Talc Could Give You Cancer And Here’s Why

In 2016, Jackie Fox’s family won a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, a well known company that uses talc in its skincare products. A jury in Missouri decided that Fox’s family should be awarded compensation for not making the link between talc use and ovarian cancer clearer to the general public.


Fox used Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, two of the company’s talc-based products, for more than 35 years before being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2013. She eventually died from the disease in 2015. The judge eventually ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay Fox’s family $72 million in damages, and an estimated 1,200 more lawsuits are about to be brought against the company from American customers over the next few years.



Multi-million dollar lawsuits aside, however, there doesn’t appear to be that much solid scientific evidence to prove that talc, in its modern day form, actually causes cancer.

In America, at least, talcum powder has been relabelled as “baby powder”, and is now made from cornstarch.However, in its natural form, some talc contains asbestos, a substance known to cause cancers in and around the lungs when inhaled. This version of talc hasn’t been used since the 1970s, when the first talc scares were broadcast in the media.



 So what about the studies conducted on asbestos-free talc? According to cancer.org:“It has been suggested that talcum powder might cause cancer in the ovaries if the powder particles (applied to the genital area or on sanitary napkins, diaphragms, or condoms) were to travel through the vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes to the ovary.“Many studies in women have looked at the possible link between talcum powder and cancer of the ovary. Findings have been mixed, with some studies reporting a slightly increased risk and some reporting no increase. Many case-control studies have found a small increase in risk.”

Many medical professionals don’t believe there’s a risk. Dr Ahmed Ismail, a gynaecologist on London’s famous Harley Street, believes the studies have no real foundation in fact. He said: “This is very, very unscientific. We are unable to detect the reasons for ovarian cancer. Whoever claims it is related to talcum powder, that’s a fallacy. We cannot say that we know there is a relationship between talcum powder and ovarian cancer.”



The International Agency for Research on Cancer says that today’s talc is “not classifiable as to carcinogenicity” from inhalation.

However, when it comes to the link between talc and ovarian cancer, it classifies the powder’s use on the genitals as “possibly carcinogenic.”

Tracie Miles, an information nurse specialist at gynaecological cancer charity Eve Appeal, doesn’t agree with that definition. She’s spoken out against The International Agency for Research on Cancer’s claims that talcum powder being carcinogenic, calling them “pseudo-science.”

She added: “It’s not real. It’s simply not proven. I would say the majority of informed gynaecologists in the UK dismiss this suggestion,” she says, stressing that she doesn’t want people to worry about this – especially older women who are more likely to have used talcum powder for many years.

“If we took this case through the British courts, I don’t think the complainant would stand a chance in hell. It’s just the American judicial system. I find it disappointing.”