Baby powder

{{Short description|Cosmetic powder usually made from talc or corn starch}} [[File:Johnsons Baby Powder 1,5 OZS talc, pic4.JPG|thumb|Johnson's baby powder made from talc in an old tin with a shaker on top]] thumb|Traditional container for baby powder and puff in South India, made of silver [[File:Daddy Diaper (879097718).jpg|thumb|Baby powder might be applied after changing a diaper and cleaning the baby.]] '''Baby powder''' is an astringent powder used for preventing diaper rash and for cosmetic uses. It may be composed of talc (in which case it is also called talcum powder), corn starch or potato starch.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=2024-03-09 |language=nb |title=Aldri mer sår babyhud |url=https://potetmel.hoff.no/tips/aldri-mer-s%C3%A5r-babyhud |work=HOFF Potetmel |archive-date=2024-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309213214/https://potetmel.hoff.no/tips/aldri-mer-s%C3%A5r-babyhud |url-status=dead }}</ref> It may contain additional ingredients such as fragrances. Baby powder can also be used as a dry shampoo, cleaning agent (to remove grease stains), and air freshener.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.diyncrafts.com/7271/lifehacks/20-brilliant-uses-for-baby-powder | title=20 Brilliant Uses for Baby Powder You've Never Considered | publisher=DIY & Crafts | access-date=15 August 2014| date=2014-07-14 }}</ref> == History == Talcum baby powder was pioneered in the early 1890s by Frederick Barnett Kilmer, the first scientific director of the then-fledging healthcare company Johnson and Johnson.<ref name="Vault Guide">{{cite book |last = Turner |first = Tyya |date = 2007 |title = Vault Guide to the Top Consumer Products Employers |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aT59Q0J1QV0C&q=kilmer |publisher = Vault |page = 185 |isbn = 978-1-58131-323-9 |access-date = August 3, 2014 }}</ref> In 1892, Kilmer prescribed talcum powder to ease skin irritation from Johnson and Johnson's medical plasters.<ref>{{cite book |last = Oppenheimer |first = Jerry |date = 2013 |title = Crazy Rich: Power, Scandal and Tragedy Inside the Johnson and Johnson Dynasty |url = https://archive.org/details/crazyrichpowersc0000oppe |url-access = registration |quote = kilmer. |publisher = St. Martin's Press |page = [https://archive.org/details/crazyrichpowersc0000oppe/page/46 46] |isbn = 978-0-312-66211-0 |access-date = August 3, 2014 }}</ref> The powder was soon found to ease irritation in babies' skin, and by 1894 Johnson's Baby Powder was being mass produced as its own product.<ref name="Vault Guide"></ref>

== Health risks == Talcum powder, if inhaled, may cause aspiration pneumonia and granuloma.<ref>{{cite book|last=Harper|first=John|author2=Arnold Oranje|author3=Neil Prose|title=Textbook of Pediatric Dermatology|publisher=Blackwell Science|year=2000|page=[https://archive.org/details/textbookofpediat0001unse_e2s6/page/156 156]|isbn=978-0-86542-939-0|url=https://archive.org/details/textbookofpediat0001unse_e2s6/page/156}}</ref> Severe cases may lead to chronic respiratory problems and death.<ref name="Pairaudeau">{{cite journal |last1=Pairaudeau |first1=P. W. |last2=Wilson |first2=R. G. |last3=Hall |first3=M. A. |last4=Milne |first4=M. |title=Inhalation of baby powder: an unappreciated hazard |journal=BMJ |date=18 May 1991 |volume=302 |issue=6786 |pages=1200–1201 |doi=10.1136/bmj.302.6786.1200|pmid=2043820 |pmc=1669894 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Mofenson">{{cite journal |last1=Mofenson |first1=H. C. |last2=Greensher |first2=J. |last3=DiTomasso |first3=A. |last4=Okun |first4=S. |title=Baby Powder—A Hazard! |journal=Pediatrics |date=August 1981 |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=265–6 |doi=10.1542/peds.68.2.265 |pmid=7267235|s2cid=39006289 }}</ref> The particles in corn starch powder are larger and less likely to be inhaled.<ref name="Weil">{{cite web |last1=Weil |first1=Andrew |title=How Bad Is Baby Powder? |url=https://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/health-centers/children/how-bad-is-baby-powder/ |website=DrWeil.com |access-date=22 May 2020 |date=8 October 2012}}</ref>

Some studies have found a statistical relationship between talcum powder applied to the perineal area of female babies and the incidence of ovarian cancer, but there is not a consensus about causality.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mohan|first1=Melissa|last2=Whysner|first2=John|year=2000|title=Perineal application of talc and cornstarch powders: Evaluation of ovarian cancer risk|journal=American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology|volume=182|issue=3|pages=720–724|doi=10.1067/mob.2000.104259|pmid=10739536}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mills|first1=Paul|last2=Riordan|first2=Deborah|last3=Cress|first3=Rosemary|last4=Young|first4=Heather|title=Perineal talc exposure and epithelial ovarian cancer risk in the Central Valley of California|journal=International Journal of Cancer|volume=112|issue=3|pages=458–464|date=2004|doi=10.1002/ijc.20434|pmid=15382072|s2cid=2464631}}</ref> In 2016, more than 1,000 women in the United States sued Johnson & Johnson for covering up the possible cancer risk associated with its baby powder.<ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-baby-powder-cancer-lawsuits/ Johnson & Johnson Has a Baby Powder Problem] Bloomberg, Retrieved April 20, 2017.</ref> In 1975, an official at the US federal Food and Drug Administration stated that "No mother was going to powder her baby with 1% of a known carcinogen irregardless [sic] of the large safety factor" as a comment on the testing methodology that J&J backed.<ref>{{cite news |quote=“No mother was going to powder her baby with 1% of a known carcinogen irregardless of the large safety factor.” - An FDA official commenting in 1975 on the talc testing method J&J backed |title=J&J knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its Baby Powder |website=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-cancer/}}</ref> The company stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the United States and Canada in 2020<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Hsu |first1=Tiffany |last2=Rabin |first2=Roni Caryn |date=May 19, 2020 |title=Johnson & Johnson to End Talc-Based Baby Powder Sales in North America |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/19/business/johnson-baby-powder-sales-stopped.html |access-date=May 20, 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and has said it will stop all talc sales worldwide by 2023, switching to a corn starch-based formula. However, Johnson & Johnson says that its talc-based baby powder does not contain asbestos and is safe to use.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hoskins |first1=Peter |title=Johnson & Johnson to replace talc-based powder with cornstarch |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62514263 |access-date=19 August 2022 |work=BBC News |date=12 August 2022}}</ref>

Further, in 2025, 3000 people in the UK filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Kenvue Ltd, alleging that the companies were aware of the presence of asbestos in its baby powder since the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-16 |title=Thousands in UK sue Johnson & Johnson over talcum powder cancer risks |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c797wv928g8o |access-date=2025-10-16 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Kenvue UK replied saying that talc was respecting all relevant rules. He further said that talc does not contain any asbestos and finally added that talc is not a carcinogen. The prosecution used the recent change in the composition of the powder as evidence. Johnson and Johnson replaced talc with cornstarch in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-20 |title=Asbestos in J&J baby powder gave us cancer |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/16/british-women-sue-johnson-johnson-talcum-powder-cancer-fear/ |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=The Telegraph |language=en-GB}}</ref>

== See also == * {{Anl|talc#uses|Talcum powder}} * {{Anl|Corn starch}}

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Babycare Category:Materials Category:Skin care Category:Powders