Breast Cancer Network NZ Inc Media Release 7 September 2007

For immediate release

Breast Cancer Network NZ calls for Government to take action to reduce the incidence of breast cancer in New Zealand. Submissions were this week considered by the Health Select Committee.

At Parliament on Wednesday (5 September), Breast Cancer Network NZ Inc submitted evidence in support of their call for a breast cancer risk reduction and prevention strategy aimed at reducing the incidence of the disease.

Gillian Woods and Barbara Mason, together with Dr Meriel Watts, addressed the committee on behalf of the 10,969 signatories to the petition.

While acknowledging that the causes of breast cancer are an interplay of familial, environmental and lifestyle factors, Breast Cancer Network called for better information for the public, research into the links between environment and breast cancer, and regulation to reduce exposure to substances that show links to breast cancer in laboratory studies.

"Much is already known about risk and we are calling for this information to be more widely shared with the public," Ms Woods and Ms Mason said. "When people are informed of risk they are better equipped to make safer choices."

In her submission, Dr Watts discussed the many chemicals in the environment that affect breast cancer risk in laboratory studies and are likely to similarly affect people, and provided the Select Committee with a prepublication copy of her new book which provides evidence that 42 pesticides still in use in New Zealand may be contributing to the risk of breast cancer.

"Scientifically it is impossible to prove that a particular pesticide does or does not cause breast cancer. It never will be proven. Regrettably this does not mean that the pesticides aren't causing breast cancer," Dr Watts told the Select Committee. She went on to say that policy makers had a decision to make, suggesting that they could "apply the precautionary approach to the uncertainty in the scientific evidence and reduce the risks that women face, of developing breast cancer, by stopping their exposure to these pesticides."

As well as the concern about pesticides, Breast Cancer Network raised the issue of endocrine disrupting hormones, such as those chemicals that mimic the female hormone oestrogen. Breast Cancer Network believes the precautionary approach is particularly important for endocrine disrupting chemicals and environmental oestrogens, as life-time exposure to oestrogen is a known risk factor for breast cancer.

In their submission, Breast Cancer Network identified younger women, especially those starting families, as those who most need information about reducing their exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals. These are found in the home in everyday items ranging from food, plastics and furnishings to insecticides and garden chemicals. The foetus and the young child are very vulnerable to low levels of chemical exposure that may adversely affect their cancer risk in the long term.

"In addition, young women are subject to lifestyle influences such as alcohol, obesity and smoking, which increase risk, and exercise and longer breastfeeding which reduce risk.," said Ms Woods.

Dr Watts concluded the submission by telling the committee that: "It is vital that the government develops a specific breast cancer strategy which recognises the role of synthetic chemicals in breast cancer, and includes testing of New Zealand women for body burdens of chemicals linked to breast cancer - and lastly and most importantly adopts a precautionary approach to chemicals for which there is evidence of a link with breast cancer, ensuring their replacement with safer alternatives."

The importance of the Breast Cancer Network's request for action was simply put: without a multi-faceted breast cancer strategy and a concerted effort to reduce breast cancer risk for New Zealand women, it is predictable that our incidence rate of breast cancer will continue to rise.

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