Johnson & Johnson stops selling baby powder containing talc. How dangerous is talc?

Recently, Johnson & Johnson announced that it will stop selling baby powder containing talc worldwide in 2023. The news immediately sparked heated discussions. Many people have used Johnson & Johnson's baby powder when they were young, and even maintain this habit as adults, and also use it on their offspring. What is the reason behind Johnson & Johnson's suspension of sales of baby powder containing talc? Can things containing talc really cause cancer? NetEase Health has sorted out the issues that everyone is concerned about. Let's take a look together.

Event review: Tens of thousands of lawsuits, Johnson & Johnson is embroiled in cancer scandal

Johnson & Johnson announced that it would stop selling baby powder containing talc worldwide. It all started six years ago:

In February 2016, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $72 million to the family of a female victim who died of ovarian cancer.

In May 2016, another woman claimed that Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder caused her cancer, and Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $55 million in damages;

In October 2016, the jury fined Johnson & Johnson another $70 million.

In May 2017, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $110.5 million to a woman who developed cancer after using the company's product.

In August 2018, 22 women were ordered by a U.S. court to pay approximately $4.7 billion in damages after long-term use of Johnson & Johnson's baby powder and other talc-containing beauty products caused cancer.

In May 2020, Johnson & Johnson announced that it would stop selling its talc baby powder in the United States and Canada;

In June 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Johnson & Johnson's appeal, determining that it was responsible for the cancer of 22 plaintiffs in 2018, but reduced the amount of compensation from the original US$4.69 billion to US$2.12 billion.

Currently, Johnson & Johnson faces about 38,000 lawsuits alleging that its baby powder and other talc products contain asbestos, causing cancer in long-term users, and is facing sky-high claims as a result.

However, despite announcing the discontinuation of its talc-containing baby powder, Johnson & Johnson still denied the cancer allegations, saying that decades of scientific testing and regulatory approval have proven that its talc is safe.

What exactly is talcum powder at the center of the storm?

Talc is an industrial product, a magnesium silicate mineral. Its main component is hydrated magnesium silicate. It is crushed, treated with hydrochloric acid, washed with water, and dried.

Talc has excellent physical and chemical properties such as lubricity, fire resistance, acid resistance, insulation, high melting point, and chemical inactivity. Therefore, it is widely used in industrial production such as coatings, plastics, rubber, and ceramics. At the same time, it is also used in cosmetics manufacturing because of its good covering power, softness, good gloss, and strong adsorption. Food-grade talc is also used as an additive in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

In addition to the talcum powder at the center of the storm, talcum powder is often added to common powdered cosmetics such as eye shadow, blush, contouring, loose powder, as well as some facial cleansers, lotions, and sunscreens. As the Johnson & Johnson incident fermented, many large cosmetics brands also announced that they would stop using talcum powder.

So, does talcum powder cause cancer?

Let's look back at the reason why Johnson & Johnson was fined: its talc products were contaminated with asbestos, causing cancer in consumers. To explain in detail: there is a risk of cross-contamination with asbestos during the mining process of talc, and asbestos fiber is a strong carcinogen that can cause asbestosis, pleural mesothelioma and other diseases. When many women use talcum powder containing talc near the perineum, because the female reproductive organs are connected to the outside world, the tiny talc particles and asbestos fibers can easily enter the abdominal cavity through the vulva and attach to the surface of the ovaries, which will stimulate the proliferation of ovarian epithelial cells and induce ovarian cancer.

Let's take a look at the most commonly used and important international carcinogen classification standard: the list of carcinogens released by the World Health Organization, which divides carcinogenic factors into four levels and five categories, namely:

Category 1: confirmed to be carcinogenic to humans

Category 2A: Probably carcinogenic to humans and confirmed carcinogenic to animals

Category 2B: May cause cancer to humans and animals

Category 3: Suspected carcinogenicity to humans, no adequate human or animal data

Category 4: Probably not carcinogenic to humans, currently considered not to be carcinogenic to humans

It is worth noting that "asbestos" and "talc containing asbestos fibers" are carcinogenic to Class 1, while "talc without asbestos or asbestos fibers" is carcinogenic to Class 3. In other words, whether it contains asbestos or not, talc may cause cancer. Medical studies have also shown that talc enters the lungs through the respiratory tract and may increase the risk of lung cancer.

In China, the State Food and Drug Administration has also issued relevant requirements for talcum powder products, stipulating that "asbestos must not be detected in talcum powder" and that "during the production and use of powdered products, the powder should be kept away from the nose and mouth."

Johnson & Johnson has stopped selling its products. Can we still use products containing talc?

This question needs to be clarified in several ways:

1. Using talcum powder on infants and young children: Although the scientific community has not yet concluded that using talcum powder containing talc will definitely induce ovarian cancer, if talcum powder is applied to the inner thighs, vulva, lower abdomen and other parts of a baby girl for a long time, there is a risk of inducing ovarian cancer.

Currently, the talcum powders sold by Johnson & Johnson include baby powder, baby cooling powder, baby heat powder and baby natural corn powder. The first three contain talcum powder, while the last one uses corn starch instead of talcum powder.

At the same time, there are many talcum powder products on the market that are mainly made of plant materials such as cassava starch and pine pollen. However, we need to remind everyone that powdered talcum powder may cause inhalation injuries to infants and young children. At the same time, talcum powder with plant ingredients is more likely to condense when it comes into contact with sweat, and the talcum powder effect may not be satisfactory.

Therefore, regardless of whether it contains talc or not, it is not recommended to use talcum powder for infants and young children. Parents can try to wipe their children's bodies with warm water in time and wipe them clean with a soft cloth to help keep their baby's skin dry.

2. Adult use of talcum powder: Women should avoid using talcum powder and cosmetics containing talc in the pelvic area.

3. Cosmetics containing talcum powder: When applying for registration of cosmetics using talcum powder as raw material, a test report of asbestos impurities in the declared product is required. Therefore, if you find that the cosmetics you have purchased contain talcum powder, you can ask the merchant to issue an asbestos test report. If the merchant cannot provide it, then do not continue to use it. At the same time, you should also avoid inhaling the powder of cosmetics when using it.

4. Medicines containing talcum powder: Use in moderation, use under the guidance of a doctor, and avoid long-term use.

Looking back at the Johnson & Johnson talcum powder incident, countless consumers paid a painful price and even lost their lives because of the company's "mistakes", and the company itself was branded as "black-hearted". But at the same time, it cannot be ignored that these unfortunate events also coincidentally promoted the progress of the industry, allowing manufacturers to find more safe and effective raw materials and continuously improve product safety. Consumers will no longer be a vulnerable group who blindly buys and uses products based on the company's one-sided words, and will be more willing to take the initiative to understand the health truth behind each product.