Health risks from plastics come primarily from food storage, preparation, and purchasing. When heated, plastic containers and/or wrap can leach harmful chemicals into your food. These chemicals, bisphenols and phthalates, are known endocrine disruptors and are implicated in numerous health challenges like diabetes, cancer, and obesity. Plastic Pollution Coalition is currently a co-investigator on a pilot study, ReThink Plastic, funded by California’s Breast Cancer Research Fund (CBCRF). PPC is working with Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS) to test an intervention strategy that reduces plastic use through educating trainers about toxic chemicals in plastics.

Making water more available in New York City public schools through self-serve water dispensers in cafeterias resulted in small—but statistically significant—declines in students' weight, according to new findings.

Like many health conditions, the risk of breast cancer can be impacted by exposure to harmful chemicals. As scientists have learned more about these problems, new resources have been developed. Detox Me is a free smartphone app that provides “…a personalized guide to reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals.” It has simple, research-based tips on how to avoid chemicals that affect our hormones and choose safer products. For those of us seeking to reduce harmful chemicals from our daily lives, it will track our progress and offer rewards!

Our materials for Girls’ New Puberty are helping parents and caregivers of girls under 8 years old reduce the likelihood of early puberty. You may ask yourself, why does it matter to an organization whose goal is to prevent breast cancer whether girls start developing early?

Every spring the Safeway Foundation focuses on Cancer as one of a dozen causes it cares about. Safeway customers make generous donations at the point of sale in their local Safeway stores in Northern California. For the past 12 years the NorCal Safeway Foundation has considered requests for funding to support the vision of Zero Breast Cancer and generously contributed a total of over $146,000 to date.

MEDIA ALERT: The California Health Report publishes the latest article on the CYGNET Study and early onset puberty in young girls

In 2003, Zero Breast Cancer collaborated with scientists from Kaiser Division of Research and UCSF to establish a Bay Area Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program which was funded by the National Institute of Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute.

Trying to lose weight? Think about changing to a positive focus on more exercise and/or healthy eating habits, rather than a number on the scale. A fascinating new study shows that even if you are at a healthy weight, feeling bad about your weight seems to cause the same diseases as being overweight, like diabetes!

Sadly, weight dissatisfaction and poor body image can start early in girls and actually discourage healthy behaviors.

¡Estamos ampliando nuestra lista de materiales previos a la pubertad! Además de la campaña La nueva pubertad de las niñas dirigida a padres/cuidadores, ahora tenemos un folleto de actividades para niñas y niños de 5 años en adelante. Descargue e imprima nuestro Folleto de actividades saludables: ¡Ser saludable se trata de sentirse lo mejor posible!

In the third of our Get to Know ZBC Partnersinterview series, we talked to Dallas Drotz of Drotz Design. Dallas is a versatile creative talent with excellent listening skills, a thirst for knowledge, a big heart and unending patience! Dallas was introduced to ZBC in 2015 when we needed to find a way to turn the science about early puberty into a health and wellness campaign. It all started with a series of mood boards and the rest is history. Today the body of work that Dallas has teamed with ZBC to create includes infographics in English, Spanish, and Chinese; a micro-site in English and Spanish, and a YouTube series in English, Spanish, and Chinese!

In this month’s Get to Know ZBC Partners series, we interviewed Ian Walker, owner of Hurricane Images. Ian's health education expertise combined with his skills in editing videos and sound recording have been an invaluable asset to the Girls’ New Puberty campaign. He created the Youth Advisory Board videos for the Girls’ New Puberty microsite, which are also available on YouTube in English and Spanish. Then, he recorded the narration and edited the videos for our animated tips series in English, Spanish, and Chinese. We are always grateful for his support of ZBC’s mission and are excited to share his background and insights with you. 

We’re expanding our pre-puberty materials! In addition to the Girls’ New Puberty resources directed at parents/caregivers, we now have an activity booklet for girls (and all kids) ages 5+. Download and print our Healthy Activity Booklet: Being Healthy is About Feeling Our Best!

The booklet promotes lifelong health and wellness by providing healthy action ideas to color and asking girls to draw what they like to do. There’s also a bingo activity at the end that encourages girls to follow some of the actions suggested. Topic areas include moving more, eating healthy, getting enough sleep, managing stress, and limiting exposure to chemicals. While it was made with girls in mind, it is not exclusively for girls. All kids who snap a picture of their favorite completed page and email it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will receive a certificate and, with a parent/guardian's permission, have the image posted on our Girls' New Puberty Facebook page.

Is your child struggling with anxiety, stress, and frequent tantrums? It could be that they need to get more sleep.

Sleep is an essential bodily function that allows the mind and body to recharge. Not having enough of it can affect a child’s ability to concentrate, process information, and think clearly(1).

Sleep quality plays an essential role in a child’s physical and mental health. Children who often don’t get enough sleep eventually experience a host of other problems(2).

¡Zero Breast Cancer acaba de terminar de producir La guía de las niñas y la nueva pubertad, una traducción en español de nuestra versión en inglés de Girls’ New Puberty Eguide! Esta guía expande los mensajes en nuestra infografía y en la serie de videos de YouTube. En la página web interactiva, encontrará consejos fáciles para apoyar una pubertad saludable junto con videos, pruebas y enlaces a recursos adicionales. 

Sound specialist Ian Walker of Hurricane Images
and volunteer Maritza Cárdenas record the narration for our
Girls' New Puberty tips videos in Spanish.

Zero Breast Cancer succeeds in very large part due to a dedicated cadre of volunteers, some of whom offer specialized and/or skilled pro-bono services. This month we thank and recognize 6 people who supported ZBC work in 2018 by translating, narrating, and/or reviewing new elements of our Girls’ New Puberty campaign: Chely Córdova, Frances Chiu, Hannah Barlow, Larry Chu, Maritza Cárdenas, and Perry Borders. 

While truly every day is a good day to say “I love you” to the special people in your life, Valentine’s Day is a beautiful moment where we may go the extra mile with a special gesture. With over an estimated $18 billion spent annually for the holiday nationwide, it is a wonderful opportunity to vote with your dollars and support healthier options for farmers, workers, and our loved ones who are all a part of this global love story. 

We are excited to share our suggestions for a healthy, safe, and sweet holiday!

Welcome to 2018!

Entering the new year is often a time for self reflection and new commitments to changing something about your life in order to be healthier, happier, and more at peace. For many women, a better relationship with food is something that they strive for anew on an annual basis and is challenging to resolve. 

With an eye towards integrating rather than avoiding, we want to share some easy to use techniques to tackle hunger cravings that can help make this new year one where healthy new habits are formed. 

Girls are developing faster and entering puberty earlier than a generation ago. Contrary to popular wisdom, early puberty is not merely a reflection of physical changes-it's deeply psychological with effects that can put a girl at risk for behavioral problems as well as long term health challenges, such as obesity, depression, eating disorders, and even breast cancer.

Our homes are filled with plastics, and most of us don't really know what they're made of -- or whether they're safe. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has put together these tips to help you choose better plastics and plastic alternatives for your family:

• Why you should pick plastics carefully.
• How to choose and use safer plastics.
• Finding safer, non-plastic alternatives.

Mother/daughter team Karen and Maddie Loebbaka have been volunteering for Zero Breast Cancer’s Annual Dipsea Hike for 5 years—starting when Maddie was 11! Karen heard about the hike 6 years ago from a friend who is a breast cancer survivor and participated as a hiker the first year she was involved. Then, she and Maddie got interested in volunteering through the National Charity League, a nonprofit that promotes the benefits of mothers and daughters doing volunteer service together. If you’ve recently participated in the hike, you likely met them at the registration table, which they are well-experienced at running.