J&J’s Baby Powder Announcement Renews NGO Calls For Industry, FDA To End Use Of Talc In Cosmetics
Executive Summary
The Environmental Working Group and US PIRG suggest that beauty and personal-care firms should avoid using talc in loose powders, if not all cosmetic products, and that the US FDA should consider banning the ingredient due to the potential for asbestos contamination, among other concerns.
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The Environmental Working Group and Scientific Analytical Institute say inadequate testing of talc-containing personal-care products is to blame for findings of asbestos in cosmetics, including three of 21 powder-based cosmetics SAI analyzed at EWG’s request. They continue to push for updated testing standards that include electron microscopy as a core component.
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J&J’s targeted marketing of talcum powder products to women of color verges on “corporate brutality,” Black Women for Wellness and more than 200 allied organizations suggest in recent letters to J&J leadership. The firm affirmed its commitment to equality and racial justice in June, but BWW wants J&J to “walk the talk.”
FDA Clarification: Interagency Recommendations On Talc-Asbestos Test Methods Not Formal Guidance
The Executive Summary of an interagency working group's preliminary recommendations on testing methods for asbestos in talc and talc-containing consumer products, released by the FDA in early 2020, does not constitute a formal position taken by the FDA, it says, noting that concerns have arisen recently about misunderstanding among "external parties."