Problem Powder
Cancer link
A possible tie between talcum powder and ovarian cancer, long suspected because of talc's chemical similarity to asbestos, was strongly supported last week when a study found a higher risk of the cancer among women who dusted themselves with talc or used feminine deodorant sprays. The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that women who used talcum powder in the genital area had an increased ovarian cancer risk of 60 percent; women who used feminine deodorant sprays had a 90 percent increased risk. But dusting diaphragms with talc, as generally recommended before storing them, was not associated with increased risk. "That probably has to do with frequency of use. Those who dust with powder after a shower probably do so daily. Diaphragm use is much more sporadic," said Linda Cook of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and lead author of the study. Condoms, often dusted with talcum powder in packaging, were not studied.
The increased risk sounds alarming but represents a modest increase in cases, since ovarian cancer affects only about 8 of every 100,000 women. Bernard Harlow, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Harvard Medical School who had published earlier analyses of the suspected link, estimates that 10 percent of ovarian cancers might be associated with talcum powder use. Even that slightly higher risk, he says, is one women don't have to take. "It's one of the easiest preventable risks," he says. "There are products on the market that do not contain talc." The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates cosmetics, conducted a 1994 scientific workshop on the issue and did not find enough of a causal link to justify a consumer warning. But John Bailey, director of the FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors, said women who "want to err on the side of safety" should check the ingredient labels on powders and feminine deodorant sprays to see if they contain talcum powder. No study has found a tie between using talcum powder on babies and future ovarian cancer, Harlow says, but adds, "I don't think it would be a wise thing to do, especially on female babies."
This story appears in the March 17, 1997 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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