The first major prospective study of baby powder and ovarian cancer came out in the year 2000, and suggested that using baby powder on a woman’s genitals increases the risk of ovarian cancer.

The baby powder ovarian cancer study used data from the Nurse’s Health Study, a data collection system created in 1976. This included data from 121,700 registered nurses across 11 states.

The talc powder study consisted of a survey of nurses, with follow-ups mailed every two years since the study began. In this type of study, called a prospective cohort study, a group of individuals are followed and studied over time.

When people in the group develop diseases like ovarian cancer, researchers have data on their lifestyle and exposures leading up to this, as well as similar individuals who did not get ovarian cancer. This type of study can help researchers identify the causes of diseases like ovarian cancer.

This particular baby powder study used data from the Nurse’s Health Study to try and identify risk factors for ovarian cancer. There are two types of baby powder, one made of cornstarch, and one made of talc. Several studies had previously suggested that talc-based baby powder could cause ovarian cancer, but earlier studies had limitations.

Talc is a naturally-occurring mineral from the same family as asbestos and silica powder, both of which have been implicated in cancer. In fact, until the early 70s, talcum powder often contained traces of asbestos since the two minerals form under similar conditions and often show up together, before more stringent quality rules were put into play for talc powder.

However, the 2000 study was the strongest study that suggested a link between ovarian cancer and using talc-based baby powder on the genitals. This ovarian cancer study offered several advantages over older studies.

For example, the Nurse’s Health Study data allowed researchers to draw from a very large sample size. This increases the statistical power of a study, giving weight to the results. Earlier studies that examined the potential link between ovarian cancer and baby powder tended to have much smaller sample sizes.

Additionally, earlier studies asked ovarian cancer patients about their baby powder use after they had already developed ovarian cancer. Humans have certain blind spots in the way we think, called cognitive biases. One of these is recall bias, a tendency of people to be susceptible to suggestion when recalling the past.

For example, a person who believes they developed ovarian cancer from baby powder would be more likely to “remember” they used it than someone who does not have ovarian cancer. This study addresses this concern by establishing baby powder or talcum powder use before the patient developed ovarian cancer.

Baby powder lawsuits have been filed against the manufacturets of talcum powder and baby powder based products by women who have developed ovarian cancer. These baby powder ovarian cancer lawsuits allege that the makers of these products were aware — or reasonably should have been aware — of the alleged link between baby powder and ovarian cancer.

These baby powder cancer lawsuits allege that companies have specifically made baby powder based products specifically for use on the genitals, including Johnson & Johnson’s Shower to Shower powder and Johnson’s Baby Powder. These talc powder lawsuits typically seek to recoup the cost of medical care associated with ovarian cancer, as well as lost wages and legal fees.