FNSEA promotes breast cancer awareness

The Federation Nationale des Syndicats d'Exploitants Agricoles (FNSEA), an agricultural group that supports the use of chemical products and pesticides, has been organizing events to promote breast cancer screening. These events, held at agricultural fairs, include pink-themed activities such as raffles with prizes from Pioneer, a pesticide manufacturer, and the sale of pink tractor keychains. Since 2018, the FNSEA has collected about 45,000 euros for the League Against Cancer.

Critics call it pinkwashing

Some critics argue that the FNSEA's involvement in Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an example of "pinkwashing." This term refers to using the pink ribbon symbol to improve an organization's image, even if it may be linked to factors that contribute to the disease. The Cancer Colère collective, which has been raising awareness about the connection between pesticides and cancer since 2025, has renamed the month October Colère to highlight this issue.

League Against Cancer remains neutral

The League Against Cancer, which organizes Breast Cancer Awareness Month in France, has acknowledged that the event has become more commercial than its original purpose. However, the organization has not opposed the FNSEA's participation. It does not have a national partnership with the syndicate, but local branches can choose to associate with such events.

Local leader defends FNSEA's role

Rémi Bailhache, the local president of the League Against Cancer in the Manche department, is also a member of the FNSEA. He previously led the agricultural chamber under the syndicate's influence. Bailhache acknowledges a link between pesticide exposure and prostate cancer but denies any connection to breast cancer, citing the death of his wife from the disease in 2017. He argues that he, not his wife, was exposed to pesticides.

Doctors warn about pesticide risks

Louis Adrien Delarue, a general practitioner and member of the association Alerte Médecins Pesticides, states that two-thirds of pesticides cause hormonal imbalances that may contribute to breast cancer development. Rémi Bailhache, however, dismisses these claims, suggesting that if all potentially harmful pesticides were truly dangerous, there would be no farmers left in the world.

Origins linked to pesticide producers

Breast Cancer Awareness Month originated in the United States in 1985, created by the Imperial chemical industries (ICI), an ancestor of Syngenta, a major agrochemical company. ICI produced DDT, an insecticide classified as a probable carcinogen by the IARC, which is suspected of being a possible cause of breast cancer. One of ICI's subsidiaries also produced tamoxifen, the world's most sold breast cancer treatment.