Pinkwashers: What's Behind That Pink Ribbon?

Breast cancer awareness and prevention is a cause that’s very important to me – not just in October when everyone is wearing pink, but all year. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer nearly 20 years ago, so I know how the disease can affect both patients and their families. My mother, unlike too many others, won the battle and is doing very well today. 

So you’d think that as a daughter of a breast cancer survivor, I’d be thrilled every time I see a company with an ad, a commercial, or a Web site featuring a pink ribbon. In some cases, I am. Too often, however, it’s quite the opposite. Why? Because too many companies, and specifically cosmetics companies, flaunt a pink ribbon while at the same time including ingredients in products that might actually lead to an increased risk of cancer.

I was introduced to a new word this month: pinkwasher. According to the Web site Think Before You Pink, a pinkwasher is “a company or organization that claims to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribbon product, but at the same time produces, manufactures and/or sells products that are linked to the disease.” There’s a good chance that you use products from one or more of these pinkwashers.

From 2004 to 2011, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics coordinated the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, which is a voluntary pledge of safety and transparency that more than 1,500 companies signed. Notably absent from the list of signers are three very well known cosmetics companies. I encourage you to check the site to see if the maker of your cosmetics signed the pledge. Why have these heavy-hitters of the cosmetics industry refused to sign? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. It’s also interesting to note that one of these big three companies claims (proclaims, shouts) that it supports breast cancer awareness. Really? Then why not sign the pledge?

Some may say that the risks associated with some of the ingredients used by these and other companies are low, but a risk is a risk! According to EWR’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database, common cosmetic ingredients known to mimic estrogen, such as industrial plasticizers called phthalates and preservatives called parabens, have been found in urine, breast tumor tissue, and human fat. If you’re comfortable taking the risk that potentially toxic chemicals in the products that you use and put on your body probably won’t give you cancer, that is certainly your prerogative. If you’re not comfortable with that risk, then I’d love to speak with you.

Please visit my Web site at www.hip2bgreen.com.