Does talc cause cancer?

[Nicedayforawedding]

Omg for years my MIL insisted I used talc on my dcs and she did a lot of childcare for me in the past.I never thought twice about it, i mean talc seemed so innocent. Now I read Johnson & Johnson are being sued for it and cancer and are not selling it any more.

Am I a bad parent for not knowing this???

you aren't a bad parent. huge numbers of things can "cause cancer" (ie there is a significant percentage difference in the number of people who get cancer who use it compared to those who don't) and if you avoided everything that was linked to cancer you would go mad. some things have a very strong causal effect eg smoking, other things just elevate the risk slightly.

the issue with talc is that it is such a fine powder that you can easily make a cloud of it that can then be breathed in, and you then get talc particles in the lungs which can't easily be got rid of. that doesn't automatically lead to cancer but it elevates the risk.

I knew all this when my baby was small and I still used talc carefully and in moderation as part of parenting is to balance risk and the immediate risks of nappy rash that can be prevented by appropriate use of talc is significant enough that carefully using a bit of talc, making sure I didn't make any clouds of powder, was a reasonable balance.

As above, I think you need to put this in perspective. Generations of kids had talc put on them, and the human race is still here. So whilst it might not be a great thing to do, it isn't a case of use talc get cancer. Same as not everyone that gets sun burnt gets skin cancer.

I believe it's the old versions of Johnson's and Johnson's talc (and presumably other brands) are the ones that were part of the lawsuit. Used to contain abstesos at one point in history. It doesn't any more. Probably isn't even actual talc but a different type of powder. It's different stuff now. I read the main reason they are going to stop sales in the USA is due to the fact barely anyone buys it. That is probably because of the lawsuit (which happened quite a few years ago I believe).
It's usually called 'baby powder' now as I don't think they can call it talc as it's not actual talcum powder.
Unless your children are quite grown up the old versions of Johnson's probably have never been used on them.
I wouldn't panic to much.