Talc Mines Adjacent to Asbestos Mines Are Likely Cross-Contaminated

It has been proven that people living near asbestos mines developed mesothelioma at a rate equal to asbestos miners

Thursday, November 7, 2019 - Individuals with Mesothelioma are suing Johnson & Johnson for failing to disclose what they knew about talc being contaminated with asbestos. Mesothelioma is a deadly disease and 99% of those who develop the disease have been exposed to asbestos to one degree or another, consistently and repeatedly for their entire life, sometimes even from birth. Consumers of Johnson's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products are urged to use the product every day, and multiple times per day if necessary. Mothers are encouraged to use Johnson's Baby Powder to dust their baby's bottom area after every diapering. It could be argued that no other consumer product is used by a person every single day of their life starting the day they were born. It is that consistency of usage that makes talcum powder, a product that now has been proven by FDA tests to contain asbestos, the main suspect causing a person to develop mesothelioma. Also, because of the gradual way asbestos damages the lungs, it can take decades for mesothelioma to become evident following an initial series of exposures. Talcum powder cancer attorneys have vast experience and expertise handling medical litigations against big pharmaceutical companies and offer a free consultation.

In brief, mesothelioma develops when a person inhales the razor-sharp, microscopic asbestos fibers that lacerate the tissues of the lining of the lungs called the alveoli. The initial lacerations cause noticeable burning chest pain but the lungs heal and produce a layer of scar tissue that inhibits the elasticity of the alveoli critical to breathing. As the lacerations repeatedly occur day by day, scar tissue accumulates and eventually the alveoli become completely inelastic and the victim suffocates to death.

Asbestos miners, exposed to asbestos daily, were the first to develop mesothelioma. According to the Mesothelioma Veterans Center, "Before it was known that exposure to asbestos can be extremely dangerous, many workers in the mining industry regularly came into contact with this substance as it was removed from the earth. This led to asbestos-related illnesses, such as mesothelioma." Interestingly not only miners were sickened but also people in neighborhoods close to asbestos mines developed mesothelioma at an abnormally high rate. "People residing in neighborhoods and towns where asbestos mining was prevalent have been diagnosed with various asbestos-related diseases decades later. The asbestos particles rose up from the mines and became airborne, putting anyone living in the immediate area at risk of inhaling this toxic substance." Talc mines were historically and are today also neighbors of asbestos mines and it is likely that if people living near asbestos mines were exposed to asbestos in the neighboring air, so would talc supplies. Talc's contamination by airborne asbestos settling on it is not only possible it is also probable.

If a plaintiff did not work in an older government building or live in an older home with asbestos insulation and used Johnson's Baby Powder for their entire life, their asbestos exposure likely came from inhaling talcum powder.