PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION
Talc
Talcum powder (Talc) has been used for decades in a wide variety of consumer products. Because these consumer products were part of the cosmetic and fragrance industry, they were largely outside of the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Key companies using talc in consumer products include Johnson & Johnson, Colgate Palmolive, Chanel, Claire, and Beauty plus, among others.
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What is Talc?
Like asbestos, talc is a rock that is mined from the ground. Because talc and asbestos are similar minerals, asbestos typically is found intermingled with talc. Talc is mined through blasting and open pit mining, and it is impossible to separate asbestos fibers from talc during the mining process or during the subsequent refining process.
Nevertheless, the cosmetic and fragrance industry lobbied hard to avoid FDA regulation and to convince the FDA that there was no asbestos contamination in cosmetic talc. We now know that the cosmetic industry relied on tests of talc that did not have the sensitivity to find asbestos and that talc products have been contaminated with asbestos for decades.
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There is no safe level for asbestos. The asbestos contamination in talc has been proven to cause mesothelioma and cancers of the reproductive organs, such as ovarian cancer.
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If you have mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, or another cancer of the reproductive organs, and you routinely used a talc product throughout your life, contact us. We can help.
