For more than four decades there have been suspicions within the medical community that the use of a common personal hygiene product may be related to the development of cancer in the reproductive system.

The controversy involves baby powder, and some believe there is a serious risk that women who use the popular consumer product for feminine freshness may have an increased risk of ovarian cancer.

Talcum Powder Cancer Studies

Studies examining the link between baby powder and cancer go back to a British study in 1971. Researchers in that study reported that microscopic analysis of 13 ovarian tumors found talc particles in 10 of the tumors.

Several other studies followed in the early 1980s in the United States and Europe, and suggested that women who use talc-based feminine hygiene products may have up to a 35 percent higher risk of ovarian cancer than women who don’t use those products.

The findings have been mixed though, and researchers lack a clear connection that might lead talc to cause cancer. One theory is that talcum powder causes inflammation. The idea is that the talc can travel through the genital track to the ovaries, where it causes inflammation, which then leads to cancer.

Talc and Cancer Risks

About 21,000 cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed annually in the United States and about 14,000 women die from ovarian cancer each year. Researchers believe there is a definite causal link that talcum powder use could cause about 2,100 cases, or 10 percent, of those ovarian cancers.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, considered talc in 2005-2006 and came to a finding that talc is “possibly carcinogenic to humans” when used for personal feminine hygiene.

Baby Powder Cancer Lawsuits

The debate over baby powder ovarian cancer is also being weighed in U.S. court system.

In one baby powder lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson that reached a jury verdict in 2013, a woman in her 50s named Deane B. claimed that her 2006 ovarian cancer diagnosis was directly caused by years of using talc powder for feminine hygiene, and that the manufacturer knew of the potential link.

She reported more than 30 years of talcum powder use, including the Johnson & Johnson product Shower to Shower body powder, as part of her personal hygiene routine.

The South Dakota jury found that Johnson & Johnson failed to warn consumers of the link between the use of their talc powders for feminine hygiene and an increased risk of ovarian cancer.

If you or a loved one has been a long-time user of Johnson’s Baby Powder or any other talcum powder product, and received an ovarian cancer diagnosis, you may have a legal claim.  Individual lawsuits may be filed, and an opportunity to join a baby powder class action lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson may be available.