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Olivia Newton-John, Singer and Grease Star, Dies at 73 -Worked on Raising Awareness About Environmental Health and Breast Cancer

Olivia Newton-John was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992. Her film Environmental Links to Breast Cancer featured Dr. Devra Davis, EHT’s longtime President as well as other experts working in environmental pollution. Her film focused on toxic chemicals in the environment and how even low levels of environmental pollutants can turn on cancer cells. This film was groundbreaking and the environmental health issues Newton-John raised awareness on such as plastics, endocrine disruption, xenoestrogens etc. are well understood to be contributing to breast cancer today.  Newton-John was way ahead of her time. Trailer

The film was produced by Francine Zuckerman and Martha Butterfield.

Watch the trailer below. Watch the full film at https://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/6217/Exposure–Environmental-Links-to-Breast-Cancer

Olivia won 4 Grammy awards and had 5 US No.1 singles, old an estimated 100 million records worldwide, and is best known for playing Sandy Olsson, in the 1978 musical film, Grease, with John Travolta.

“It was a real privilege to work with Olivia on the film, Exposure–environmental links to breast cancer in the 1990s.  A warm, funny and clever person, she had a genuine sense of  humor that managed to bring light into any room. She took the matter of environmental contamination quite seriously and became determined to find ways to address illness through pushing plant medicine to new boundaries.  Forever Sandy, forever young.” – Dr. Devra Davis statement on the passing of Olivia Newton John.

From Only Olivia

“Olivia hosted this serious Canadian documentary about the environmental causes of cancer. Olivia’s segments were filmed at her old Malibu beach house and you can hear the sea in the background. The documentary featured women experts and women facing cancer who were concerned about the toxins in the air, water and food. Produced by Francine Zuckerman and Martha Butterfield it’s thought provoking and frightening stuff.

The program ends with footage of Olivia testifying to Congress asking for more funds to look into the environmental causes. Diane Keaton accompanied Olivia and provided moral support as Olivia was understandably nervous. Olivia ends her eloquent speech with the quote: So when my daughter looks at me and says am I going to get breast cancer? I can say no.

Xenoestrogens are “foreign” estrogens, substances that are close enough in molecular structure to estrogen that they can bind to estrogen receptor sites with potentially hazardous outcomes such as causing cancer.  Xenoestrogens are synthetic chemicals released into the environment as pollutants from agricultural spraying (pesticides and herbicides), from industrial processes, and waste disposal (PCBs and dioxins).

 

 

 

 

Olivia Newton-John’sTestimony to Congress

Link to US Congress Transcript

STATEMENT OF OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, ACTRESS, BEVERLY 
            HILLS, CA

    Senator Specter. We now turn to Ms. Olivia Newton-John, an 
accomplished actress and recording star, recognized throughout 
her musical career with numerous awards, including the Country 
Music Association's top female vocalist of the year; honored at 
Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II, where she received the 
prestigious Order of the British Empire. She is best known, 
perhaps, for her starring role in ``Grease.''
    In June 1992, she became the spokesperson and goodwill 
ambassador for the Children's Health and Environmental 
Coalition. And last October, she hosted a cable special, 
``Lifetime Applauds the Fight Against Breast Cancer.''
    Welcome, Ms. Newton-John, and we look forward to your 
testimony.
    Ms. Newton-John. Thank you. I am very pleased to be here 
and be a part of this panel this morning. In fact, I am pleased 
to be anywhere, for I am one of the lucky ones. I am a survivor 
of breast cancer, and not everyone is as lucky as I am.
    I think that if you told me a few years ago that I would be 
discussing something so personal in public, something so 
intimate as this, I would have cringed. But I know that I need 
to speak out and something must be done. In 1992, I was 
diagnosed with breast cancer. There is no history of breast 
cancer in my family. I was, I thought, a very healthy person. 
So if it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody.
    My treatment was a modified radical mastectomy, and I had 
reconstruction on the table, followed by a 6-month course of 
chemotherapy. Now, 5 years away from surgery and chemotherapy 
and breathing a little easier, I am really examining what 
caused my cancer. I did not smoke or drink. I exercised, and I 
always ate plenty of my fruits and vegetables. But maybe, was 
it in my fruits and vegetables, in the enormous amounts of 
pesticides sprayed on our crops? Is it in the polluted air that 
I breathe when I am running? Is it in the water I drink, from 
the estrogen-mimicking hormones from plastics?
    I understand that the Government has spent more than one-
quarter of a billion dollars since the official war on cancer 
began under President Nixon. Some two decades into this war, we 
still do not have a cure for the most common forms of the 
disease. In addition, scientists cannot tell us why cancer 
continues to strike in children, why more and more women are 
diagnosed with breast cancer, and why more young men are 
acquiring testicular cancer.
    Of course, we need to allocate more money to cancer 
research, and we do need more effective treatments for the 1.5 
million people who will be diagnosed this year. But we must be 
careful to insist that a large part of whatever moneys are 
allocated be spent on figuring out how to prevent this disease 
and why is it happening.
    It is clear that doctors do not know why most women get 
breast cancer. Like me, they have none of the known risks of 
the disease. Inherited genetic defects only account for about 1 
in 10 cases. And experts can only explain about 25 percent of 
these cases.
    Since 1971, scientists have known that cancer is caused by 
changed genes which control cell growth. But my question is, 
what causes this gene to mutate in the first place? What 
triggers it?
    I believe we need to be looking for the causes in our 
environment. We know for a fact that smoking can cause lung 
cancer. We need to spend research money finding these links in 
your daily lives.
    There are two key environmental problems that may be linked 
to breast cancer. First, radiation. Everything from nuclear 
fallout to routine x rays. And, second, carcinogens and toxic 
chemicals found in pesticides, fuels, plastics, and even some 
therapeutic drugs. We simply must find funds for the research 
that will give us the answer to these life and death questions.
    I was relatively young when I was diagnosed. And a 
mammogram missed my tumor. And we all have to remember that 
mammograms, even when done properly and in the best 
institutions, simply do not prevent cancer; they only detect it 
after the disease is there. And for women like me, mammograms 
can miss tumors. It missed mine.
    I am first a mother, a survivor, and a woman who cares for 
the planet very much. And we are poisoning our Mother Earth, 
and we are poisoning ourselves. And there is recent evidence in 
animals and wildlife that indicates that a number of widely 
used pesticides, fuels and plastics and drugs can disturb the 
body's hormones. And these disturbances could also be keys to 
hormonal cancers.
    Despite the obvious importance of hormone-disrupting 
materials, the Federal Government has spent relatively modest 
amounts of money on this issue. Not only must more money be 
allocated to cancer overall, but this additional money must be 
spent on efforts to understand the causes of and to prevent the 
disease.
    As a mother, I am deeply concerned that we are failing to 
protect our children. My dear friends, Nancy and Jim Chuda, 
lost their daughter, Collette, at 5 years old, to Wilm's tumor. 
This is a cancer that has been shown to increase in children 
whose parents have had workplace exposure to some pesticides. 
And because of this personal experience, I am the national 
spokesperson for CHEC, the Children's Health and Environmental 
Coalition, a national movement on behalf of children's 
environmental health.

                           PREPARED STATEMENT

    I am not a scientist. I am a concerned mother and a 
citizen. And the main reason I am here is to say that we need 
to spend whatever it takes to stop cancer. And I know that with 
additional support from the government and the private sector, 
we can all make this happen. So that when my daughter looks at 
me and says, mummy, am I going to get breast cancer, I can say, 
no. [Applause.]
    [The statement follows:]

                Prepared Statement of Olivia Newton-John

    I am very pleased to be here and be a part of this panel 
this morning--I am very pleased to be anywhere, for I am one of 
the lucky ones. I am a survivor of breast cancer. Not everyone 
is as lucky as I am.
    I think that had you told me a few years ago that I would 
be discussing something so personal in public, something so 
intimate as this, I would have cringed.
    In 1992 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My treatment 
was a modified radical mastectomy with no lymph gland 
involvement and I had reconstruction on the table * * * 
followed by a 6-month course of chemotherapy.
    Five years away from surgery and chemotherapy, and 
breathing a little easier, I am really examining what caused my 
cancer. I didn't smoke or drink. I exercised and always ate 
fruits and vegetables. Was it in my vegetables from the 
enormous amounts of pesticides sprayed on our crops? Was it in 
the polluted air that I breathe when I go running? Was it in 
the water I drank, from the estrogen mimicking hormones from 
plastics?
    I understand that the government has spent more than a 
quarter billion dollars, since the official War on Cancer 
began, under President Nixon. Some two decades into this War, 
we still do not have a cure for the most common forms of the 
disease. In addition, scientists can't tell us why cancer 
continues to strike in children, why more and more women are 
diagnosed with breast cancer, and why more young men are 
acquiring testicular cancer.
    Of course, we need to allocate more money to cancer 
research. And we do need more effective treatments for the one 
and a half million people who will be diagnosed this year. But, 
we must be careful to insist that a large part of whatever new 
monies are allocated be spent on figuring out how to prevent 
this disease.
    It is clear that doctors don't know why most women get 
breast cancer. Like me, they have none of the known risks for 
the disease. Inherited genetic defects only account for about 1 
in 10 cases. Experts can only explain about 25 percent of the 
cases.
    Since 1971, scientists have known that cancer is caused by 
a change in genes which controls cell growth. But my question 
is, what causes this gene to mutate in the first place? What 
triggers it? I believe we need to be looking for the causes in 
our environment. We know for a fact that smoking can cause lung 
cancer. We need to spend research money finding links in our 
daily lives.
    There are two key environmental problems that may be linked 
to breast cancer. First, radiation--everything from nuclear 
fallout to routine x rays and secondly, carcinogens found in 
pesticides, fuels, plastics and even some therapeutic drugs. We 
simply must find funds for the research that will give us the 
answers to these life and death questions.
    I was relatively young when I was diagnosed. And a 
mammogram missed my tumor. We all have to remember that 
mammograms, even when done properly and in the best 
institutions, simply can not prevent breast cancer--and for 
women like me, mammograms can miss tumors like they missed 
mine.
    I am first a mother, a survivor and a woman who cares for 
the planet so very much and we are poisoning ourselves and our 
earth. There is recent evidence in animals and wildlife that 
indicates that a number of widely used pesticides, fuels, 
plastics, and drugs, can disturb the body's hormones. These 
disturbances could also be key to hormonal cancers.
    Despite the obvious importance of hormone disrupting 
materials, the federal government has spent relatively modest 
amounts of money on this issue. Not only must more money be 
allocated to cancer over all, but this additional money must be 
spent on efforts to understand the causes of and to prevent the 
disease.
    As a mother, I am deeply concerned that we are failing to 
protect our children. My dear friends Nancy and Jim Chuda lost 
their precious daughter, Collete, at age 5 to Wilm's tumor. 
This is a cancer that has been shown to be increased in 
children whose parents have had workplace exposure to some 
pesticides. Because of this personal experience I have been 
involved in CHEC, (Children's Health & Environmental Coalition) 
a national movement on behalf of children's environmental 
health.
    I am not a scientist, I am a concerned mother and citizen 
and the main reason I am here is to say that we need to spend 
whatever it takes to stop cancer and I know that with 
additional support from the government and the private sector 
we can all make this happen so that when my daughter looks at 
me and says ``Mummy am I going to get breast cancer?'' I can 
say ``no.''