Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 08/04/2026; Author: Mirnes Bakija
What are the claims?
The World Health Organization says that contraceptive pills are just as carcinogenic as tobacco or asbestos.
What are the facts?
Combined oral contraceptive pills are classified as a Group 1 carcinogen. This classification refers to the strength of the evidence, not the level of risk.
On March 10, 2026, a Facebook post was shared claiming that contraceptive pills have “now” been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen. The post implied that they had been casually prescribed to teenage girls and that this is why in vitro fertilization (IVF) has become a profitable industry today.
In case you missed it… contraceptive pills are now classified as a Group 1 carcinogen. But yes, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that they were handed out like candy to every 15-year-old girl… and now the IVF industry is worth 50 billion dollars.”
The following day, the same Facebook profile shared a screenshot of this post containing the same claims. Together, the posts received thousands of reactions and hundreds of comments.
Claims that contraceptive pills are a Group 1 carcinogen, along with implications that they were intentionally given to girls despite being harmful, were also shared on Instagram.
Manipulative presentation of the classification
Claims that the World Health Organization recently classified contraceptive pills as a Group 1 carcinogen, alongside tobacco and asbestos, have circulated before as warnings about the harmfulness of these pills. In the region, such claims were already being published in 2019 by websites such as Alternativa za vas and štitnjača.hr.
The World Health Organization states that pills are just as toxic as tobacco or asbestos!
However, this is a manipulative presentation of the facts. Fact-checking platforms and several media outlets have already pointed out posts containing such manipulations (1, 2, 3).
Contraceptive pills contain hormones that prevent conception. There are two types. Combined pills contain the hormones estrogen and progestin. Mini-pills contain only progestin. However, only combined pills have been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), identifies cancer-causing agents and classifies them into four groups. These classifications are periodically published in so-called monographs. The classifications are based on the strength of the evidence that a certain exposure can cause cancer, not on the level of risk. Thus, Group 3 includes substances and agents that cannot be classified as carcinogenic to humans. This group contains more than 400 entries, including caffeine, tea, fluorescent light, and similar substances. Group 2B contains more than 300 possible carcinogens, such as aloe vera extract and gasoline engine exhaust. Group 2A contains probable carcinogens such as red meat and shift work. Group 1 contains carcinogens for which there is conclusive evidence that they cause cancer in humans. These include tobacco, alcohol, asbestos, solar radiation, microorganisms such as hepatitis viruses, HIV, and certain HPV viruses, but also substances such as wood dust. In 2005, IARC classified combined oral contraceptive pills as a Group 1 carcinogen, and in 2008 confirmed that they can cause breast, cervical, and liver cancer while at the same time reducing the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer.
However, this classification does not mean that contraceptive pills carry the same cancer risk as tobacco or HPV viruses. It actually means that there is conclusive evidence that under certain conditions the pill has been a causal factor, but not that it carries the same level of risk as smoking cigarettes or that a person who takes the pill for years will certainly develop cancer.
The US National Cancer Institute states that around 0,6% of women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer during their lifetime. This means that even if the risk of cervical cancer is 50% higher among people taking combined oral contraceptive pills, the overall risk still remains below 1%. A study conducted in Sweden and published in 2025 in the journal Jama Oncology showed that women using hormonal contraception have around a 24% higher risk of breast cancer than women who do not use it. Since breast cancer among younger women is still relatively rare, this means that the number of cases in that country increases from 54 to 67 per 100.000 women annually, or around 13 additional cases per 100.000 women, which is approximately one additional case per 7.800 users each year.
In its 2025 report, the WHO described oral contraceptives as “one of the most effective methods of preventing unintended pregnancies” and “a major public health achievement”. It emphasized that they have “a complex relationship with cancer risk”. The WHO states that most women, including adolescents, can safely use oral contraceptives. However, suitability may vary depending on individual health conditions, which is why it is important for every woman to undergo a medical assessment to ensure that the method is safe and appropriate for her.According to the facts, we rate the claim that contraceptive pills have recently been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen, accompanied by insinuations that this classification represents an assessment of risk and without explaining what such a classification actually means, as manipulation of facts and pseudoscience. We give the same rating to the claim that the World Health Organization stated that contraceptive pills are as toxic as tobacco or asbestos.
