By Karuna Jaggar, Executive Director
What do you call it when a giant auto company says they’re “dedicated to helping those touched by breast cancer,” but their vehicles drive up the risk of the disease?
We call it pinkwashing.
Scientists have known for decades that the carcinogens and hormone disruptors in auto exhaust cause breast cancer, chemicals like benzene, 1,3-butadiene, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Even Susan G. Komen—which receives funding from Ford Warriors in Pink—recognizes that PAHs found in auto exhaust “may be associated with breast cancer.”
Astonishingly, earlier this year Ford announced they will almost exclusively sell SUVs and trucks in the U.S.—vehicles with higher cancer-causing emissions—and will stop selling nearly all other passenger cars, including their only 100 percent electric, zero emission vehicle.
As one of the Big Three automobile manufacturers in the U.S., Ford could make a big difference. Instead, Ford plans to focus on sales of higher-emission SUVs and trucks in the U.S. They’re even introducing a new diesel F-150 truck, which means now America’s best-selling vehicle, is offered with an engine that emits even more potent mammary carcinogens.
Instead of using their power as one of the largest auto manufacturers to lead the way in cleaning up the auto industry, Ford has actually been lobbying the Trump administration to lower emission standards. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The technology exists to make fully electric vehicles.
Warriors in Pink tells women that they have to fight hard against breast cancer. But it doesn’t matter how hard women “fight” if the air they breathe is full of cancer-causing chemicals because of Ford’s hypocrisy.
