Talcum powder and cancer ... a study reveals the "final say"
The results, published Tuesday in an editorial in the Journal of the American Association for Science, after a study of a quarter of a million women, were described as "generally reassuring."
"This is the best data we have come up with in this regard," said Kitty O'Brien, lead researcher at the study and senior researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Health.
Health concerns about the talcum powder prompted thousands of women to refer to court cases in the US courts, alleging that asbestos was involved in the production of the powder, they had cancer.
And that mineral is a mineral similar in composition to the asbestos known to cause cancer, both of which are sometimes extracted from the same mines.
In 1976, cosmetics production companies agreed to ensure that the talcum powder they produced did not contain observable quantities of asbestos.
Smaller studies that investigated the existence of a possible link between talcum powder and cancer concluded mixed results, although most did not find clear evidence.
