LONDON/LOS ANGELES--Chanel, Revlon and L'Oreal, three of the biggest brands in cosmetics, are quietly moving away from using talc in some products as U.S. cancer lawsuits and consumer concerns mount.
Luxury beauty company Chanel has removed talc from a loose face powder and dropped a talc body powder because of negative perceptions around the mineral, court documents reviewed by Reuters show. Revlon Inc removed talc from its body products, and L'Oreal SA is exploring alternatives for the mineral, those companies told Reuters.
The moves come amid a reappraisal of talc in body powders and cosmetics by consumers, regulators and manufacturers. Talc - which is sometimes found in the same rock as asbestos, a potent carcinogen - is used in thousands of cosmetic and personal care products to absorb moisture, prevent caking and add softness.
Thousands of cancer lawsuits, some dating back to 2013, have been filed against body-powder market leader Johnson & Johnson. Allegations that asbestos contamination caused plaintiffs' cancers began in 2017. Other makers of talc powders also face suits, including Revlon, Chanel and Avon, securities filings and court records show.
Scrutiny of talc products intensified after a 2018 Reuters investigation reported that J&J knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its talc and powders. The company has disputed Reuters’ report and maintains its powders are safe and asbestos free.
J&J announced last month that it would stop selling talc Baby Powder in the United States and Canada, attributing the decision to declining sales and negative publicity.
In March, a Chanel representative disclosed in a court deposition that in 2017 the company had stopped making a talc-based body powder, scented with its iconic No. 5 fragrance that it had made since 1924. The deposition was taken in a 2018 case filed in a Los Angeles court. In it, a California woman alleges she got mesothelioma, in part from asbestos-tainted Chanel and J&J powders she used for decades. Asbestos is the only well established cause of mesothelioma, an incurable rare cancer of the lining of the lungs and other organs.
Chanel representative Amy Wyatt said in the deposition that Chanel was sued for the first time over its talc powder in 2016 and she denied Chanel powders contained asbestos. "We know that it was a safe product," Wyatt said in the deposition. But "we determined from public perception to remove it from the market."
