Talcum powder is an innocent substance or a cancer-causing agent — depending who you ask.
No study definitively links today’s talc to ovarian cancer, but a Missouri jury just awarded the family of Jacqueline Fox $ 72 million after her lawyer argued that Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder caused her death from ovarian cancer.
Talc — an ingredient in Baby Powder — once contained asbestos, a proven carcinogen, but that’s not been true since the 1970s. Some studies have suggested that women who use talc — a natural substance that includes magnesium, silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen — in their genital area are at risk for ovarian cancer, if the particles wind up internally. But findings have varied, and there’s no scientific consensus on the matter.
JOHNSON & JOHNSON LOSES CARE OVER CANCER LINKED TO ITS TALC
“Developing ovarian cancer from talc-based powder is plausible but not proven,” said Dr. Dana Loomis, deputy director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization.
The National Toxicology Program has investigated a possible talcum-cancer link, and ruled that barring further study they can’t make a determination. “It’s just an unawnsered question from our standpoint,” says associate director John Bucher.
LUCAS JACKSON/REUTERSJohnson & Johnson was ordered by a Missouri state jury to pay $ 72 million of damages to the family of a woman whose death from ovarian cancer was linked to her use of the company’s talc-based Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for several decades.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Jere Beasley, whose client used Johnson & Johnson powders, says the products are “toxic” and should not be sold. At the very least, Beasley — who says his office has been contacted by 6,000 families in similar situations — wants warning labels on the packaging.
Johnson & Johnson maintains its products are safe.
Millions of American parents fluff powder onto their babies’ bottoms every day — even though the American Academy of Pediatrics shuns it because it “can cause breathing problems.”
“If you feel you must use it, use sparingly,” said Elie Ward, director of policy and advocacy for the New York State Academy of Pediatrics. “Not because of anything other than some guidelines of not introducing irritants to the baby’s skin.”
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