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Comment by renewiltord | Hacker News Reader

Why aren't there consumer products unions that certify products as safe ? That way, the people who care can get the certified product, and the rest can accept risk.

It won't work for something like cigarettes where the risk is external but if the risk is to you, then you can manage it this way.

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Thing is people have been using talcum powder for many many centuries. It's just ground up rock... The thing is when you gather something from nature there will be naturally contamination. The claim is about asbestos being in the talc powder which is also a rock...

The thing is asbestos can occur naturally in and dirt all around the world. There are some places even in the US where dust storms are more dangerous just because this fact. Here's just a short memo about naturally occurring asbestos. https://ncceh.ca/sites/default/files/Naturally_occurring_asb...

I am not saying J&J should get off scotch free if they knew some sources of talc they were using had high levels of asbestos. However, I am gonna say it's not surprising that there may be some contamination. Moreover that's just one form of natural occurring contamination. There other minerals that naturally occur that also are unwanted contaminates such as heavy metals and so forth. What matters is are the contaminants reasonable low for a naturally sourced product since it's not possible to have zero contamination.

There are, such as Underwriters Laboratories. But the human body is such a complex machine that it’s infeasible to do the experiments necessary to provide the kinds of guarantees that one would desire. Many effects have multiple causes and can show up decades later.

Ah, so we should label the products with the appropriate certification and if it is missing, consumers should choose their position on the risk-reward curve.

I cannot tell if you are being sarcastic, or just describing how life works.

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