Two baby powder class action lawsuits were filed alleging Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder products caused women to develop ovarian cancer.

The lawsuits allege that women who used baby powder in their genital area developed ovarian cancer after talc traveled through their bloodstream and into their ovaries.

One baby powder lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Illinois in May by plaintiff Barbara Mihalich. She alleges that she and other consumers wrongly “expected talc to be safe to use,” because there was no mention of ovarian cancer on the company’s baby powder. Her baby powder class action lawsuit said studies that observed the alleged correlation stated that women who apply talcum powder to their genital area face a 33 percent increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. The class action lawsuit intends to establish a Class for Illinois women who purchased Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder in the past five years.

The other baby powder lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in April by plaintiff Mona Estrada. That talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuit makes similar allegations. Estrada also applied Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder to her genital area, and had allegedly developed ovarian cancer as a result. Estrada stated that she never would have used the product if she had known of the risk of ovarian cancer. The baby powder cancer lawsuit alleges negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product. Estrada’s class action lawsuit is also aiming to establish a Class for women who were affected by the defendant’s talcum powder, with hers demanding that the company update the products’ warning labels.

The Baby Powder Ovarian Cancer Class Action Lawsuits are Barbara Mihalich v. Johnson & Johnson, Case No. 3:14-cv-00600-MJR-SCW, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois and Mona Estrada v. Johnson & Johnson, Case No. 2:14-cv-01051-TLN-KJN, in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of California.

The risk of ovarian cancer from talcum powder use only recently became known to consumers, but had allegedly been known by the manufacturers. After a study published in the June 2013 issue of the medical journal Cancer Prevention showed women faced up to a 30 percent greater risk of developing ovarian cancer, consumers began filing baby powder cancer lawsuits.

In 2014, the American Cancer Society estimated 21,980 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed, and that 14,270 women will die from it.