Numerous lawsuits claim baby powder causes ovarian cancer, so is it safe or not?
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 the sweet-smelling, moisture-reducing agent for feminine hygiene.
While some suits already heard in the U.S. 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 women to wonder: is it safe to use baby powder or not?
“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, depending in part on their design, 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 all the time.”
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 onethird 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 from Boston.
“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 contains three primary ingredients: magnesium, silicon, and oxygen. But talc 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 - along with the company that bought the talc-based Shower to Shower from J & J in 2012, Valeant Pharmaceuticals - should have put warning labels on the powders.