist Terry Tempest Williams, whose essay about

Carson is excerpted in this issue, once gathered with a band of other women to protest

nuclear testing in the desert. During her arrest for trespass on military lands, two officers

frisked her and found, tucked into her boot, a pen and pad of paper. When asked what

they were, she responded, with a smile, Weapons.

Detailed in these pages are a number of weapons were employing to understand the

indivisible links between the environment and our bodies. These initiatives range from a com-

prehensive review of studies on environmental factors that may increase breast cancer risk,

to our work with one community in its quest for environmental justice, to our research into

the health implications of what were flushing down our drains. These efforts reflect

another critical indivisibility: the powerful connection between scientists and activists in

unraveling truths about the environmental causes of breast cancer. Whether our weapons

are pens and paper or the increasingly sophisticated tools of researchthe geographic

information systems, the estrogenicity bioassays, the indoor air samplerswe join acommunity of women and men fighting for the health of our planet and of ourselves.

Now, in the centennial year of Rachel Carsons birth, we at Silent Spring Institute seek

to extend her legacy as we continue to discover critical, indivisible links.

The Silent Spring Reviewispublished by Silent SpringInstitute, which is dedicated to

identifying the links between the environ-ment and womens health, especially breastcancer.

Executive DirectorJulia Green Brody, PhD

Board of DirectorsEllen Parker, ChairBev BaccelliLawrence N. Bailis, PhDJohn K. Erban, MDCatherine Farrell, Esq.Amy PresentCathie Ragovin, MD

Anne Speakman

National Advisory CouncilJoan Gardner, ChairSamuel Bader, PhDVernal BranchShelley Hearne, DrPHJeanne MockardEllen ParkerMary S. Wolff, PhD

Friends of Silent Spring InstituteEllen S. Calmas, Chair

Scientific and Administrative StaffKathleen Attfield, Staff ScientistAnna Batty, Administrative AssistantJudith Blaine, Information SpecialistAnne Bonner, Director of Developmentand Community Affairs

Diane Czwakiel, Administrative ManagerSarah Dunagan, Research AssistantGwen Dwyer, Administrative AssistantClare Froggatt, Development AssistantAllan Just, Research AssistantCheryl Osimo, Cape Cod CoordinatorRuthann Rudel, Senior ScientistLaurel J. Standley, PhD, Senior Scientist

Silent Spring Reviewis published bySilent Spring Institute29 Crafts Street, Newton MA 02458phone: 617 332 4288 fax: 617 332 4284email: [email protected]: www.silentspring.org

Editor: Paula Brewer ByronEditorial Consultant: Stephen DickermanDesigner: Joseph QuackenbushPhotography: Cheryl Himmelstein, cover; Di

ital Vision/Getty Images, page 3; AP Photo,page 5; Tony Hutchings/Photographers ChoicGetty Images, page 6; Alfred Eisenstaedt/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images, page 7;Craig Lee/San Francisco Chronicle, page 8;Mark DuFrene/West County Times/AP Photopage 9; courtesy of Vernal Branch, page 10Vital Albuquerque, page 11; Chad Baker/Ryan McVay/Getty Images, page 12

Silent Spring Institute, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonproorganization, has received support from theAgua Fund, Art beCAUSE Foundation, AvonFoundation, Babylon Breast Cancer CoalitionBarnstable County Assembly of Delegates,Beldon Fund, The Breast Cancer Fund, CapeCod Five Cents Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, Cape Cod Foundation, The Dolphin Trust,Fleet Foundation/Charles F. Bacon Trust, GALEFund, Heinz Endowments, Hurricane Voices

Breast Cancer Foundation, Janes Trust, Jessie BCox Charitable Trust, John H. and H. NaomiTomfohrde Foundation, Massachusetts Affiliatof Susan G. Komen for the Cure, MassachusettBreast Cancer Coalition, Massachusetts Depart-ment of Public Health, Massachusetts Environ-mental Trust, National Cancer Institute, NationaInstitute of Environmental Health Sciences,National Library of Medicine, National ScienceFoundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, SusaS. Bailis Breast Cancer Research Fund of SilenSpring Institute, University of MassachusettsLowell, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cacer Research Program, U.S. Geological Surveyand individual and corporate contributors.

Our Commitment

Julia Brody, PhDExecutive Director


3/12

The tender scene is a familiar one: a mother cradles

her firstborn in her arms as she nurses. But at the

same time shes nourishing her baby shes also

unwittingly transmitting dozens of toxins, the

legacy of her own decades on earth. And the infant

already has a chemical inheritance from its time in

the womb: In one recent study, the umbilical cord

blood of 10 newborns was found to contain an

average of 200 contaminants, including a range ofpesticides, flame retardants, and other pollutants.

We all carry a body burden from the chemical swirl of our

environment. But when does that burden grow too heavy?

Which chemicals can be tolerated safely, and which trigger the

development of cancerous cells?

To help clarify the chemical risks for breast cancer, Silent Spring

Institute has compiled the most comprehensive review to date of

scientific research on environmental factors that may increase risk

of the disease. The study findingsentitled Environmental

Factors in Breast Cancerappear in the June 15, 2007 issue

of the American Cancer Societys journal Cancer.

The state-of-the-science reviewcommissioned by Susan G.

Komen for the Cure and conducted by Silent Spring Institute in

collaboration with researchers from Harvard University, Roswell

Park Cancer Institute, and the University of Southern Califor-

niainvolved the collection and assessment of scientific studies

on potential links between specific environmental factors and

breast cancer.

The research team synthesized data from national and

international sources and identified 216 chemicals that cause

mammary tumors in animals. They then used that information

to create a searchable online database featuring detailedinformation on the carcinogens. The Mammary Carcinogens

Review Database offers summary assessments of the carcino-

genic potential of each chemical, data on mutagenicity, oppor-

tunities for exposure in the general population and for women

at work, and other characteristics of chemical use, sources,

and regulation.

The database reveals that among those 216 compounds

identified as causing breast tumors in animals, 73 have been

present in consumer products or as contaminants in food,

35 are air pollutants, and 25 have been associated with occu-

pational exposures affecting more than 5,000 women a year.

Twenty-nine of the compounds are produced in the United

States in large quantities, often exceeding one million pounds

a year. The database includes references to 900 studies.

The researchers note that these data are reflected in neithe

regulatory policies designed to limit chemical exposures nor guide-

S U M M E R 2 0 0 7

Name Your Poison


4/12

lines designed to alert physicians or public

health agents to potential links between

chemical exposures and health effects.

The researchers believe the informa-

tion will prove valuable to regulators

who are considering options for limiting

human exposure, manufacturers who

are planning to reformulate products

and re-engineer processes to avoid sus-

pect chemicals, and epidemiologistswho are seeking to identify new chemi-

cals, exposure scenarios, and exposed

populations for breast cancer studies.

The Silent Spring Institute project also

examined lifestyle influences on breast

cancer, such as physical activity and diet.

The result of this portion of the research

the Environment and Breast Cancer Epi-

demiology Reviews Databaseis com-

posed of critical reviews of approximately

450 primary epidemiologic research arti-

cles on breast cancer and diet, environ-

mental pollutants, physical activity, and

body size. This database, which includes

articles published through June 2006, will

be updated periodically.

The researchers sought to determinepoints of consensus within the scientific

community on the relationship between

environmental factors and breast cancer

and to identify areas needing additional

investigation or improved research meth-

ods. They are hoping that such informa-

tion will help guide public policy and

allow funding organizations to deter-

mine how best to target research funds.

The authors noted a considerable

disparity between the attention paid to

dietary factors and that paid to environ-

mental pollutants. The diet literature

search identified nearly 1,500 relevant

articles published since 1950, for exam-

ple. In contrast, although the environ-

mental pollutants of interest were firstsynthesized in the 1940s and put into

widespread use in the 1950s, interest in

these chemicals among breast cancer

researchers dates only to the 1990s.

The overwhelming majority of

chemicals identified as animal mammary

carcinogens or endocrine-disrupting

4 S IL EN T SP RI NG R EV IE W

Name Your Poison, continued

Acrylamide

Carbon tetrachloride

Methylene chloride

Perfluorooctanoic acid

Urethane

Vinyl chloride

CHEMICAL NAME

Exposure Routes and Mammary Gland Tumor Findings for Several Chemicals with Widespread Exposure

Often through consumption of certain foods, such as french fries, as acrylamide isformed when starch-rich foods are heated to high temperatures. Another source ofexposure could be drinking water contaminated with polyacrylamide flocculantsused in water treatment or polyacrylamide-containing consumer products. Tobaccosmoke is a substantial nonfood source of exposure to acrylamide.

May be used in paint and varnish remover, cleaning and sanitation products, autoproducts, and hobby/craft products. Formerly used as a dry cleaning agent, anaerosol propellant, a pesticide/fumigant, and a fire-extinguishing agent.

Widespread exposure occurs during the production and industrial use of methylenechloride and during the use of a range of consumer products. Consumer products thatmay contain the chemical include: fabric cleaners, furniture polish, paint strippers,wood sealants and stains, spray paints, adhesives, shoe polish, and art supplies. Useduntil 1989 as a propellant for hair spray. Substantial losses to the environment lead toubiquitous low-level exposures from ambient air and groundwater.

Used in non-stick and stain-resistant coatings on rugs, furniture, clothes, cookware,fire-fighting applications, cosmetics, lubricants, paints, and adhesives. Former use ininsecticide and herbicide formulations resulted in its direct release to the environ-ment. Widely detected in blood samples of U.S. residents.

Used as a solvent for organic materials and a co-solvent in the manufacture of pesti-cides, fumigants, and cosmetics. Found to occur in foods and beverages that undergoa fermentation process, such as beer, bread, wine, soy sauce, yogurt, and olives.

Used almost exclusively by the plastics industry to produce polyvinyl chloride, or PVC,a plastic resin found in many consumer and industrial products. Previously was usedas a refrigerant and in aerosol propellants, including hairsprays, but these uses werebanned in 1974.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXPOSURE

When administered in drinking water, acrylamide increasedthe incidence of mammary adenomas and adenocarcinomas infemale rats.

When administered by subcutaneous injection, carbon tetra-chloride induced mammary adenocarcinomas and fibroadenomasin female rats.

High levels of methylene chloride were associated with benignmammary tumors in rats as well as an increase in the number ofmammary tumors per animal. Four of the six relevant studies listedin the Carcinogenicity Potency Database reported mammary tumors.Methylene chloride inhalation was also found to increase the inci-dence of fibroadenomas of the mammary gland in female rats.

Two studies found that perfluorooctanoic acid is a multisitecarcinogen. The single study that included females observedmammary gland tumors in rats.

When administered in the drinking water, urethane induced mam-mary carcinomas in mice of both sexes and mammary tumors inhamsters of both sexes.

In mice of both sexes, vinyl chloride caused mammary gland tumors.Vinyl chloride also caused mammary gland tumors in female ratsand hamsters.

SUMMARY OF MAMMARY GLAND TUMOR FINDINGS


5/12S U M M E R 2 0 0 7

compounds have never been included

in an epidemiologic study of breast can-

cer, says Julia Brody, executive director

of Silent Spring Institute. Just as alarm-

ing, most chemicals that Americans are

exposed to have never been included in

an animal cancer bioassay.

The review of epidemiology related

to environmental pollutants shows thatresearch in this area is still relatively

sparse. Results in recent years, however,

have begun to show evidence of

increased risk associated with exposure

to polychlorinated byphenols (PCBs)

banned chemicals previously used in

electrical equipment and other prod-

uctsin genetically susceptible women

and to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

(PAHs), which are ubiquitous air pollu-

tants from vehicle exhaust and other

sources of combustion byproducts.

Results of studies of organic solvents and

dioxins suggest possible associations with

breast cancer and support additional

research on those compounds.

The many studies of dietary factors

have allowed us a greater opportunityto evaluate consistency across studies

before placing confidence in results,

Brody says. In contrast, conclusions

from the environmental pollutants epi-

demiology rest on fewer studies. Addi-

tional support comes from animal studies

that identify PAHs and some organic sol-

vents as animal mammary carcinogens

and PCBs and dioxins as endocrine dis-

ruptors. These studies provide evidence

of biological mechanisms that may link

these chemicals to breast cancer.

The databases, available at www.

silentspring.org/sciencereview, are

expected to be of particular interest to

researchers, health care workers, and

policy makers, as well as to members of

the public.While its disturbing to learn that so

many chemicals may be linked to breast

cancer, Brody says, we must remem-

ber that we have a great opportunity to

save thousands of lives by identifying

those links, limiting exposure, and find-

ing safer alternatives. Its critical that we

integrate this information into policies

that govern chemical exposures.

BREATHING ROOM: A woman

in the 1940s uses an aerosol

can loaded with DDT in an

attempt to control flies. The

pesticide was banned in1972, ten years after Rachel

Carson brought to light its

destructive properties in her

landmark book Silent Spring.



Clean water is fundamental to

life. Yet many septic systems do

not rid sewage of pollutants

that may be harmful to human

health before discharging the

sewage to groundwaterand in

some cases before it contami-

nates drinking water wells.

Silent Spring Institute scientists made

this discovery after monitoringfor the

first time everwater for hormone-

disrupting chemicals such as natural

estrogen and alkylphenols, as well as

certain pharmaceuticals, as the water

passed from the septic system into the

ground. The study looked at a typical

septic system on Cape Cod, where sep-

tic systems serve more than 85 percent

of residential and commercial proper-

ties. Two other chemicals the researchers

detected indicated the presence of

sewage fallout: optical brighteners,

which are found in laundry detergents,

and caffeine.

The presence of hormone-disrupting

chemicals in the environment has been

associated with the feminization of male

fish and reduced fertility in other wild-

life. The scientists note that additional

research is needed to determine whether

the concentrations typically observed inthe environment produce similar adverse

effects on the human hormone system.

Exposures during critical prenatal and

childhood stages of reproductive devel-

opment may be most critical.

Effects on hormonally responsive can-

cers are an additional concern. Chemicals

that mimic natural estrogen, for example,

may contribute to a womans cumulative

lifetime exposure to estrogen, a factor

that has been linked to an increased risk

of developing breast cancer.

One in every four citizens of the

United States relies on septic systems

for wastewater treatment. At least a

portion of the residents in a number

of statesincluding Delaware, Florida,

Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey,

and New Yorkalso rely on private,shallow groundwater wells for their

drinking water. With housing density

increasing and lot size shrinking to

accommodate population growth, the

likelihood is growing that wastewater

from a households or neighboring

households septic system will contami-

nate a drinking water well.

While septic systems may be effec-

tive at preventing bacterial contamina-

tion of these water supplies, says Chris

Swartz, lead researcher for the study,

our results suggest that these systems

do not remove hormone-disrupting

chemicals from septic wastewater before

they infiltrate into groundwater.

And since groundwater feeds many

drinking water supplies, Swartz adds, fur-

ther research is needed to determine the

extent and potential effects of drinking

water contamination. Previous research

on hormone disruptors focused on sur-

face waters receiving discharge from

wastewater treatment plants. This study

was the first to directly link the infiltration

of these hormone disruptors into ground-waterand therefore residential well

waterfrom onsite treatment systems.

Our findings should encourage com-

munities to consider more restrictive land

use policies to protect their public and

private drinking water supply wells,

Swartz says. Communities may also con

sider replacing onsite septic wastewater

treatment systems with improved onsite

technologies or centralized wastewater

treatment plants, at least in densely pop-

ulated areas that rely on shallow ground-

water as a drinking water source.

The study appeared in the August 15

2006, issue of Environmental Science &

Technology.

Down the Drain


7/12

Rachel Carson has never been more relevant. And

yet 45 years after the publication of Silent Spring,

we still do not seem to have fully absorbed her

message of caution and prudence regarding the

power of pesticides. We are still walking down the

path of environmental degradation.

Rachel Carson. I first heard her name from my grandmother. I

must have been seven or eight years old. We were feeding thebirdssong sparrows, goldfinches, and towheesin my grand-

parents yard in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Imagine a world without birds, my grandmother said as

she scattered seed and filled the feeders. Imagine waking up to

no birdsong. I couldnt. Later, at the breakfast table, she and my

grandfather engaged in an intense discussion of the book they

were reading, Silent Spring, as my mind tried to grasp what my

grandmother had just said about a muted world.

Decades later, I found myself in a used bookstore in Salt

Lake City. The green spine of Silent Spring caught my eye. I

pulled the classic off the shelf and opened it. First edition,

1962. As I reread various passages, I was struck by how little

had changed. Each page was still a shock and a revelation

just as they are today.

The natural landscape is eloquent of the interplay of

forces that have created it, Rachel Carson wrote. It is spread

before us like the pages of an open book in which we can

read why the land is what it is, and why we should preserve

its integrity. But the pages lie unread.

The pages still lie unread.

Rachel Carson is a hero of mine. She remains a regal and

revolutionary figure within the conservation community, a

towering example within American democracy of how onepersons voice can make an extraordinary difference both in

public policy and in the minds of the populace.

I want to remember Rachel Carsons spirit. I want to carry

a sense of indignation inside to shatter the complacency that

has seeped into our society. Call it sacred rage, a rage that is

grounded in the knowledge that all life is intertwined.

I think of that day with my grandmother, feeding the

birds. Today the idea of a spring without birdsong is indeed

imaginable.

Rachel Carson has called us to action. We can live differ-

ently. We can see the world whole, even holy. The health of

the planet is our own.

Terry Tempest Williams is an award-winning author, a naturalist, and

an environmental activist. Her environmental literature classics include

Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place; An Unspoken

Hunger: Stories from the Field; Desert Quartet; andLeap. This article

was excerpted from The Moral Courage of Rachel Carson, an essay

that appears in Courage from the Earth: Writers, Scientists, and

Activists Celebrate the Life and Writing of Rachel Carson,published

by Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007. Reprinted with permission.

S U M M E R 2 0 0 7

The Moral Courage of Rachel CarsonBy Terry Tempest Williams

A SENSE OF WONDER: Rachel Carson fought passionately to protect

natureand life itself. This year marks the centennial of her birth



The residents of some neighborhoods in Richmond,

California, awaken each morning with their senses

fully engaged: They feel a familiar burning in their

eyes and throats, smell the acrid stench of sulphur,

and hear the endless rumble of diesel trucks. And

they find their homes once again blanketed with a

thin coating of soot.

Richmond spreads out across a peninsula separating San PabloBay, a shallow tidal estuary, from San Francisco. Once ranching

country, the city has been transformed over the past century

into a highly industrialized urban landscape, with the second

largest oil refinery on the West Coast helping to define its

silhouette. Richmond is also home to a chemical plant, a meta

fabrication factory, and a power plant. Two major train lines

form a nexus there, and several interstates and one parkway

snake through the city. The emissions from all those industries

and transit lines seep into the homesand lungsof residents.

In Richmond, paint peels off houses and cars far faster

than anywhere else Ive seen, says Carla Perez, a community

organizer and director of the Northern California Program of

Communities for a Better Environment (CBE). Soot collects

everywhere. Its not surprising that Richmond has the countyshighest hospitalization rate for asthma.

Just twenty miles to the west, perched on the California

coast, is Bolinas, a town with a population one-hundredth tha

of Richmond. A nearly reclusive community, Bolinas has no

heavy industry. There, residents can awaken to the scent of

clean salt air and the sounds of birdsong and ocean swells.

CBE, an environmental health and justice organization in

California, has joined forces with Silent Spring Institute and

Brown University to study the patterns of exposure to chemical

pollutants in Richmond and Bolinas. From June to October

2006with protocols, equipment, and training provided

by Silent Spring InstituteCBE staff members collected air

and dust samples both inside and outside 40 homes in the

Liberty/Atchison Village area of Richmond. They also took sam-

ples from 10 homes in Bolinas.

The collaborators are now comparing the samples in the

two communities in an effort to determine whether residents

of Liberty/Atchison Village are at higher risk for exposure to a

number of pollutants that have been implicated as hormone

disruptors or as potential causes of breast cancer. The samples

are being tested for approximately 100 chemicals used in con-

sumer products or found in polluted outdoor air.

Were focusing on endocrine-disrupting compoundsbecause of the role they may play in breast cancer and other

diseases, says Julia Brody, executive director of Silent Spring

Institute. This study is a critical step in a series of investigations

that need to be conducted to determine how the chemicals

were exposed to in our homes may be affecting our health.

The project builds on the Institutes previous work on Cape

Cod, in which researchers conducted the most comprehensive

assessment to date of endocrine disruptors in homes. During

the next two years Silent Spring Institute researchers will be

Environmental Justice for All


9/12


10/12

It took less than three weeks for the pea-sized lump in one of Vernal Branchs breasts to

grow into a tumor the size of a golf ball. Her immediate response was to learn everything

she could about treatment optionsand to take action. In the dozen years since her

diagnosis and the mastectomy that followed soon after,

Branch has taken that same thoughtful yet decisive

approach to her role as an impassioned advocate for

research into the environmental causes of breast cancer.

I began by getting involved with several breast cancer

organizations, Branch says. I eventually gained the confi-

dence to take part in shaping public policy. And Ive since

been able to create educational outreach programs that affect

the African American community.

Branch now serves as a minority recruitment consultantfor the Sister Study, a national research program that fol-

lows the sisters of women with breast cancer to help tease

out the different roles that genes and the environment may play in causing the disease.

More recently, Branch has been sharing her hard-won expertise as one of the founding

members of Silent Spring Institutes National Advisory Council.

Joan Gardner, director of the University of MassachusettsBoston GIS Core Research

Facility, serves as chair of the new Council. Before joining the university, she was the chair-

woman and president of Applied Geographics, Inc., a geographic information systems

consulting firm.

Other Council members include Samuel Bader, PhD, a senior physicist and leader of

the Nanomagnetism Group at Argonne National Laboratory.

Shelley Hearne, DrPH, brings a depth of experience in environmental health. A formerexecutive director of Trust for Americas Health, she has also served as executive director of

the Pew Environmental Health Commission, acting director of the New Jersey Department

of Environmental Protections Office of Pollution Prevention, and staff scientist for the Natu-

ral Resources Defense Council, where she focused on issues relating to pesticides and other

toxic substances.

Jeanne Mockard is the managing director and senior portfolio manager for Putnam Invest-

ments in Boston.

Ellen Parker, who chairs the Silent Spring Institute Board of Directors, is a social worker

in private practice in Newton, Massachusetts. She is also a former president and founding

board member of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, as well as a founding board

member of Silent Spring Institute.

Mary Wolff, PhD, is the director of the Division of Environmental Health Science at the

Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She also directs the Mount Sinai Center for Childrens

Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research. Her research focuses on the mea-

surement of environmental exposures and their relationship to cancer risk, reproductive

dysfunction, and developmental disorders.

These Council members offer a diversity of backgrounds, yet they all share a passion for

uncovering the links between cancer and the environment. Im working for my two-year-old

granddaughter, Branch says. I dont want her generation to be burdened with the increasing

rates of breast cancer that my generation has faced. I want to help prevent the disease.

1 0 S I LE NT S PR I NG R EV I EW

Mission Possible The Right Toofor the Job

Ever wonder whether your risk for

developing breast cancer could be

related to where you live? Or whether

the rates of childhood cancer in

your region are higher than nor-

mal? Perhaps youve been wonder-

ing whether any hazardous waste

facilities are in the vicinity of your

childs school, or perhaps youve

noticed that such facilities seem to

be disproportionately located near

communities of color.

Those living in Massachusetts

can now do more than merelywonder; they can answer such

questions by using a web-based

mapping tool known as the Massa-

chusetts Health and Environment

Information System, or MassHEIS.

This tool, developed by Silent

Spring Institute with funding from

the National Library of Medicine,

allows browsers to explore how

pollution sources, environmental

quality indicators, and certain

health outcomes vary across the

state. Browsers can also examinerelationships among these factors.

MassHEIS is unique in combining

health, demographic, and environ-

mental databases into one web-

based tool. Browsers can map air

quality measures and transportation

corridors, for example, along with

data on asthma hospitalizations.

Maps help us grasp relation-

ships between disease and environ-

mental characteristics, says Julia

Brody, executive director of Silent

Spring Institute. This powerful

tool offers valuable access to infor-

mation to residents who want to

find out more about the potential

health hazards in their town or

region. Communities need this kind

of information to help them advo-

cate for change.

To use MassHEIS, visit http://library

silentspring.org/heis/quickstart.asp.

Vernal Branch


11/12

Did YouKnow?

In the 100 years since RachelCarsons birth, U.S. production of

synthetic chemicals has soared,

from less than 10 million pounds

a year to more than 300 billion

pounds a year.

In the 65 years since womenjoined factories in droves to

help the nations wartime effort,

thousands of women have worked

in jobs with exposure to chemicals

that cause breast cancer in animals,yet the Occupational Safety and

Health Administration has not

required mammograms as part of

medical screening for workers.

In the 35 years since DDT usewas banned in the United States,

residues of the pesticide have

lingered in the countrys food supply,

including 87 percent of the milk

samples that the U.S. Department of

Agriculture tested in 2005.

In the 30 years since unleadedgas was introduced in the United

States, blood lead levels have

decreased markedly in Americans.

In the 20 years since the Com-mission for Racial Justice of the

United Church of Christ published a

landmark report showing that racial

compositioneven more than income

levelis the crucial factor shared by

communities exposed to toxic waste,

people of color have remained more

likely than whites to live in areas

with commercial hazardous sites.

In the 5 years since 3M phasedout products based on the persistent

organic pollutant perfluorooctane

sulfonate, levels of perfluorinated

contaminants in the blood of U.S.

residents have dropped by 50 percent.

S U M M E R 2 0 0 7 1

Silent Spring Institutes strengthcomes not just from its unique

partnership between activists and

scientists, but also from the gen-

erosity and talents of its many

supporters, including the Friends

of Silent Spring Institute.

When the Janes Trust founda-

tion offered a $200,000 challenge

grant to encourage the expansion

of private support for the Institute,

the Friends responded by raising

more than $400,000 from new

and increased contributions. The

challenge grant gave Silent Spring

the confidence to add a new sci-

entist to the research team and to

expand its strategic planning.

The Friends also raised $475,000

for the Susan S. Bailis Breast

Cancer Research Fund during the Institutes

annual dinner, held in Boston in May 2007.

Rachel Carson Advocacy Awards were presented

to Ellen Calmas, founding chair of the Friends,

and Carla Perez, a community organizer with

Communities for a Better Environment.

Ellen Calmas has been a catalyst, inspiring and

involving many new supporters for Silent Spring

Institutes environmental research, says Ellen

Parker, chair of the Institutes Board of Directors.

While she was one of our early advocates, when

she faced her own diagnosis, Ellen responded

by increasing her commitment to prevent breast

cancer in other women.

Parker adds that Carla Perez lives by her belief tha

each of us can change the world. She brings intelli

gence, heart, enormous energy, and clarity of pur-

pose to her struggle for environmental justice.

A Shared Commitment

Other

Private Contributions

Foundations

Federal

State

AIR APPARENT: In Inner House, a signature performance

of the Bennett Dance Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts,

a woman becomes suspended half in and half out of a

house as if, one reviewer wrote, testing the air. And so

it is fitting that the dance company continues its now

decade-long support of Silent Spring Institute, whose

groundbreaking work testing the air inside and outside

homes in Massachusetts and California has offered critical

clues to the health impact of our chemical burden.

Silent Spring Institute Funding Sources for Fiscal Year 2006


12/12

Ten strategies for reducing your

personal exposure to suspect chemicals

that are found in everyday products:

1. Use only glass and ceramic

containers in the microwave. Some

plastic containers contain chemicals

that mimic or disrupt hormones. These

chemicals can leach into food when

they are heated.

2. Use dry cleaning services that do not

use perchloroethylene (PERC) or

request wet cleaning. Solvents such as

PERC have been linked to various can-

cers. If you must use traditional dry

cleaning with PERC, remove the plastic

bags in an open space and air out your

clothes before hanging them in a closet.

3. Read the labels of products, avoiding

phthalates and fragrance.

Phthalates are endocrine-disrupting

compounds that have been associated

with cancer, impaired fertility, and male

birth defects. Phthalates are often an

ingredient in fragrance, and they are

found in hundreds of products, such as

shampoos, lotions, perfume, cosmetics,

vinyl, and plastics, including toys. Look

for labels that say phthalate-free.

4. When grilling foods, minimize char

by reducing the heat level and using

marinades. Char contains PAHs, or poly-

cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are

known to cause mammary tumors in

animals. In the Long Island Breast Cancer

Study, women who had more DNA dam-

age from PAHs had a higher risk of

breast cancer.

5. Purchase organic foods. Buying

organic reduces your familys exposure

to pesticides. Many of these chemicals

act as endocrine disruptors and are

known to affect brain development

and neurological function in humans.

6. Monitor what goes down the drain

in your home. Help protect your indoo

air and your communitys water supply

by using minimal amounts of the least

toxic cleaning products and pesticides.

Never put cleaning solvents, pesticides,

paint thinners, automobile oil, or gas

down a drain.

7. Choose vacuum cleaners wisely.

Carpets can harbor pesticides, flame

retardants, other chemicals, and

allergens such as mold. Cleaners with a

strong suction, a brush on/off switch, a

multilayered bag for dust collection,

and a HEPA filter are the best at

preventing the recycling of dust.

8. Look for furnishings and electronic

equipment without PBDEs.

PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl

ethers)endocrine disruptors that

affect thyroid hormonesare commer-

cially produced flame retardants often

added to polyurethane foam, various

plastics, and electronics equipment.

When possible, choose carpet pads,

bedding, cushions, and upholstered

furniture made from natural fibers,

including wool, cotton, and hemp.

9. Adopt organic practices for lawn

care and gardening. Children and pets

that play on lawns are exposed to pesti-

cides and herbicides. These chemicals

are tracked into homes, and they can

leach into waterways and drinking water

wells.

10. Encourage your town to use

natural, non-toxic solvents in publicbuildings, especially schools, and to

follow organic practices in the care of

green spaces. Using safer cleaners and

eliminating pesticides on a town-wide

basis helps reduce exposure to

compounds that mimic estrogen or

otherwise disrupt hormones.

N O N P R O F I T

O R G A N I Z A T I O N

U . S . P O S T A G E

PAID

B O S T O N , M A

P E R M I T N O . 5 4 8 4 0

Clues You Can Use

S I L E N T S P R I N G I N S T I T U T E

29 Crafts Street, Newton MA 02458

Mans attitude toward nature is today

critically important simply because we

have now acquired a fateful power to

alter and destroy nature.

Rachel Carson

Printed on recycled, non-chlorine-treatedpaper using soy-based ink

Silent Spring Institute is named in recognitionof Rachel Carson, whose pioneering book tied the useof pesticides to adverse effects on wildlife and humans.Carson died of breast cancer in 1964, just two yearsafter Silent Spring was published. In her memory, SilentSpring Institute works to identify the links between theenvironment and womens health, especially breast can-cer.

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