Talc Listed as Group 2A Carcinogen by IARC Implications and Details
TapTechNews July 9th news, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization released a blog post on July 5th, listing talc as a Group 2A carcinogen, indicating the possibility of carcinogenicity, but at this stage further improvement of evidence and in-depth assessment are still needed.
The World Health Organization divides carcinogens into four categories, and Group 2A corresponds to sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals, but limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans, and common Group 2A carcinogens include deep-fried foods, red meat, working night shifts, etc.
Although there is still no conclusive causal evidence between the use of talc and ovarian cancer, as consumers, they can reduce the risk of cancer by adjusting the exposure dose, duration of use and application location of talc.
IARC evaluated the carcinogenicity of talc and acrylonitrile, and has currently published an abstract article in The Lancet Oncology and will be detailed in Volume 136 of the IARC Monographs to be published in 2025.
TapTechNews queried public information, talc is a natural mineral, a magnesium silicate mineral of the talc group of the talc family, mainly composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, which is crushed, treated with hydrochloric acid, washed and dried.
Talc is widely used in various industries including medicine, food, cosmetics, coatings, paints, paper, ceramics and rubber. Especially in the field of cosmetics, talc is widely used in various products such as face powder, talcum powder, prickly heat powder, powder compact, eyebrow powder, eye shadow, blush, lipstick, body lotion and sunscreen, and is often used in the manufacture of baby talcum powder.
The researchers come from 29 scientists from 13 countries including the United States, Australia, China, Canada, Italy and Spain.
After detailed research by this international working group, they announced that talc will be classified as a Group 2A carcinogen, and acrylonitrile will be classified as a Group 1 carcinogen at the same time.
IARC said that they made this decision based on limited evidence (limited evidence) showing that talc may cause ovarian cancer in humans, and there is sufficient evidence (sufficient evidence) that talc is associated with cancer in rats, and there is also strong mechanistic evidence (strong mechanistic evidence) showing carcinogenic signs in human cells.
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