FDA Panel Urges Removal of Talc from Consumer Products Due to Cancer Link

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel has reinforced longstanding concerns over the carcinogenic potential of talc, urging the agency to restrict its use in foods, drugs, and cosmetics.

Citing more than three decades of epidemiological studies linking genital talc exposure to ovarian cancer, the panel recommended that FDA adopt new regulatory standards that would effectively ban talc in consumer products such as candy, rice, pharmaceuticals, and personal care items.

“It’s clear talc is carcinogenic and inflammatory and there’s very little doubt about this,” said George Tidmarsh, MD, PhD, professor at Stanford University and a member of the FDA-convened panel, in a news release, adding that its removal from the U.S. market is a matter of “how and when,” not if.

The panel cited foundational work by Daniel Cramer, MD, ScD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, whose 1982 study showed an 82% increased risk of ovarian cancer in women who routinely used talc-based powders for feminine hygiene. More than 40 subsequent studies over the years have supported the findings, and numerous tested product samples have shown asbestos contamination.

“It was encouraging to see this distinguished panel with representatives from the FDA, NIH and the nation’s leading hospitals and medical schools agree that there remains little doubt about the causal link between talc and cancer," said Andy Birchfield of the Beasley Allen Law Firm, among the law firms with ovarian cancer lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson pending in a New Jersey federal court, as well as in other state courts. “In recent years, the science showing the dangers of talc exposure to women has only increased, with no new studies to indicate otherwise, and we look forward to presenting that evidence in court at the earliest possible opportunity.”

Source: Businesswire release. May 23, 2025.