SILENT SPRING INSTITUTE INC
320 NEVADA STREET SUITE 302, NEWTON, MA 02460 www.silentspring.org

---

Organizations Filed Purposes: ADVANCING SCIENCE ON THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICALS ON WOMEN'S HEALTH, WITH A FOCUS ON BREAST CANCER PREVENTION.

SILENT SPRING INSTITUTE WAS FOUNDED IN 1994 TO INVESTIGATE ELEVATED BREAST CANCER RATES ON CAPE COD. SINCE THEN, THE INSTITUTE HAS BECOME A NATIONAL LEADER IN BREAST CANCER PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH AND THE STUDY OF ENDOCRINE-DISRUPTING COMPOUNDS ("EDCS") AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE DISEASE. THE INSTITUTE HAS PUBLISHED 130 PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES AND IS DEVELOPING NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO ACCELERATE THE IDENTIFICATION OF CANCER-CAUSING CHEMICALS IN OUR EVERYDAY ENVIRONMENTS AND THE TRANSITION TO SAFER CHEMICALS AND PRODUCTS. THESE SOLUTIONS HOLD PROMISE FOR DECREASING THE RISK AND INCIDENCE OF BREAST CANCER AND OTHER DISEASES. AMONG OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OVER THE PAST 25 YEARS ARE A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT "FIRSTS": - FIRST TO DETECT HORMONE-DISRUPTING CHEMICALS, INCLUDING BPA, IN GROUNDWATER (1998). - FIRST TO MEASURE HOUSEHOLD EXPOSURE TO 30 EDCS, AND FIRST TO IDENTIFY HORMONE-DISRUPTING FLAME RETARDANTS AS A HEALTH RISK IN U.S. HOMES (2003). - FIRST TO QUANTIFY THE PRESENCE OF 55 EDCS IN 213 CONSUMER PRODUCTS (2012). - FIRST TO COMPILE A COMPREHENSIVE DATABASE OF BREAST CARCINOGENS (2007) AND THE FIRST TO DEMONSTRATE THAT FOOD PACKAGING IS A MAJOR SOURCE OF EXPOSURE TO HORMONE-DISRUPTING BPA AND PHTHALATES (2011). - FIRST TO MEASURE TOXIC PFAS CHEMICALS IN DRINKING WATER ON CAPE COD-UNREGULATED CONTAMINANTS FOUND IN 75% OF PUBLIC WATER DRINKING SUPPLIES (2010). - FIRST TO DEMONSTRATE LINK BETWEEN CALIFORNIA FURNITURE FLAMMABILITY STANDARDS AND INCREASED LEVELS OF FLAME RETARDANTS IN PEOPLE'S BLOOD AND URINE, AS WELL AS THEIR HOUSEHOLD DUST (2008); FIRST TO SUBSEQUENTLY DOCUMENT LEVELS OF NEW FLAME RETARDANTS IN CALIFORNIA HOMES FOLLOWING THE BAN OF PBDES (2012); AND FIRST TO FIND STUDENTS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES ARE EXPOSED TO HIGH LEVELS OF TOXIC FLAME RETARDANTS IN DORMITORY DUST, INCLUDING SOME OF THE HIGHEST LEVELS EVER REPORTED (2017). - FIRST TO CREATE A PRIORITY LIST OF 17 BREAST CARCINOGENS AND METHODS FOR MEASURING THEM IN PEOPLE AS A TOOL FOR REDUCING EXPOSURES (2014). - FIRST TO DEMONSTRATE THAT HIGHLY FLUORINATED CHEMICALS (PFASS) ARE COMMONLY FOUND IN U.S. FAST FOOD PACKAGING (2017). - FIRST PROTOTYPE GENE PANEL DEVELOPED FOR RAPIDLY SCREENING CHEMICALS FOR BREAST CANCER RISK (2018). - FIRST TO MEASURE CONCENTRATIONS OF EDCS IN A VARIETY OF HAIR PRODUCTS MARKETED AT BLACK WOMEN (2018). - FIRST STUDY TO OBSERVE AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT SOURCES OF FOOD AND PFAS EXPOSURES IN THE U.S. POPULATION (2019).ALSO OF NOTE, IN 2016 WE LAUNCHED A FREE MOBILE APP CALLED DETOX ME THAT OFFERS CONSUMERS SCIENCE-BASED TIPS ON HOW TO AVOID HARMFUL CHEMICALS IN CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND LEAD A HEALTHIER LIFE. TO DATE, THE APP HAS MORE THAN 170,000 USERS. THAT SAME YEAR, WE LAUNCHED DETOX ME ACTION KIT, THE FIRST CROWDFUNDED BIOMONITORING STUDY TO ASSESS THE U.S. POPULATION'S EXPOSURE TO EDCS IN EVERYDAY CONSUMER ITEMS AND TO ENGAGE CONSUMERS IN REDUCING THEIR EXPOSURES. WE PUBLISHED A CRITICAL REVIEW OF 158 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICALS AND BREAST CANCER FROM THE PAST 10 YEARS, MAKING IT THE MOST THOROUGH ASSESSMENT TO DATE OF EVIDENCE FROM HUMAN STUDIES (2017). IN 2020, WE DEVELOPED A FREE ONLINE TOOL (PRIVATEWELLS.SILENTSPRING.ORG/) THAT HELPS PRIVATE WELL OWNERS UNDERSTAND THEIR WATER TEST RESULTS AND LEARN HOW TO REDUCE THEIR EXPOSURES TO HARMFUL CONTAMINANTS. WE ALSO LAUNCHED AN INTERACTIVE TOOL THROUGH OUR PFAS EXCHANGE WEBSITE (PFAS-EXCHANGE.ORG/) THAT HELPS PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD THEIR BLOOD OR DRINKING WATER TESTED FOR PFAS INTERPRET THEIR RESULTS. THESE ADVANCES COMBINED HAVE EMPOWERED CONSUMERS TO MAKE BETTER CHOICES AND HAVE HELPED STRENGTHEN POLICIES THAT PROTECT PUBLIC HUMAN HEALTH BY REDUCING HAZARDOUS EXPOSURES AND ENCOURAGING THE TRANSITION TO SAFER CHEMICALS.CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS INCLUDE: - CHEMICALS AND BREAST CANCER: BUILDING ON NATIONAL INITIATIVES FOR CHEMICAL SAFETY SCREENING, DEVELOP INNOVATIVE METHODS (HIGH THROUGHPUT SCREENING) TO RAPIDLY SCREEN CHEMICALS FOR EFFECTS ON BREAST DEVELOPMENT AND BREAST CANCER (BCSCREEN). - WOMEN FIREFIGHTERS BIOMONITORING COLLABORATIVE: INVESTIGATING ON-THE-JOB EXPOSURES TO BREAST CARCINOGENS IN FEMALE FIREFIGHTERS THROUGH A STUDY OF THE HUMAN EXPOSOME. - PERSONAL EXPOSURE RIGHT-TO-KNOW: DEVELOPING AND EVALUATING ETHICAL AND EFFECTIVE METHODS FOR REPORTING RESULTS TO PARTICIPANTS IN BIOMONITORING AND ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE STUDIES. - PFAS CONTAMINANTS IN DRINKING WATER: UNDERSTANDING HOW PEOPLE ARE EXPOSED TO PFAS THROUGH DRINKING WATER AND HOW THESE CHEMICALS AFFECT HUMAN HEALTH. - OPEN DATA PRACTICES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH STUDIES: EVALUATING ONLINE SHARING OF DATA, MEASURING ETHICAL CONCERNS ABOUT POSSIBLE RE-IDENTIFICATION OF STUDY PARTICIPANTS. - HEALTHY GREEN CAMPUS PROJECTS: PARTNERING WITH COLLEGES TO HELP THEM INCORPORATE HEALTH INTO THEIR SUSTAINABILITY PLANS AND PROVIDE THEM WITH TOOLS FOR REDUCING EXPOSURES TO TOXIC CHEMICALS ON CAMPUSES. - EARLY LIFE EXPOSURES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICALS: INVESTIGATING WHETHER EXPOSURE TO HORMONE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS DURING ADOLESCENCE INCREASES SUSCEPTIBILITY TO BREAST CANCER IN ADULTHOOD. - DETOX ME ACTION KIT: ASSESSING THE U.S. POPULATION'S EXPOSURE TO EDCS IN EVERYDAY CONSUMER ITEMS THROUGH A BIOMONITORING PROJECT IN WHICH CONSUMERS LEARN WHAT CHEMICALS ARE IN THEIR BODIES AND HOW TO REDUCE THEIR EXPOSURES. - CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND EXPOSURE DISPARITIES: TESTING CONSUMER PRODUCTS COMMONLY USED BY BLACK AND LATINA WOMEN FOR CHEMICALS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO BREAST CANCER, AND EXAMINING RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN PRODUCT USE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND DISPARITIES IN EXPOSURE.OUR OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM LINKS OUR RESEARCH WITH PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY AND INFORMS INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES. OUTREACH INCLUDES A POPULAR WEBSITE AND BLOG, LAY SUMMARIES OF OUR SCIENTIFIC STUDIES, AN E-NEWSLETTER, TIPS FOR CONSUMERS, AND A GROWING PRESENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. EVERY YEAR, OUR RESEARCH TEAM PARTICIPATES IN DOZENS OF ADVISORY PANELS, CONFERENCES, SEMINARS AND COMMUNITY EVENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. OUR RESEARCH HAS RECEIVED WIDESPREAD COVERAGE BY NATIONAL NEWS MEDIA OUTLETS INCLUDING THE NEW YORK TIMES, BLOOMBERG, CNN, TIME MAGAZINE, WASHINGTON POST, NPR, CBS NEWS, BBC WORLD NEWS, HUFFINGTON POST, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN AND DOZENS MORE.

---

---

Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202140499349301514_public.xml