Can talcum powder give you cancer?

Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay $4.7bn (£3.6bn) in damages to 22 women who claim that asbestos in the pharmaceutical giant’s talcum powder products caused them to develop ovarian cancer.

Lawyers for the women and their families alleged that the company “knew its talc was contaminated with asbestos since the 1970s but failed to warn consumers about the risks”, says the BBC.

The jury at the trial, in the US state of Missouri, heard that of the women represented in this case, six have died from ovarian cancer.

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But what does the science say about the apparent link?

What is talcum powder?

Talcum powder is made from talc, a mineral made up of the elements including magnesium and silicon. Because of its moisture-absorbing qualities, it is commonly found in “cosmetic products such as baby powder and adult body and facial powders, as well as in a number of other consumer products”, says the American Cancer Society.

In its natural form, some talc contains asbestos - a substance known to cause cancers when ingested. This has led to concerns that women who apply talcum powder regularly to their genital area may have an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer.

What does the evidence say?

In a recent study, researchers looked at data on more than 2,000 women with ovarian cancer and compared their use of talc to a control group of women without the disease. “Overall, they found a 33% increase in the risk of ovarian cancer with genital talc use,” says the NHS website.

However, the site adds, these risk estimates were based on a small sample of women and the participants self-reported their use of talc, so the findings may not be reliable. These kinds of studies also cannot determine whether talc actually caused the cancer: a complex variety of lifestyle and genetic factors affect risk of developing the disease.

So is talcum powder safe to use?

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies talc that contains asbestos as “carcinogenic to humans”, and perineal (genital) use of talc-based body powder as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, according to the American Cancer Society website. This suggests that there may indeed be a link between the powder and ovarian cancer.

But is important to note that all talcum products used in homes in the UK and US have been asbestos-free since the 1970s. Furthermore, Cancer Research UK says there are “important weaknesses” in the studies that suggest women who used talc prior to then may have an increased risk of ovarian cancer.

However, to play it safe, medical experts recommend that only women use only plain, unscented soaps on the external genital area.