Text/Wang Xiaoqing, Contributing Writer of CC Intelligence Bureau
Key Takeaways:
1. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that talcum powder has been classified as a Group 2A carcinogen. Just three weeks ago, Johnson & Johnson's "ovarian cancer lawsuit caused by talcum powder contained in talcum powder" ended with a compensation of $700 million after more than ten years.
2. Talcum powder is a natural product that is widely used in medicine, food, coatings and other industries, especially cosmetics. Some studies suggest that it may increase the risk of ovarian cancer, especially in women who have been using talcum powder in the genital area for a long time; However, there are also studies that show that talcum powder is not directly linked to cancer risk.
3. The carcinogenicity of talc may be related to the asbestos impurities contained in the raw materials. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a subsidiary of WHO, classifies asbestos as a Group 1 carcinogen. With the fermentation of the Johnson & Johnson talcum powder incident, many large cosmetics companies abandoned talcum powder. At present, talcum powder has not been included in the restricted raw materials for management in China, but asbestos is a harmful substance in cosmetics. However, under the existing process conditions, talc cannot completely remove asbestos components during processing, and consumers still need to consider the risks and choose carefully.
Three weeks after Johnson & Johnson paid $700 million for the carcinogenic case of talcum powder, the World Health Organization announced that talcum powder, the main raw material of talcum powder, was identified as a carcinogen!
Talcum powder, which is widely used in cosmetics, can cause ovarian cancer?!
On July 5, the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) issued an announcement: a working group of 29 scientists from 13 countries met at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France, and after a thorough review of the existing scientific literature, IARC announced the classification of talc as a Group 2A carcinogen.
▎The WHO International Center for Research on Cancer said the decision was based on "limited evidence" that talc may cause ovarian cancer in humans, "sufficient evidence" that talc is linked to cancer in mice, and "solid mechanistic evidence" that talc shows signs of carcinogenicity in human cells. The study was published in the latest issue of The Lancet Oncology.
The WHO classifies carcinogens into four categories: Group 2A carcinogens are defined as "substances or mixtures of substances or mixtures with low potential for carcinogenicity to humans, and sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity found in animal experiments." ”
Three weeks before the announcement, Johnson & Johnson's "ovarian cancer lawsuit against talcum powder contained in talcum powder" took more than a decade to announce that it would end with a compensation of $700 million.
A few weeks after the end of the lawsuit, the WHO classified talc as a Group 2A carcinogen, which has a significant impact, but what exactly is talc and why does it cause cancer? Can talcum powder be used again? Are powder cosmetics containing talcum powder safe?
▎On July 5, IARC announced that talc would be listed as a Class 2A carcinogen, while acrylonitrile was listed as a Class I carcinogen. The report cites "sufficient evidence" to prove that acrylonitrile is linked to lung cancer. Polymers made from acrylonitrile are used in a wide range of applications, including clothing fibers, carpets, plastics, and other consumer products.
Is talcum powder carcinogenic? Scientists are controversial
Talcum powder is a natural product, mined from the soil, composed of magnesium, silicon, oxygen and hydrogen, which can absorb water and is widely used in medicine, food, cosmetics, coatings, paints, paper, ceramics and other industries.
According to the information of the China Flavor and Fragrance Association, talcum powder is often used as a lubricant, absorbent, filler, anti-caking agent, sunscreen, etc. in cosmetics, and is widely used in fragrance powder, talcum powder, prickly heat powder, powder, eyebrow powder, eye shadow, blush, lipstick, lipstick, body lotion, sunscreen and other cosmetic products.
After the Johnson & Johnson talcum powder lawsuit broke out, questions on the online platform such as "can you still use talcum powder in the first place" and other questions are often pushed to the hot search.
Reports of carcinogenesis from the use of talc in cosmetics can be traced back to 1983, when a study by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences concluded that talc, which does not contain asbestos, causes tumors in the lungs and adrenal glands of rats. In 2006, IARC classified cosmetic talc applications as a 2B carcinogen.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) then issued a note that "literature from the 60s of the 20th century suggests a possible association between talc and ovarian cancer". The FDA did not specify whether talc causes cancer, saying only that the biggest concerns about a possible link between talc and cancer are focused on two groups of people: first, people who work in long-term exposure to natural talc fibers, such as talc miners, who may be at high risk of lung cancer; The second is women who regularly use talcum powder in their genital areas, and they may have an increased risk of ovarian cancer.
A 2016 epidemiological study published by the American Association for Cancer Research found an increased risk of ovarian cancer among African-American women who used talcum powder on their private parts. Studies have also shown that talcum powder particles may produce an inflammatory response when inhaled into the human body.
Scientists who suspect that talcum powder is linked to cancer are cautious and almost always add the word "probably" to their conclusions.
In fact, a considerable number of scientists wonder if all powders can cause cancer in long-term contact with the female reproductive organs. A 2013 study analyzed nearly 20,000 people and found that those who used any type of powder in their lower bodies were 20 to 30 percent more likely to develop ovarian cancer than those who did not use any powder. The results of this study concluded that avoiding powdered products on the genitals may be a strategy to reduce the incidence of ovarian cancer.
Dr. Robyn Andersen, an ovarian cancer researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the United States, said that because the powder is made up of finely ground particles, it may be able to move along the mucosa inside the vagina and eventually into the ovaries. There, the powder may cause inflammation and eventually cancer.
However, a 2014 study published in the National Journal of Cancer Research looked at data from about 60,000 women and found no link between powder use and ovarian cancer risk.
Therefore, people raised another question, is it because the talcum powder raw materials will be accompanied by asbestos impurities, and asbestos has been internationally recognized as a carcinogen, so it causes talcum powder to cause cancer?
Johnson & Johnson's "carcinogenic talcum powder" lawsuit gave birth to talcum powder being listed as a carcinogen?
On June 11 this year, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $700 million, or about 5.1 billion yuan, to settle with 42 states in the United States on allegations that its baby powder and other products contain carcinogenic ingredients.
Johnson & Johnson is the world's largest manufacturer of health care products, and its baby powder is one of its best-selling products. However, since 2012, when the first U.S. precedent found that the company's popular talcum powder could cause ovarian cancer and ordered the company to pay civil damages to the victims, there has been a backlog of more than 13,000 such lawsuits, with a total of more than $5 billion in civil damages. Many of the women who sued Johnson & Johnson were based on one reason: they had been using talcum powder to clean their lower bodies for more than a decade, and all of them suffered from ovarian cancer. The media even revealed that the company had been aware that talcum powder could cause ovarian cancer, but had concealed the truth from consumers. Johnson & Johnson denied the allegations and said in court that multiple testing agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, had not found talc to cause cancer.
▎ Johnson & Johnson products contain talcum powder labeling.
But the media and cancer patients have targeted the asbestos contained in talcum powder.
Asbestos is so small that it is barely visible to the naked eye. It enters the human body through the respiratory tract and after an incubation period of 20 to 40 years, it induces malignant tumors such as asbestosis, lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma.
In 1987, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a subsidiary of the World Health Organization, classified asbestos as a group of carcinogens (i.e., substances known to be carcinogenic to humans), declaring it to be one of the most important occupational carcinogens, causing about half of all deaths from occupational cancer. Exposure to asbestos, including chrysotile asbestos, can cause lung, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers, as well as mesothelioma. Exposure to asbestos can also cause other conditions, such as asbestosis (pulmonary fibrosis), pleural plaques, pleural thickening, and pleural effusions.
▎ Asbestos.
A study published in 2017 claimed that asbestos exposure causes around 237,000 deaths worldwide each year; Then, in 2018, an investigation into 2016 deaths from asbestos exposure reported 222,321 deaths, including 39,275 in the United States.
In December, Reuters published an in-depth investigation revealing that Johnson & Johnson had known for decades that its baby powder could be contaminated with asbestos impurities, and that three different laboratories conducted at least three tests between 1972 and 1975 that found asbestos in the brand's baby powder products, one of which reported "very high levels." However, Johnson & Johnson did not inform the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of this, and even when the agency tested for asbestos in cosmetic talc products in 1976, it said it had not detected asbestos in "any samples" that year.
After the publication of this article, the Johnson & Johnson stock market fell sharply, and public opinion was in an uproar.
▎Asbestos warning labels in Hong Kong.
Johnson & Johnson announced a lawsuit that had been delayed for more than 10 years three weeks before the WHO declared talc to be a Class 2A carcinogen, and quickly settled.
With the fermentation of the Johnson & Johnson talcum powder incident, many large cosmetics brands announced that they would abandon talcum powder. Revlon, for example, says it has removed talcum powder from its body products; L'Oréal said it was looking for an alternative to talcum powder.
Finally, let's talk about a few questions that everyone is concerned about, are domestic cosmetics and talcum powder safe?
Tong Wenxin, director of the policy and regulation department of the Beijing Daily Chemical Association, said in an interview that the "Safety and Technical Specifications for Cosmetics (2015 Edition)" has not yet included talc as a restricted raw material for management, but stipulates that asbestos shall not be detected as a harmful substance in cosmetics, and at the same time includes the detection method of asbestos in powdered cosmetics and their raw materials by X-ray diffractometer and polarizing microscope. However, under the existing process conditions, talc cannot completely remove asbestos components during processing.
In addition, edible talcum powder is also a common food additive, which is widely used in pastries, breads, condiments, dressings, beverages and dairy products. How safe it is, the relevant parties should also develop a safety standard for talcum powder in food.