News
The Battle Around Talcum Powder
The Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama) has published a new research that shows how talcum powder is not linked to ovarian cancer
This is the largest ever study, in a major finding likely to reverse the outcomes of several billion-dollar court cases.
US government researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science pooled data from 252,745 women and found no evidence that talc was dangerous when used as a feminine hygiene product.
In recent years the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson has payed out billions of dollars in compensation to women who claim to have developed ovarian cancer after using Johnson's Baby Powder.
The company told the press that it would now appeal all verdicts.
In the past few decades, several small studies had pointed to a link between talc and ovarian cancer but many were criticised for recall bias, in which women with ovarian cancer were asked to remember if they had ever used powder.
The new study looked at four cohort studies of women in the US, of whom nearly 40 percent had used talc for feminine hygiene.
Researchers found that there appeared to be a generational trend, with younger women less likely to use the product. But no link could be found between use and development of cancer.
This is the largest ever study, in a major finding likely to reverse the outcomes of several billion-dollar court cases.
US government researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science pooled data from 252,745 women and found no evidence that talc was dangerous when used as a feminine hygiene product.
In recent years the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson has payed out billions of dollars in compensation to women who claim to have developed ovarian cancer after using Johnson's Baby Powder.
The company told the press that it would now appeal all verdicts.
In the past few decades, several small studies had pointed to a link between talc and ovarian cancer but many were criticised for recall bias, in which women with ovarian cancer were asked to remember if they had ever used powder.
The new study looked at four cohort studies of women in the US, of whom nearly 40 percent had used talc for feminine hygiene.
Researchers found that there appeared to be a generational trend, with younger women less likely to use the product. But no link could be found between use and development of cancer.