The start of HAN’s Partnership with Breast Cancer Prevention Partners

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and marks the start of HAN’s partnership with Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP), a policy and advocacy nonprofit that works to prevent breast cancer by reducing exposure to toxic chemicals. BCPP is also the parent organization of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a project advocating for greater cosmetics regulation of toxic chemicals.

Part of BCPP’s work includes educating consumers. Both the BCPP and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics websites share about the toxic chemicals lurking in cleaning products, fragrances and cosmetics. BCPP has guides for preventing exposure to toxins in the workplace, in personal care products and in the family. They also have a Red List of chemicals that are toxic in the cosmetics industry and recently released an eye-opening Fragrance Report that analyzed fragrance formulas in a number of popular personal care and cleaning products.

BCPP also works on big picture legislation and regulation, co-sponsoring bills and organizing green beauty brands to lobby in California legislature and at the Capitol. Recently, BCPP lobbied for the passage of AB-2775 which requires the labelling of all nail and salon products in California to ensure worker safety. The Safe Cosmetics project also organized the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, which rallied together skincare and beauty brands committed to the toxin-free cause. (HAN isn’t on the list because the compact closed in 2014 – before HAN was founded.)

Because of BCPP’s education and legislation work, HAN found that BCPP was a natural fit with our mission to share the news about toxic chemicals and engage on a big-picture level with the realities of toxic chemical regulation in the cosmetics industry. We believe that the more people know about the ingredients lurking in their products, the better they can make conscious decisions to keep themselves and their families safe. BCPP has been working on the education and legislation front for decades, so we’re excited to learn from their expertise and join their efforts.

That’s why for the month of October, 10% of all online purchases on our website will go towards BCPP. We will also be joining BCPP on their annual Peak Hike to Mt. Tam. Peak Hike is a 3-4 hour fundraising hike through Muir Park on October 14th. If you’re in Northern California that weekend, we encourage you to join and hike!
Of course, we don’t want to stop supporting after Breast Cancer Awareness month. BCPP has plenty of events throughout the year. When legislation is active, BCPP also encourages supporters to spread the word and take action. In fact, they’ve set up an easy way to get into contact with your representatives to encourage them to support Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s Safe Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Act of 2018. To keep in the loop about news, events and legislation, you can join the BCPP community and subscribe to their newsletter here.

We’re excited for what’s in store for this partnership with BCPP!