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Gas company ‘pinkwashes’ drills for cancer awareness

Non-profit Susan G. Komen recieved some harsh feedback for accepting a donation from Pennsylvania oil and gas company, Baker Hughes, which is painting its…

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Breast cancer awareness non-profit Susan G. Komen is partnering with Pennsylvania oil and gas company Baker Hughes to paint 1,000 drill bits pink — and receive a donation of $100,000.

But the campaign — under the name “Doing our Bit for the Cure” — has received some harsh criticism for “pinkwashing” an industry that has been accused of exposing the public to carcinogens.

A recent study of rural Ohio counties where the industry is booming found that the air in the country is more polluted than in downtown Chicago. The monitors near gas wells found the same compounds as are in car exhaust and cigarette smoke. The researchers are still monitoring residents who live in the area for health effects. Research in Colorado last year found “hormone-disrupting chemicals” associated with cancer in wastewater near drilling sites.

The lack of research and oversight of the booming industry, along with policies that protect companies from disclosing which chemicals are used in the hydraulic fracturing process, has fueled public suspicion and an anti-fracking movement. At Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers game where Susan G. Komen received Baker Hughes’ check, protesters stood outside Heinz Field to spread one message — “think before you pink.” A petition with 150,000 signatures requested that the breast cancer organization return the money.  

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