Shower to Shower Body Powder

Product Description

Shower to Shower Body Powder was Johnson & Johnson’s adult-targeted talc product, marketed as a daily body powder from the 1960s onward. It was sold in large containers designed for post-shower use and was widely distributed in both consumer and institutional channels.

J&J discontinued Shower to Shower in 2012, years before the discontinuation of Johnson’s Baby Powder (2020 domestic / 2023 worldwide), but both products shared the same underlying talc supply sourced from the same mines — primarily Vermont and Italian deposits that have been implicated in asbestos contamination.

J&J’s talc supply has been the subject of extensive asbestos litigation documenting that the company’s own internal testing through the 1970s detected asbestos in talc samples, and that the contamination was not disclosed to the public.

Asbestos Contamination

Shower to Shower shared J&J’s established talc supply chain — the same Hammondsville and Argonaut Vermont mines and Italian Val Chisone region sources used for Johnson’s Baby Powder. Publicly filed litigation documents establish that these sources produced talc contaminated with tremolite, anthophyllite, and actinolite asbestos fiber.

The adult market positioning of Shower to Shower meant heavier use by adult consumers who were more likely to use larger amounts per application, in enclosed bathrooms, over multiple decades.

Litigation Context

Johnson & Johnson has faced tens of thousands of asbestos talc lawsuits, a significant portion of which involve Shower to Shower as well as Baby Powder. J&J’s 2021 LTL Management bankruptcy filing — and its subsequent rejection by courts — means J&J faces direct talc liability. A proposed $8+ billion settlement has been advanced in the talc litigation, though as of 2025 it remains in proceedings.

How Workers Were Exposed

Adult consumers who used Shower to Shower daily in enclosed bathrooms over 10–30 year periods accumulated cumulative cosmetic exposure. The larger container size and adult marketing encouraged more generous application than Baby Powder.

Industrial and institutional users at facilities that stocked Shower to Shower for employee or patient use experienced the same occupational exposure pathway as other J&J talc products.

See also

References reflect what has been alleged or documented in publicly filed asbestos litigation. This information does not constitute a finding of fact or liability.