Dangers of talc use for women - may cause fallopian tube fibrosis

Nutrition Health Review, Summer, 1995

DALLAS, TEXAS - The problems of talc as a contaminant have attracted the attention of researchers who are discovering its use on condoms to be a serious health hazard to women.

Talc, a dry lubricant, is present on the surface of the contraceptive; and when it is introduced into the female reproductive tract, it may result in fallopian tube fibrosis with resultant infertility. Candace Sue Kasper, M.D., of the Southwest Dermatopathology Consultants, and P.J. Chandler of the Ambulatory Plastic Surgery Center, both in Dallas, Texas have raised the question in a recent. issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (3/15/95).

"The harmful effect of talc on human tissue was first recognized in the 1930s when postoperative granulomatous peritonitis and fibrous adhesions were causally linked to surgical glove-donning powders," the researchers note.

A more ominous series of studies linked talc to ovarian carcinoma; talc was observed in a number of ovarian and uterine tumors as well as in normal ovarian tissue.

Talc is no longer used for surgical glovedonning powder, but it is still used as a, surface lubricant on most condoms manufactured in the United States and abroad.

The authors conclude by warning that if talc contributes to ovarian carcinoma or fallopian tube sclerosis, they predict a significant increase in the incidence of those ailments. Doctors Kasper and Chandler appeal to makers of contraceptives to recognize the probable hazards inflicted on the public by their use of talc.