CHILDHOOD CANCER PREVENTION INITIATIVE
Business Sign On

Overview

Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States. And while fewer children are dying of cancer, the rate of children being diagnosed with cancer has actually increased by 34% since 1975. Costing $1.9 Billion a year due to hospitalizations.

We know that toxic chemicals in the environment and in the places where children live, learn and play are important risk factors for cancer. It’s time to take action and to take action together.

We can prevent childhood cancers through systemic changes in business and government policy and practices.

We are asking all business leaders to support:

  • Securing funding for cancer prevention research;
  • Monitoring children’s exposures to toxic chemicals and pollution;
  • Ensuring that all children have access to schools, playgrounds and childcare settings that are free from toxic substances;
  • Producing and using safer materials and products that don’t cause cancer or other illnesses for children;
  • Developing, advocating for and advancing public policies to regulate toxic chemicals and incentivize safer chemicals, materials and products.

Business Leaders Sign On Here Today!

Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States. Although fewer children are dying of cancer, the diagnosis of cancer among children has actually increased by 34% since 1975.. Treating this dread disease costs an estimated $1.9 Billion a year due to hospitalizations. The cost in lost workplace productivity and family wellbeing is even greater.

We know that toxic chemicals throughout our environment, in the places where children live, learn and play, are important risk factors for cancer and are directly associated with increased incidence of childhood cancers. 

We can prevent childhood cancers and relieve thousands of children and their families  from the trauma of cancer treatment through systemic changes in business and government policy and practices. It is time for us to act and to take that action together.

As companies, investors, and business organizations, we support the establishment of a National Childhood Cancer Prevention Research Agenda and National Childhood Cancer Prevention Plan to eradicate childhood cancers linked to toxic chemicals, with an urgently needed “all hands-on deck” cross-sector approach to childhood cancer prevention.

We support:

  • Securing funding for cancer prevention research;
  • Monitoring children’s exposures to toxic chemicals and pollution;
  • Ensuring that all children have access to schools, playgrounds and childcare settings that are free from toxic substances;
  • Producing and using safer materials and products that don’t cause cancer or other illnesses for children;
  • Developing, advocating for and advancing public policies to regulate toxic chemicals and incentivize safer chemicals, materials and products.

Our children are our future. It is past time to act to protect that future from a toxic legacy. We ask you to take immediate and decisive action to end the causes of childhood cancer. 

Sincerely,

The Childhood Cancer Prevention Initiative:

The Childhood Cancer Prevention Initiative was launched as a collaborative effort to improve children’s health by widely sharing the evidence base about the impacts of toxic chemicals on children, as well as opportunities for preventing childhood cancer by removing toxic chemicals from products and environments where children live, go to school and play. Together we will engage scientists and health professionals to review and interpret research; help manufacturers and retailers drive a shift in business practices; and encourage legislators to implement responsible state and federal policies. We will learn from the experiences of parents, workers, businesses and communities, and provide them with information and tools to avoid exposure to potentially dangerous substances and exercise their power to shift the marketplace.

For more information about the initiative contact: ChildhoodCancerPrevention@asbcouncil.org

A team of over 40 stakeholders and leaders in the Health, Science, Business, Policy and Advocacy sectors are co-creating a new report: Childhood Cancers: Cross-Sector Strategies for Prevention. 

You can sign up here to receive updates on the report and the Childhood Cancer Prevention Initiative.

We are encouraging everyone to take action to eliminate toxic chemicals. Join us to:

  • Produce and purchase, safer chemicals and products;
  • Support and expand regulations to reduce known causes;
  • Invest in prevention research;
  • Advance public policy to incentivize safer chemicals and products;
  • Share the Childhood Cancer Prevention Report and video with your networks (to be released the week of September 21, 2020).

The Childhood Cancer Prevention Initiative is a growing collaboration that includes

American Sustainable Business Council, Cancer Free Economy Network Center for Environmental Health, Children’s Environmental Health Network, Max Cure Foundation,  Clean & Healthy New York, Clean Production Action, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production  Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center, MadeSafe, and leading companies such as Naturepedic, Seventh Generation, ECOS and Earth-Kind.

Contact us for more information or sign up to stay informed and get involved.