For many years medical professionals have warned us of the dangers that Talcum Powder can cause breathing problems for babies and children.
Most recently though one big pharmaceutical giant, Johnson and Johnson have been at the centre of many lawsuits from women claiming that the long term use of Johnsons Baby Powder and Shower to Shower has been the cause of ovarian cancer.
The first lawsuit was filed in 2009 by a lady called Diane Berg, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2006. For years she sprinkled her underwear with Talc to remove bad odours. She was not to know that this product was dangerous with long term exposure as there are no warning signs on the packaging.
She sued them for gross negligence and fraud. As a result of the trial, Talc was found in the tumours from her ovaries and it was decided that the product was the cause of her cancer. Shockingly though Johnson and Johnson were not found guilty of fraud and were not ordered to award any damages. Interestingly, they did however offer her $1.3 Million in an out of court settlement on the understanding that she would sign a confidentiality clause. This she refused.
As shocking and disappointing as this was, Two other judges did find Johnson and Johnson guilty of negligence, conspiracy and failure to warn women of the increased risk of using Talcum Powder in the genitail area with long term use. They were found guilty of concealing critical information about the products safety for more than 40 years. They were ordered to pay a hefty $127 Million to two separate families. Now more than one thousand lawsuits have been filed against the pharmacetical giants.
As of this time, there has not been a recall of any of the talc-based products as a result of ovarian cancer. However, talcum powder is not a product regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The manufacturers of these products regulate themselves. Which is actually quite terrifying, considering that Johnson and Johnson failed to mention that women are 30-60% more likely to get ovarian cancer using their product.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer however does classify Talcum powder as possibly carcinogenic to humans.
So the moral of this story is to perhaps bin all Talcum and possibly all Johnson products with haste.
Don’t fear though we have already begun the search for Talc free alternatives and can recommend just few of the many options out there.
- Burts Bees – Dusting Powder
- The Honest Company – Baby Powder
- Neals Yard – Baby Powder
- Era Organics – Dusting Powder
- Reiscare – Baby Powder