Cornstarch vs. Talc: Is Any Child Powder Protected?

Johnson & Johnson is prepared to pay virtually $9 billion to settle 1000’s of lawsuits alleging that its talcum powder triggered cancers, the corporate introduced Apr. 4.

The proposal is the most recent chapter in a long-running saga associated to the corporate’s use of talc—a naturally occurring mineral that has been linked to most cancers—in its child powder. Johnson & Johnson stopped promoting child powder containing talc in North America in 2020, and final 12 months introduced plans to discontinue world use of the mineral and promote solely a cornstarch-based child powder components. On the time, Johnson & Johnson representatives mentioned in an organization assertion that the shift was a “business determination” to “meet the wants of our customers, clients and evolving world tendencies.” In an Apr. 4 assertion, the corporate maintained its “longstanding place that its talcum powder merchandise are protected.”

Talc will not be banned within the U.S., however right now, many child powder manufacturers as an alternative use cornstarch, which is used as an absorbent in cosmetics. Whereas cornstarch is probably going a safer selection than talc, some consultants say it nonetheless comes with well being dangers. Right here’s what to know.

The well being dangers of talc-containing and cornstarch-based child powder

Simply as mother and father use child powder to maintain their infants’ pores and skin dry and freed from rashes, some adults apply the product to their genitals, inside thighs, ft, or different elements of the physique to soak up moisture and forestall chafing or pores and skin irritation.

Some research counsel that making use of talc to the genital space could improve the danger of ovarian most cancers. However different analysis, together with a big research revealed in 2020, doesn’t assist that conclusion. The Worldwide Company for Analysis on Most cancers (IARC) considers utilizing talc-based child powders across the genitals “probably carcinogenic.”

There’s stronger proof that the usage of talc tainted by asbestos—one other mineral that’s typically discovered close to talc within the earth—is linked to cancers together with mesothelioma, which impacts tissue that strains inside organs. Since asbestos publicity is linked to lung most cancers, inhaling asbestos-contaminated talc might also improve the danger of that illness. IARC considers talc tainted with asbestos a recognized human carcinogen. (J&J has lengthy maintained that its child powders don’t include asbestos, regardless of reporting on the contrary.)

Over time, inhaling talc—even the sort freed from asbestos—may contribute to respiratory points together with coughing, wheezing, and issue respiration, says Dr. Stanley Spinner, chief medical officer at Texas Kids’s Pediatrics and Texas Kids’s Pressing Care. Infants are at explicit danger, he says, however respiratory points are typically reported amongst adults as nicely. Individuals who work in environments the place they repeatedly inhale talc could also be prone to severe lung injury or most cancers, analysis suggests.

Inhaling cornstarch child powder might also trigger lung points over time, Spinner says. That’s once more primarily a priority for infants, given their smaller airways, however the danger amongst adults is probably going “not zero” both, he says.

“Something that you just inhale can irritate the lungs,” agrees Dr. Peily Soong, a pediatrician at Kids’s of Alabama.

Do consultants suggest utilizing any sort of child powder?

The American Academy of Pediatrics has lengthy advisable towards the usage of child powders that include talc, due to each inhalation considerations and potential most cancers dangers. However what about cornstarch child powder?

“If it’s a must to select between the 2,” cornstarch child powder is probably going the higher possibility, Spinner says. “However basically it’s higher to keep away from all of them” as a result of respiratory considerations.

Soong additionally doesn’t suggest child powder, even when it’s cornstarch-based, and says it’s normally not obligatory anyway. If diaper rash is a priority, Soong recommends utilizing a petroleum-based ointment, altering your child frequency, and typically letting them go with out a diaper at residence.

“If a mother or father is decided to make use of any quantity of child powder,” Spinner says they need to “put somewhat bit on their hand and really rigorously apply it to the pores and skin to attenuate the danger of it stepping into the air and being inhaled.”

Write to Jamie Ducharme at jamie.ducharme@time.com.