DESPITE NUMEROUS LAWSUITS IN THE U.S. AGAINST JOHNSON & JOHNSON, STUDIES ON TALCUM POWDER’S POTENTIAL LINK TO OVARIAN CANCER HAVE YIELDED OFTEN CONTRARY CONCLUSIONS, LEAVING WOMEN TO WONDER: IS IT SAFE TO USE?
EVIDENCE MIXED ON ALLEGED CANCER LINKS
Baby powder maker Johnson & Johnson has been the subject of a string of lawsuits, including two pending class-action cases in Canada, over allegations its product caused ovarian cancer in thousands of women who used it for feminine hygiene.
While some suits already heard in the United States have resulted in juries awarding massive amounts in compensation, studies on talcum powder’s potential link to the gynecological cancer have produced often contrary conclusions, leaving some women to wonder: is it safe to use baby powder?
“The evidence that we have is mixed and has to be taken with a little bit of skepticism,” said Dr. James Bentley, a gynecological oncologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Though some studies have found what appears to be a link, others have found no association, he said.
There’s also the issue of the way talc molecules interact with the body, which researchers don’t have a good handle on, said Bentley.
“This is chronic irritation of the ovary, and we do know that chronic irritation is associated with some carcinomas,” he said. “Do we have really good evidence for that? The literature goes back and forth on this.”
Dr. Daniel Cramer, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, was the first to sound alarm bells with a 1982 study that drew a link between long-term talc use on the genitals and the development of ovarian cancer.
Then a 2016 study he led suggested women who routinely sprinkled their vaginal area (known medically as the perineum) with talcum powder had a one-third higher risk of getting ovarian tumours than women who hadn’t been longtime users of the product.
“I’m persuaded by the evidence that talc used in the genital area will reach the ovaries and lymph nodes, and it creates an inflammatory environment that could contribute to the development of cancer,” Cramer said. “I’ve always felt the data was sufficient to warn women about using talc in their feminine hygiene.”
Baby powder is made from talc, a mined mineral that can be naturally contaminated with asbestos, which is known to cause the deadly cancer mesothelioma.
The lawsuits brought against Johnson & Johnson have contended the health and cosmetic giant should have put warning labels on the powders.
The most recent judgment against Johnson & Johnson occurred this month, when a St. Louis jury awarded almost US$4.7 billion to 22 women based on claims that decades of using talcum powder for feminine hygiene caused their ovarian cancer.
But the company denies its baby powder, which has been on the market since 1894, causes either mesothelioma or ovarian cancer.
“Johnson & Johnson remains confident that its products do not contain asbestos and do not cause ovarian cancer, and intends to pursue all available appellate remedies,” the company said in statement in the wake of the St. Louis case.”
Rhonda Dobson isn’t convinced. She was just 23 when she developed ovarian cancer in 2004 — a disease for which there was no family history — after lifelong use of talcum powder that began with her mother using it on her as a baby.
“That was part of my routine because you have a bath and then you put powder on,” said Dobson, who lives in rural New Brunswick.
While she has been cancer-free since 2009, the 37-year-old said she continues to pay a price for her cancer, which resulted in the removal of her left ovary and fallopian tube, as well as permanent hair loss from chemotherapy. “We trusted them and we believed in their product,” she said.
Mary Krpan, 60, of Hamilton was diagnosed with latestage ovarian cancer in 2014. Despite aggressive treatment, including a complete hysterectomy and chemotherapy, the disease has now spread to her lungs.
The mother of two daughters started using Johnson & Johnson baby powder after the birth of her eldest child, who is now 31.
Both Dobson and Krpan are part of a yet-to-be-certified national class-action lawsuit, which alleges their cancers were caused by longterm use of talcum powder.
In May, a Quebec court gave the go-ahead for a classaction suit filed by the Merchant Law Group, covering women in the province with ovarian cancer who had long used Johnson & Johnson baby powder or Valeant’s Shower to Shower for personal hygiene; Merchant has filed a second class-action in B.C. on behalf of women elsewhere in Canada, which is awaiting certification.
Despite all the court cases and ongoing debate over the safety of talcum powder, Bentley doesn’t think women who have habitually dusted themselves with the product should panic, especially given the inconsistency of research results.
“But should you use talc? Probably not,” he said.
WE TRUSTED THEM AND WE BELIEVED IN THEIR PRODUCT.