US experts urge new talc testing standards amid asbestos worries

The most significant recommendation from the panel of government experts is that mineral particles found in talc products small enough to be drawn into lungs should be counted as potentially harmful

An expert panel formed by the US Food and Drug Administration has endorsed asbestos testing standards for cosmetics that reject long-held industry positions and reflect those of public health authorities and experts for thousands of plaintiffs who allege contaminated talc products caused their  cancers.

The most significant recommendation from the panel of government experts is that mineral particles found in talc products small enough to be drawn into the lungs — even those the industry would not call asbestos — should be counted as potentially harmful.

Because both asbestos and look-alike minerals are suspected of causing “similar pathological outcomes, the distinction is