The panel deadlocked over whether to a second type of talc, fibrous talc that some studies have linked to lung cancer in talc miners. The panel on Friday continued debating an association between cancers of the nose and sinuses with industrial exposure to wood dust. Talc has long been controversial. When studies first appeared suggesting it migrated into the ovaries to cause tumors, many feminine hygiene products replaced talc with cornstarch. Talc in one form or the other can be found in many papers, paints, ceramics, food wrappers, hard candy, chewing gum, cosmetics and pills.
Most people are familiar with talc as a loose powder used in cosmetics and as a drying powder.
Industry officials also attacked studies that showed increased lung cancer in talc miners in New York State and questioned an experiment that showed that rats breathing high concentrations of talc got lung cancer. Higher lung-cancer rates in talc miners may have resulted from their smoking or from the presence of radon gas in the mines or asbestos in soils nearby, industry officials said. The scientific advisers then deadlocked on whether this second type of talc, fibrous talc, caused lung cancer, voting 5-5 on adding it to the carcinogen list. UV light, however, was a no-brainer for the panel, which voted unanimously that it was a known human carcinogen. UV radiation is not visible, but it is felt as heat and can damage the eyes and skin.