The US House of Representatives Find Johnson & Johnson's Talc/Asbestos Tests Inadequate

The cosmetics industry led by Johnson & Johnson may have betrayed the public trust and adopted asbestos testing methods they knew would not find asbestos

Friday, December 20, 2019 - The US House of Representatives Sub-committee on Economic and Consumer Policy recently convened intending to determine the best method of finding asbestos in talc. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform published a report titled: "Examining Carcinogens in Talc and the Best Methods for Asbestos Detection." The issue is extremely important as millions of people in the United States as well a around the world may have been exposed to carcinogenic levels of asbestos of talc that may contain the cancer-causing mineral. Scientists interviewed under oath gave testimony and answered questions as to the effectiveness of their particular method of testing talc for asbestos. Talcum powder cancer lawyers representing families in the United States and have vast experience with medical litigation and offer a free consultation.

Asbestos has been proven to be the primary cause of mesothelioma a cancer of the lining of the lungs. Microscopically small, knife-shaped asbestos fibers cause tiny lacerations in the mesothelial, the smallest but most critical tissue in the lining of the lungs. Inelastic scar tissue builds up as these tiny cuts heal. Inhaling asbestos repeatedly over a long time causes the scar tissue to accumulate and prevent the mesothelioma victim from breathing, eventually causing death from suffocation. For decades it was assumed that long-term asbestos inhalation was mostly limited to asbestos miners and the people who lived and worked near open-pit asbestos mines but the problem now could be orders of magnitude greater. It appears that talc mines located adjacent to asbestos mines around the world have also been exposed to asbestos contamination. To make matters worse, Johnson's Baby Powder, a product that consumers have trusted and used regularly for years on end, could also have been contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos. Additionally, talcum powder is promoted as a product that is to be used daily on diaper changes, for female hygiene, and between showers exposing consumers to inhaling asbestos several times per day.

Johnson & Johnson denies that their talc supply is contaminated and cites thousands of tests that have failed to find asbestos in talc and proclaims that Johnson's Baby Powder is pure and safe enough to use on your baby's bottom every day. The Committee noted that Johnson & Johnson and the cosmetics industry have been trusted to be self-policing for over half a century. The industry may have broken this trust by adopting talc/asbestos testing methods that were too insensitive to detect the lower, but still deadly, levels of the cancer-causing agent. Scientists informed on the subject uniformly accept the fact that there is no safe level of ingesting asbestos. The House Committee concluded: "Industry methods for detecting asbestos in talc primarily involve two testing methods: polarized light microscopy (PLM), and the use of an analytical transmission electron microscope (ATEM). Both PLM and ATEM have been criticized for lacking proper sensitivity to detect very low levels of asbestos contamination. Laboratories with which industry and FDA contract to do asbestos detection in talc testing almost entirely rely upon these methods."