What does talcum powder mean? Talc is a mineral that is mostly made up of magnesium, silicon, and oxygen. It is used to make talcum powder. Because it's a powder, it absorbs water well and reduces friction, which keeps skin dry and helps keep rashes away. A lot of cosmetics, like baby powder and body and face powders for adults, use it. A lot of other consumer goods also use it. In its natural state, some talc may contain asbestos, which is known to cause lung cancer when breathed in (see our document on asbestos). From the 1970s on, all talcum products for home use in the US have been free of asbestos. People who are worried about a possible link between talcum powder and cancer are mostly worried about two things: If talc miners and other people who work with natural talc fibers for a long time are more likely to get lung cancer from breathing them in. If women who use talcum powder on their genitalia on a regular basis are more likely to get ovarian cancer. Is talcum powder bad for you? If you want to know if talcum powder causes cancer, you need to know the difference between talc that has asbestos in it and talc that does not. Talc that contains asbestos is thought to be able to give people cancer if they breathe it in. Today, this kind of talc is not used in consumer goods. Less is known about asbestos-free talc, which is still used by a lot of people. Two main types of studies are used to try to figure out if a substance or exposure to it causes cancer. One kind of research looks at how common cancer is in various groups of people. A study like this could look at the difference in cancer rates between groups that were exposed to a substance and those that weren't. It could also compare these rates to what the normal cancer rate would be in the population. But it can be hard to figure out what studies of people mean because there are other things that might be affecting the results that are hard to explain. It's easier to make sure that other things don't affect the results of studies on lab animals, but it's not always clear if the results in animals would be the same in people. Most of the time, neither type of study is enough to prove something for sure, so researchers look at both human and lab-based studies. Tests in the lab Researchers have used different methods to expose rats, mice, and hamsters to asbestos-free talc. The results of these studies have been mixed, with some finding tumors and others not. Tests on people Ovarian cancer Some people think that talcum powder could cause cancer in the ovaries if the powder particles got to the ovary through the vagina, uterus, or come from sanitary napkins, condoms, or the area around the genital area. A possible link between talcum powder and ovarian cancer has been looked at in a number of studies with women. The results are not all the same. Some studies found a slightly higher risk, while others found no increase. The overall risk rise, if it exists, is probably not very big for any one woman. One study that looked at data from 16 studies published before 2003, for example, found that people who used talc had a 30% higher risk of getting ovarian cancer. The normal risk of ovarian cancer for a woman is about 1.4% over her lifetime. If that risk went up by 30%, it would still be about 1.8%. Still, talc is used in a lot of things, so it's important to find out if the higher risk is real. More research is being done in this area. Lung cancer There is some evidence that talc miners and millers may have a higher risk of lung cancer and other lung diseases, but other studies have not found this to be the case. The fact that talc in its natural state may contain different amounts of asbestos and other minerals makes these studies more difficult. This is not the case with consumer products that use only pure talc. Miners may also be exposed to other things, like radon, that can raise the risk of getting lung cancer while they work underground. People who use cosmetic talcum powder have not been linked to a higher risk of lung cancer. Other cancers There isn't a strong link between using talc and getting other cancers, but not all possible links have been studied in depth. A new study suggests that women who have gone through menopause who use genital talcum powder may have a slightly higher risk of endometrial (uterine) cancer. However, this possible link needs to be looked into further. What professional groups say Several national and international groups look into different environmental chemicals to see if they can cause cancer. A carcinogen is something that either starts cancer or helps it grow. The American Cancer Society trusts these groups to figure out the risks based on data from studies done in the lab, on animals, and with people. A few reputable organizations have looked into whether or not talc can cause cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) runs the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Its main goal is to find out what causes cancer. • • • TALC that has asbestos in it is considered "carcinogenic to humans" by the IARC. IARC says that talc that doesn't contain asbestos is "not classifiable as to carcinogenicity in humans" because there aren't enough data from studies on humans and only a few data from studies on lab animals. The IARC says that using talc-based body powder in the genital area is "possibly carcinogenic to humans" because there isn't a lot of evidence from studies on humans. Many US government departments work together to make up the National Toxicology Program (NTP). These include the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of now, the NTP has not fully looked into whether talc, with or without asbestos, could cause cancer. Can I limit how much talcum powder I'm exposed to? It's not clear if talcum powder-containing consumer goods raise the risk of getting cancer. Different types of research have been done on the personal use of talcum powder, with some pointing to a possible rise in the risk of ovarian cancer. At this point, there isn't much proof that using talcum powder is linked to any other types of cancer. If someone is worried about using talcum powder, they might want to stay away from or limit the products that contain it until they have more information. For instance, they might want to think about using beauty products made from cornstarch instead. At this point, there is no proof that cornstarch powders cause any kind of cancer.