Experts from the International Center for Cancer Research (CIRC/IARC), who were meeting in Lyon, France, published their this Friday’s results (5) in the magazine Lancet Oncology. Talc is a natural mineral that is extracted from many regions around the world “carcinogenic” to humans, based on a combination of partial human studies (ovarian cancer) and sufficient evidence from laboratory animals. There is also “strong mechanistic evidence,” the agency said.
Exposure in the workplace
According to these experts, Exposure occurs primarily in the workplace during the extraction, grinding or processing of talc, or during the manufacture of products containing it.
For the general population, exposure occurs primarily through the use of cosmetics and body powders containing talc. But, experts do not rule out certain biases in studies that showed an increase in the incidence of cancer. Although the evaluation focused on talc that does not contain asbestos, it could not be excluded that talc was contaminated with asbestos in the majority of human studies.
Interview by AFP, Kevin McConway, statistician at the Open University, in the United Kingdom, who was not involved in the study, cautioned against unscientific interpretation of the IARC assessment. According to him, the agency only sought to “answer the question of whether this substance could cause cancer, under certain conditions, without specifying the ones”, he explained.
As the studies were observational and therefore unable to prove causality“There is no definitive proof that talc use causes any increase in cancer risk,” he said.
The case of Johnson & Johnson
In June this year, The American pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) reached a definitive agreement with the judicial system of 42 states in the United States. in case of talc being accused of cancer. However, as part of this agreement, the company did not admit that they had any problems with their products.
In the 1970s, concerns arose about the contamination of talc with asbestos, which is often found near the minerals used to make talc. Later studies showed an increased risk of ovarian cancer among talc users.
No statistical link was found between the use of talc on the genitals and the risk of ovarian cancer in a synthesis of studies, published in January 2020 and based on 250,000 women in the United States.