It has been an iconic Australian custom since Federation. Men and women emerging from their morning shower dust their bodies with Johnsons Baby Powder. There is something refreshing in the smooth feel it imparts and the delicate aroma announces that "just showered " message to the world. As the name implies, this "baby powder "was liberally applied to all infants after their bath - and after the numerous "clean-ups " that littered their day.
Now it seems that the firm of Johnson and Johnson and even the huge mining company that actually produces the raw material for talcum powder is under siege in American courts. Johnson and Johnson and Rio Tinto are being sued because it is claimed that when women apply talcum powder to their genital area it has the propensity to develop ovarian cancer.
A clear message is emerging. Two US women have been successful in a Missouri court in gaining a $ 172 million ruling that talcum powder caused their ovarian cancer. Their case was supported by fifteen separate studies from such respected bodies as the World Health Organization ( WHO ) and the US Health Department. In Australia, the jury is still "out " on accepting this claim.
There seems no clear cut cause and affect beyond the theory that because talcum powder is composed of tiny particles it has similar properties to asbestos. If it gains entrance to the female body this theory supposes it can activate whatever induces ovarian cancer.
The wise will probably heed this warning and impose strict limitations on how talcum powder is used in future, but the message will probably be ignored by many unless Australian health decides to issue a national warning. Perhaps talcum powder is just the first of many new dangers arising from new industries based on what are called "nano particles " !
In recent years, industry has learned how to grind matter ever smaller and we now have these nano particles as the integral base of cosmetics, sun screen and an ever widening range of products and little thought has been given to their disposal.
The after effect of nano particles in toothpaste sees the waste flushed down the drain and a similar fate awaits most cosmetics. Eventually, these particles arrive in the ocean - with unknown effects on other living matter. At present, the use of nano particles in manufacturing is not subjected to any form of control law.
This furore over talcum powder should be ringing alarm bells. It is a product that has been used for over a century with no known effects, although ovarian cancer has also cut a swathe through women for that same period. It would be interesting to know if the product has been refined to include nano particles because of the cost savings involved - and if the raw product mined has been further modified before passing into general use.
What seems to be lacking is a filter through which new discoveries need to pass before they go into general manufacturing use. Without that, we may face some very unpleasant surprises when ingenuity comes back to bite us on the bum !
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