Study finds no increased risk of respiratory cancers from asbestos-free talc exposure

International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer

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Paolo Boffetta, Stony Brook Cancer Center and Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University

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Credit: Stony Brook Cancer Center and Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University

(Denver, Colo. April 10, 2026) -- In a systematic review and meta-analysis, researchers found that occupational exposure to talc that is not contaminated with asbestos is not associated with an increase in the risk of lung cancer, mesothelioma, or laryngeal cancer.  The findings are published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.  Access the complete study here: https://www.jto.org/article/S1556-0864(26)00163-2/.

Evidence suggests a potential link between occupational talc exposure and increased risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma, when talc is contaminated with asbestos, a known carcinogen. However, the findings for non-contaminated talc remained inconclusive.

To resolve this issue, researchers led by Paolo Boffetta, Stony Brook Cancer Center and Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, NY, identified 13, 8, and 7 publications reporting on lung cancer, mesothelioma, and laryngeal cancer, respectively. Five studies on lung cancer in talc miners and millers and three studies in other industries were included in the meta-analysis.

The meta-analysis showed:

Lung cancer

Relative risk (RR) of 1.13 (95% CI: 0.97–1.33) among miners and millers

RR of 1.12 (95% CI: 0.79–1.57) among workers in other industries

Mesothelioma

No cases reported among talc miners and millers in the primary analyses

Laryngeal cancer

No association (RR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.58–1.57)

Talc is a naturally occurring mineral that is mined from the earth and then processed into the soft, powdery substance used in products like cosmetics, ceramics, paper, and plastics.  Major talc-producing regions include China, India, Brazil, the United States, France, and Italy.

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in both men (after prostate cancer) and women (after breast cancer). It accounted in 2022 for an estimated 1,572,000 new cases and 1,233,000 deaths each year among men and 908,000 cases and 587,000 deaths among women.

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the mesothelium which is most frequently diagnosed in the pleura (known as pleural mesothelioma) but also can occur in the abdominopelvic cavity (peritoneal mesothelioma), the heart (pericardial mesothelioma), or the testes (testicular mesothelioma) (1). Mesothelioma was considered a very rare tumor until a large series of cases were reported in the 1960s among workers employed in asbestos mining and manufacturing (2,3).

Laryngeal cancer is one of the most prevalent types of head and neck cancer. According to GLOBOCAN 2022 (4), its Age Standardized Rate (ASR) is only 1.9 per 100,000 and Age-Standardized Mortality Rate (ASMR) is 1 per 100,000 globally.

“In conclusion, current epidemiological evidence does not provide support for an increased risk of lung cancer, mesothelioma, or laryngeal cancer among workers who are primarily exposed to talc that is free from asbestos contamination,” Boffetta and co-authors wrote.

However, according to the study, it is important to continue monitoring occupational groups, enhance the mineralogical characterization of talc deposits, and conduct future studies that include detailed exposure assessments and control for key confounding factors. These steps are essential to better understand any potential low-level risks and to inform strategies for occupational health prevention.

About the IASLC

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated solely to the study of lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies. Founded in 1974, the association's membership includes more than 11,000 lung cancer specialists across all disciplines in over 100 countries, forming a global network working together to conquer lung and thoracic cancers worldwide. The association publishes the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the primary educational and informational publication for topics relevant to the prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment of all thoracic malignancies. Visit www.iaslc.org for more information.

About the JTO

Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO), the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, is the primary educational and informational publication for topics relevant to the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of all thoracic malignancies. JTO emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach and includes original research reviews and opinion pieces. The audience includes epidemiologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, thoracic surgeons, pulmonologists, radiologists, pathologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and research scientists with a special interest in thoracic oncology.

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Journal

Journal of Thoracic Oncology

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

People

Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay US$966 million in talc cancer case after jury finds company liable

By Reuters
October 07, 2025 

The Johnson & Johnson logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)

A Los Angeles jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay US$966 million to the family of a woman who died from mesothelioma, finding the company liable in the latest trial alleging its talc products cause cancer.

The family of Mae Moore, a California resident who died at age 88 in 2021, sued the company the same year, claiming J&J’s talc baby powder products contained asbestos fibers that caused her rare cancer. The jury late on Monday ordered J&J to pay $16 million in compensatory damages and $950 million in punitive damages, according to court filings.

The verdict could be reduced on appeal as the U.S. Supreme Court has found that punitive damages should generally be no more than nine times compensatory damages.

Erik Haas, Johnson & Johnson’s worldwide vice president of litigation, said in a statement that the company plans to immediately appeal, calling the verdict “egregious and unconstitutional.”

“The plaintiff lawyers in this Moore case based their arguments on ‘junk science’ that never should have been presented to the jury,” Haas said.


The company has said its products are safe, do not contain asbestos, and do not cause cancer. J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020, switching to a cornstarch product. Mesothelioma has been linked to asbestos exposure.

Trey Branham, one of the attorneys representing Moore’s family, said after the verdict that his team is “hopeful that Johnson & Johnson will finally accept responsibility for these senseless deaths.”

J&J is facing lawsuits from more than 67,000 plaintiffs who say they were diagnosed with cancer after using baby powder and other talc products, according to court filings. The number of lawsuits alleging talc caused mesothelioma is a small subset of these cases, with the vast majority involving ovarian cancer claims.

J&J has sought to resolve the litigation through bankruptcy, a proposal that has been rejected three times by federal courts.

Lawsuits alleging talc caused mesothelioma were not part of the last bankruptcy proposal. The company has previously settled some of those claims but has not struck a nationwide settlement, so many lawsuits over mesothelioma have proceeded to trial in state courts in recent months.

In the past year, J&J has been hit with several substantial verdicts in mesothelioma cases, but Monday’s is among the largest. The company has won some of the mesothelioma trials, including last week in South Carolina, where a jury found J&J not liable.

The company has been successful in reducing some of the awards on appeal, including in one Oregon case where a state judge granted J&J’s motion to throw out a $260 million verdict and hold a new trial.

(Reporting by Diana Novak Jones; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Rod Nickel and Bill Berkrot)

 

Engineers develop solid lubricant to replace toxic materials in farming

North Carolina State University

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The new solid lubricant is derived from cellulose, a biodegradable, plant-based material. Most current solid lubricants used in agriculture are made with talc or microplastics, and can pose threats to farmers, farmland and pollinators.

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Credit: Dhanush Udayashankara Jamadgni, NC State University

Researchers have developed a new class of nontoxic, biodegradable solid lubricants that can be used to facilitate seed dispersal using modern farming equipment, with the goal of replacing existing lubricants that pose human and environmental toxicity concerns. The researchers have also developed an analytical model that can be used to evaluate candidate materials for future lubricant technologies.

Modern farming makes use of various machines to accurately and efficiently plant seeds in the ground. However, it can be difficult to prevent the seeds from jamming in these machines. To keep the seeds flowing smoothly, farmers use solid lubricants that prevent the seeds from clumping up or sticking together. Unfortunately, commercially available lubricants make use of talc or microplastics, and can pose threats to farmers, farmland and pollinators.

“Lubricants are essential to modern farming, but existing approaches are contributing to toxicity in our farmlands that affect farmer health, soil health and pollinators that are essential to our food supply,” says Dhanush Udayashankara Jamadgni, co-lead author of a paper on the work and a Ph.D. student at North Carolina State University. “We’ve developed a new class of safe solid lubricants that are effective and nontoxic.”

“There is a growing body of research that suggests microplastics are problematic for both human and environmental health, and we wanted to create a new lubricant that was safe and biodegradable,” says Martin Thuo, co-corresponding author of the paper and a professor of materials science and engineering at NC State. “We ended up with something that is also relatively inexpensive, efficient, and makes use of sustainable, readily available materials.”

The new lubricant is derived from cellulose, a biodegradable, plant-based material. Specifically, the lubricant consists of millions of tiny fibers measuring 0.2-2 millimeters long and 10-40 microns across. The surface of these fibers is grafted with hydrophobic particles, which repel water. To the naked eye, the collection of engineered fibers resembles a powder.

When this powder is mixed with seeds, it reduces friction in two ways. First, the surface of the fibers is smoother than the surface of the seeds. As the fibers slip between the seeds, they reduce mechanical friction that occurs when seeds rub against each other. Second, the hydrophobic particles on the surface of the fibers repels adsorbed water on the surface of the seeds, making the fibers even more slippery. This allows seeds to travel through the farm equipment without jamming or clustering.

In proof-of-concept testing and field trials with corn and soybean seeds, the new lubricant performed at least five times better than the best commercial talc lubricants and 25 times better than microplastic lubricants.

“And the new lubricant outperforms commercial lubricants by even more when using smaller seeds, such as mustard and canola, or when there is high humidity,” says Udayashankara Jamadgni.

And that point about humidity is important.

“Right now, it is difficult for farmers to sow their fields when there is high humidity or wet weather, because this moisture causes the seeds to stick together and clog the machinery,” says Thuo. “We’ve tested our cellulose-derived lubricant in wet conditions – up to 80% humidity – and it works beautifully. That was confirmed by farmers who used our new lubricant in blind field testing.

“Our lubricant handles wet conditions so well because the hydrophobic particles repel water on the surface of the seeds and stay slick,” Thuo explains. “In addition, water vapor in the air can seep through the gaps between hydrophobic particles on the surface of the fibers and be absorbed by the cellulose, which does two things. First, it reduces the amount of moisture that is available to make the seeds stick together. Second, as the cellulose absorbs water vapor, it swells the fibers and makes them softer. Then, as the seeds and fibers are agitated in the farming machinery, the water is squeezed back out of the fibers – where it comes into contact with the hydrophobic particles, making them even more slippery.”

“We also found an additional benefit that we were not expecting at all,” says Udayashankara Jamadgni. “It has to do with the fact that most seeds used in crop agriculture are covered with a thin coat of nutrients and pesticides. When planting with conventional lubricants, some of this coating is scraped off. Pieces of seed coating that are scraped off are released in the exhaust system from the planting machinery – creating a toxic cloud that poses risks for pollinators, birds and farmers.

“We were surprised to find that our cellulose-derived lubricant drastically reduces this problem – very little of the seed coating is scraped off,” says Udayashankara Jamadgni. “This is actually the topic of our next paper.”

“In addition, we found that we are able to filter out the cellulose-derived fibers in the lubricant from the vacuum system used in farming machinery to plant the seeds,” says Thuo. “This means that very little of the lubricant itself is released into the environment – and the lubricant can actually be reused or properly disposed of. That will be in the next paper, too.”

While developing the new lubricant, the research team also developed a tool that will be useful for developing new lubricants in the future. Specifically, Thuo and Udayashankara Jamadgni collaborated with graph theory experts from the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California.

“Essentially, we’ve been able to define a parameter space that provides an analytical model using graph-based mathematical techniques to simplify what is an incredibly complex system,” Thuo says. “And that model can help researchers quickly identify promising candidates for solid lubricant applications.”

The paper, “Graph Theory Based Bioderived Solid Lubricant,” will be published Oct. 7 in the journal Matter. Co-lead author of the paper is Paul Gregory of Iowa State University. Co-corresponding authors of the paper are Paul Bogdan, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Southern California; and Nicholas Kotov, the Joseph B. and Florence V. Cejka Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan. The paper was co-authored by Andrew Martin and Alana Pauls, postdoctoral researchers at NC State; Souvik Banerjee and Boyce Chang of Iowa State University; Xiong Ye Xiao and Kien Nguyen of USC; and Anastasia Visheratina and Nancy Muyanja, of Michigan.

This work was done with support from John Deere. The work also received support from the Center for Complex Particle Systems (COMPASS), which is funded by the National Science Foundation under grant 2243104 and is headquartered at the University of Michigan.

Multiple patents have been filed worldwide with regard to this technology; some have been granted (solid dry-type lubricant U.S. patent No. 11613630 and 12122901; European EP4012009B1) and others are pending (specialty seed lubricant U.S. provisional patent No. 63/837,885; network disruptor U.S provisional patent No. 63/869,643). Thuo, Udayashankara Jamadgni, Kotov, Gregory and Chang are all listed as inventors on the U.S. patents.

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Journal

Matter

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Graph Theory Based Bioderived Solid Lubricant

Article Publication Date

7-Oct-2025

COI Statement

Multiple patents have been filed worldwide with regard to this technology; some have been granted (solid dry-type lubricant U.S. patent No. 11613630 and 12122901; European EP4012009B1) and others are pending (specialty seed lubricant U.S. provisional patent No. 63/837,885; network disruptor U.S provisional patent No. 63/869,643). Thuo, Udayashankara Jamadgni, Kotov, Gregory and Chang are all listed as inventors on the U.S. patents.

 

With ‘Enemies’ Like These, Who Needs Friends?: Trump’s China Diplomacy – Analysis

 October 4, 2025  0 Comments

By Observer Research Foundation

By Amrita Narlikar

Not yet even a year into his second term, President Donald J. Trump seems to be on a mission to prove the late Henry Kissinger right: it may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.

The Trump administration has already managed to disappoint and alienate several of its closest allies and strategic partners. But continue along the current trajectory, and Trump 2.0 might surpass Kissinger’s warning with a new twist: to be in the bad books of the United States (US) may ironically offer some advantages. And if it now pays to be America’s rival, and hurts to be a friend, then something fundamental is going wrong with Trumpian diplomacy.

The US Narrative on China

China is an illustration of the muddle that American diplomacy has become.

The first Trump administration dealt with China as a threat; the Biden administration, too, did not let its guard down. Despite some turnarounds, the direction of travel was clear: diversification away from China, as well as intensified cooperation with partners in minilateral settings (such as the Quad). Slowly but surely, European narratives expressing concern about the geoeconomic threats posed by China also intensified, and transatlantic coordination grew. From the perspectives of Asian countries caught up in border and maritime disputes with China, these were welcome and timely moves.

China continued to be in the firing line as part of candidate Trump’s election campaign for the 47thPresidency. Although Agenda 47 announced that all foreign producers would face universal baseline tariffs, China was singled out in several ways. Trump promised that if he were re-elected, he would “reclaim our economic independence from China… revoke China’s Most Favoured Nation trade status and adopt a four-year plan to phase out all Chinese imports of essential goods–everything from electronics to steel to pharmaceuticals. This will include strong protections to ensure China cannot circumvent restrictions by passing goods through conduit countries”.

New rules would be put in place to prevent US companies from investing in China, and federal contracts would be banned for companies that outsource to China. With his return to power, Trump seemed to be holding course with his anti-China promises. His choice of appointees in the administration pointed to “a new hawkish China policy”.

Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defence, was unambiguous in his NATO speech, identifying the “Communist Chinese with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland core national interests in the Indo-Pacific. The US is prioritising deterring war with China in the Pacific, recognizing the reality of scarcity, and making the resourcing tradeoffs to ensure deterrence does not fail”. So seriously was the Trump administration taking the China threat that it argued for a “division of labour” with European members of NATO “leading from the front” in Europe, and the US concentrating on the Pacific. The new administration’s message was loud and clear: China was a threat to American prosperity and security, and would be treated as such.

Unintended Consequences of Trump’s Diplomacy: China accrues benefits

The gamble against China could have paid off, had it been accompanied by the use of carrots elsewhere. Swift and deep trade, investment agreements with like-minded partners, which shared America’s concerns about the geopolitical and geoeconomic threats emanating from China, would have been useful for the task of realigning global supply chains and setting high standards on new technologies. Besides, efforts to close off Chinese access to the US market would be difficult to implement in isolation: Chinese products would make their way back into the US economy using loopholes and other conduits, unless major economies were on board with the US.

But the Trump administration did not follow this approach. Instead, it chose to apply its highly distributive bargaining behaviour not only towards China, but also towards trusted allies and strategic partners. Public admonitions, punitive tariffs, and other punishing measures, imposed indiscriminately on friends and foes alike, became a new norm in American diplomacy emanating from the President’s office. Some partners agreed to concessions that the US demanded, and received some respite from the initially announced tariffs. But irrespective of subsequent exemptions and carve-outs (or not), the delicate lines of trust that take decades to build were frayed: the US has shown itself to be an unreliable friend.

Against this background, China appears in a new light. While the US reprimands and insults its partners, China’s “wolf-warrior” diplomacy has taken a sweet turn. While the US tramples on the multilateral institutions that it had once led, China presents itself as their upholder and protector. While the US insists on “America First”, China stresses multi-polarity and offers a plethora of apparently inclusive initiatives such as the Global Civilisation Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Development Initiative. Even if many do not buy into these narratives, they are turning out to be more influential globally than the American hardline MAGA narrative. Anti-China narratives seem to be softening.

Academic and policy debates on reforming the World Trade Organization (WTO) provide an illustration of the changing perceptions. Previous discussions had tended to raise questions about Chinese violations of the rules and the spirit of the organisation (e.g failure to uphold intellectual property rights, forced technology transfers, subsidies), while also looking askance at the US (particularly over its decision to block appointments in the Appellate Body, thereby paralyzing the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Mechanism–a Trump 1.0 move, which was also not rectified by the Biden administration). Today, the focus is far less on China’s trade transgressions, and the blame for the WTO’s dysfunctionality is being placed much more squarely on the US.

A recent paper has even made the case that the US and the WTO should part ways, and that “On the choice of whether the US should or should not be a member, the burden of proof should fall on those who argue in favour of retaining the US as a member”. This is an astonishing shift in scholarly debate and displays a steep decline in American smart power.

The Trump administration’s readiness to antagonise America’s friends is also having geopolitical repercussions. The thaw in India-China relations is motivated by several factors and has been in the works for some time now. The timing, however, is interesting: an explicit show of camaraderie between the two Asian giants comes despite China’s military and defence support to Pakistan during Operation Sindhoor, just a few months ago.

Powerful catalysts enabling this development include Trump’s tariff hikes against India, singling out India over Russian oil purchases (and turning a blind eye to Chinese and European purchases), new H1B visa fees that hit India severely as a supplier of skilled immigration to the US, all accompanied by rhetoric from key figures (e.g. Peter Navarro and Howard Lutnick) that is anything but diplomatic. If the US has been serious in eyeing China as a threat and genuine in its concerns about the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, then even the cautious warming of India’s relations with China marks a failure in American diplomacy.[1]

It is worth mentioning that, in addition to the indirect gains that the US is now handing to China on a plate, it is further offering direct gains to boot. The tendency of Trump 1.0 to do “flip-flops” over China persists under Trump 2.0. The deal over TikTok is arguably not a win-win for both parties, but a win for China. The roller-coaster of American diplomacy today, replete with acerbic denunciations and sharp turnarounds, is one of the reasons why the #TALC (“Trump Always Chickens Out”) is trending on social media.

It did not have to be this way. There was much potential in what President Trump started out with in his second Presidency. This could have been an opportunity to strengthen partnerships with democracies, have serious conversations (and consequent policies) on legal versus illegal immigration, and secure global supply chains. Some element of surprise and reversals could have been used effectively as part of a grand strategy. Not all is yet lost; there is still concern in the world regions about other threats besides the US, and there are still problems that could be more effectively addressed were the US to return as a judicious player in the diplomatic game.

But as things stand, the US is rewarding its rivals and punishing its friends. This is not American exceptionalism at work; rather, it is an exceptional muddle.

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• About the author: Amrita Narlikar, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation and Honorary Fellow, Darwin College, University of Cambridge

• Source: This article was published by Observer Research Foundation

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[1] The same could be said of the Trumpian effect in other settings too: the President’s denunciation and ridicule of the BRICS (and its member countries) seems to have injected new momentum into the grouping.

Observer Research Foundation

ORF was established on 5 September 1990 as a private, not for profit, ’think tank’ to influence public policy formulation. The Foundation brought together, for the first time, leading Indian economists and policymakers to present An Agenda for Economic Reforms in India. The idea was to help develop a consensus in favour of economic reforms.