To Talc or Not to Talc? The Baby Powder Dilemma

Yep, something else for moms & dads to worry about. Talc powder. It's the main ingredient in most baby powders (including the Johnson's & Johnson's shown here). Talc is an irritant. It causes respiratory problems and has been linked to cancer, including ovarian and lung cancer (the studies are still in progress, see the American Cancer Society's article on talc here).

When The Moose started walking, he started chafing on his legs where the elastic hits. He uses cloth diapers (see them here on my diaper post and find them on Amazon here), but I asked parents of children that use disposables and this happens with them as well. So it's a new walker problem, not a cloth diaper problem. Here's my little walker! (He started walking at 10 mo. and he's now 12 mo.)

When the chafing started, I initially tried coconut oil and other lotions, but it just made it worse. The oil and lotions lubricated everything and made it rub more against his skin. I use coconut oil for pretty much everything including deodorant, oil pulling, toothpaste, makeup remover, lotion, and more. It's magical. I always reach for it first anytime there's an external skin problem. This is the 1st time I can remember it not working (which, thinking about the physics and needing something to reduce friction, it shouldn't have worked). Find the coconut oil I recommend on Amazon here.

So back to talc. Talc is a mineral. It absorbs moisture and reduces friction. It is a mined mineral. It naturally occurs with asbestos frequently. Asbestos and talc have similar molecular properties. All talc in the US has been asbestos free for over 30 years. 

The talc powder is harsh. It is linked to cancer and respiratory problems. The link to cancer is small and studies are still in progress. But the link to respiratory problems when inhaled is strong. 

Side note: Talc is a common ingredient in heroin. Who knew?!?!

When the chafing started and the coconut oil didn't work, I grabbed baby powder. I have never used any lotions or powders in the diaper area prior to this (no diaper rashes with his cloth diapers! Find them on Amazon here). So this is the 1st time to use baby powder on him. The J&J baby powder was given to us (I didn't purchase it). But it was there and handy, so I grabbed it.

After about 2 days of using the baby powder, the chafing was gone! We just sprinkled a little with each diaper change. But the head of his penis (can I say that in a blog?!) was irritated. So I grabbed some coconut oil and the irritation was gone. We kept using the J&J. Two weeks later and it is very irritated. The harsh talc powder has irritated him a lot. I should have stopped using it when I first saw the irritation, but I didn't. But now I have and the J&J is going in the trash!!

I purchased Burt's Bees Dusting Powder (find it here on Amazon). The main ingredients in this is corn starch, baking soda (it's sodium bicarbonate on labels; see my post about baking soda here), and bentonite clay (see my post on bentonite clay here) I have been using coconut oil on the irritation and it is healing quickly. The Burt's Bees is a lot more gentle. Much better for that delicate area! So don't use talc powder.

This post has been featured on Thank Your Body.