「有什麼東西是比爽身粉更好用的嗎?」芝加哥一些權威醫師會說:「這是錯誤的觀念!」。美國由公共衛生專家、醫生、消費者組織等團體組成的聯盟,最近向聯邦政府提出請願,希望在含有滑石粉的化妝產品上加貼警告標語,以提醒民眾──這些產品是許多女性都會使用的個人護理用品,但必須小心,經常性的使用這類產品可能會導致卵巢癌。(編註:滑石粉的主要成分是矽酸鎂,為爽身粉主要成分)
此份請願書將遞交至美國健康與人類服務部部長李維特(Mike Leavitt)以及食品藥物管理局局長,亦是美國國家癌症研究所前所長艾森巴哈(Andrew C. von Eschenbach)手上。請願團體要求必須在所有含有滑石粉的產品上加貼警告標語:「經常在女性陰部使用滑石粉,恐大幅提高罹患卵巢癌的風險」。
請願者同時也要求舉行公聽會,他們將提出證據證明:女性在陰部週邊區域使用滑石粉,有可能導致滑石粉進入卵巢。
大家都知道卵巢癌是一種高度致命的癌症,因為它毫無徵兆,當開始出現病徵時,通常已經是末期了。
領導此次請願活動的艾普斯坦(Samuel Epstein)博士表示,「要預防卵巢癌的方法非常簡單,只要停止使用滑石粉」,他同時也是防癌聯盟的主席,總部位於芝加哥。
艾普斯坦於15日發表的一份聲明中提到,「就像美國國家癌症研究所前所長艾森巴哈博士所觀察到的,女性超過65歲死於卵巢癌的人數,從1975年起就開始巨幅攀升,白人女性中增加了13%、黑人女性則增加了47%。」他更進一步指出,「每年約有15,300人死於卵巢癌,因此也使得卵巢癌成為結腸癌、乳癌、肺癌之後的第4大最常見的致命癌症。」
這些數據是從美國國家癌症研究所於2005年所做的癌症統計資料中找到的,並於3年後在2008年進行發表。
於此,艾普斯坦博士也建議使用玉米澱粉,一種較安全的有機碳水化合物,來代替滑石粉產品的使用。
另外,科學家也證實了,只要婦女進行輸卵管結紮或子宮切除手術,即可預防滑石粉從會陰部轉移到卵巢,就不會受到使用滑石粉所帶來的不良影響。
What could be more benign than body powder, right? Some of Chicago's most highly placed doctors would say, wrong. They are part of a coalition of public health experts, medical doctors and consumers organizations that is petitioning the federal government for warning labels on cosmetic talcum powder products used by many women as part of their personal care regime - a warning that frequent use is linked to ovarian cancer.
The petition addresses Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, and Commissioner of Food and Drugs Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., a former director of the National Cancer Institute. The group seeks labels with a warning such as, "Frequent application of talcum powder in the female genital area substantially increases the risk of ovarian cancer," on all talc products.
The petitioners also seek a public hearing at which evidence can be presented that the genital application of talc can result in its translocation to the ovaries.
Ovarian cancer is known as particularly deadly because it is a silent cancer that shows few symptoms until it is well advanced.
Prevention is as easy as discontinuing the use of talcum powder, says lead petitioner Dr. Samuel Epstein, who chairs the Cancer Prevention Coalition, based in Chicago.
"As Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, former director of the National Cancer Institute, is aware," said Dr. Epstein in a statement today, "the mortality of ovarian cancer for women over the age of 65, has escalated dramatically since 1975, by 13% for white and 47% for black women.
"There are about 15,300 deaths from ovarian cancer each year," he said. "This makes it the fourth most common fatal cancer in women after colon, breast and lung."
These figures are found in the National Cancer Institute's own SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 2005, posted three years after publication, in 2008.
Dr. Epstein suggests substituting "cornstarch, a safe organic carbohydrate, for talcum powder products."
Others, even women who have had a tubal ligation or hysterectomy, either of which prevents the transfer of talc from the perineum to the ovary, would not be affected by talc application, scientists have confirmed.
全文及圖片詳見:ENS