According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), The Food and Drug Administration has announced it will withdraw its proposed rule to establish approved testing methods for detecting and identifying cancer-causing asbestos in talc-containing cosmetics.
The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 mandated the FDA to develop the rule. The decision to scrap the regulation will be published in the November 28 Federal Register.
The Dangers of Asbestos
Asbestos is a deadly human carcinogen for which there is no safe level of exposure. Asbestos contamination has repeatedly been found in talc-based products, raising serious public health concerns. According to the EWG, Talc is commonly used in cosmetics to improve texture, absorb moisture or as an inexpensive filler.
The following is a statement from Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs for EWG. "Unfortunately, thousands of products that contain talc can be contaminated with asbestos, one of the world’s deadliest substances. Testing for asbestos’s presence is the only way to ensure that products made with talc are safe."
“Inhaling even the tiniest amount of asbestos in talc can cause mesothelioma and other deadly diseases, many years after exposure,” said Tasha Stoiber, Ph.D., senior scientist at EWG. “How much talc is inhaled, and how much is contaminated with asbestos, is difficult to know, but it only takes a single asbestos fiber lodged in the lungs to cause mesothelioma decades later.”
