Talc & talcum powder products:

We include a list of products that contain talc or talcum powder. The presence and risk of talc in paint and rubber bands is also discussed.

Page top photograph: talc particles at 100x in polarized light, photographed by the author [DF] at McCrone Research in Chicago. The author has worked as a forensic microscopist, aerobiologist, and environmental investigator.

Purpose and Use of Talc in Consumer Products

One of the earliest providers of talcum powder as a consumer product was Johnson & Johnson's® Baby Powder first marketed in 1894 by that company who was already a producer of medical products. Johnson's® Baby Powder became the progenitor of that famous company's baby products business.

Why was talc used in some powder products in the first place? Physically to the touch talc feels soft and oily; the mineral is very soft, having a Mohs scale grade of 1.

Watch out: because talc was used in or on a wide variety of products and in some cases is still used in some products including cosmetics (Gordon 2014), asbestos-containing talc might be on or contained in some of those items.

However not all products containing talc contain detectable asbestos, and some other products using talc (rubber band dust) involved so little talc that in our opinion it's not likely that there is a measurable asbestos hazard from their use or presence.

Photo: a piece of mineral talc, about 10 cm long, as mined, showing talc crystals, retrieved 2018/08/17, original source: Simple English Wikipedia, https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talc#/media/File:Talc.jpg

Article Contents

• WHAT PRODUCTS USED TALC?
• TALC USED in PAINT?
• TALC HAZARD from RUBBER BANDS?

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Examples of Products Using Talc or Talcum Powder

Talc was often used both as an ingredient in other products and quite widely as a powder to prevent product materials from sticking together, such as surgical gloves or rubber bands.

Because asbestos occurs naturally in talc, any product or material that included talcum powder or on which talc was spread for any reason, might have been a vehicle for transport of asbestos into the local environment.

[Click to enlarge any image]

That hazard will not be present in products using modern talc substitutes such as corn starch. Examples of just a few of a large number of uses of talc and products on which talcum powder or talc appeared include:

• Soapstone is a form of talc used in carving ornamental objects
• Talc in antiperspirant
• Talc on automotive or bicycle tire tubes
• Talc on balloons
• Talc in baby powder and talc in body powder
• Talc high in asbestos used as an anti-stick coating on bicycle tires has been reported to us by private email, H.H. (July 2018) who offered this anecdotal report of European tests of bicycle tire tubes found the following:
  
  We did some test of many bicycletubes here in Europe and only hutchinson and micheling was asbestosfree. Many of the others imported from China did contain very very much asbestos found in the talc there were so much that it was very easy to see that the talc did contain asbestos.
  
  Also there were many metal particles. - H.H by private email 2018/08/07 NOTE: with no substantiation, no citations, no authoritative references, this is an OPINION from H.H.
  
  We were disappointed that the reader was not willing to identify himself, even privately to be kept anonymous here, and was not able to provide a single authoritative research citation nor to describe where or for whom he performed the work he claimed.
  
  Note: Also see BICYCLE SEAT ASBESTOS
• Talc in chewing gum and candy, as a coating to prevent adhering to the wrapper
• Talc in cosmetics - including face makeup, eye shadow, blush, foundation, face powder, to absorb oil; a very wide range of products, see the research studies cited below.
• Talc coating on fabric-based electrical wire insulation and as a dry lubricant for pulling wire cables

Photo: a piece of mineral talc, about 10 cm long, as mined, showing talc crystals, retrieved 2018/08/17, original source: Simple English Wikipedia, https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talc#/media/File:Talc.jpg

• Talc-containing asbestos in crayons (CPSC 2000) and
• Talc in fingerprint kits or toy fingerprint kits
  
  Samples of four brands of children’s crayons and two kids’ crime scene fingerprint kits contained deadly asbestos fibers, according to tests commissioned by EWG Action Fund. ... The tests found asbestos in four of the 28 boxes of crayons tested, several marketed under the names of popular fantasy characters Mickey Mouse, Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
  
  Two of the 21 crime scene fingerprint kits were tainted with asbestos.
  
  According to package labels, all the crayons and toys that contained asbestos were made in China and imported to the U.S. It is unclear whether the companies whose names or trademarked characters appear on the packages are responsible for, or had any role in, the manufacturing of the products or whether they merely licensed the use of their trademarks. - Walker (2018)
• Talc dry lubricant in many applications, particularly helpful where the lubricant must tolerate high temperatures
• Talc in medical procedures or treatments (Jadhav 2013) such as in plurodesis in which a slurry of talc is introduced into the pleural space through a chest drain - used to prevent a recurrence of pneumothorax or pleural effusion.
• Talc in olive oil, to improve clarity or to remove water
• Talc in pharmaceuticals, tablet manufacturing, as a coating to prevent caking, also in extended-release formulations (Jadhav 2013)
• Talc on rubber materials such as dive suits and reported [unverified] inside of inflated or expanded rubber diaphraghms (water pressure tanks) and sports equipment (soccer balls, footballs, basketballs).
• Talc in rice - used in the polishing process for white rice
• Talc in roofing materials for weather resistance and to prevent product from sticking to itself in packaging
• Talc sprinkled on dance floors (particularly nice for Tango practice)
• Talc on rubber bands or other rubber products to prevent self-adhesion before use
• Talc in soap
• Talc on surgical gloves of latex or rubber
• Also see VERMICULITE INSULATION - home

Really? OPINION: Compared with the extremely-high levels of airborne asbestos to which shipyard workers were exposed in the U.S. in the 1940s, many of whom later developed mesothelioma, and compared with high levels of airborne asbestos-containing dust in some industrial and commercial environments, the airborne dust level from removing a chewing gum wrapper dusted with talc that itself might contain asbestos as an impurity, is in our OPINION likely to be below the limits of detection.

OPINION: When opening a candy wrapper or a piece of chewing gum or using a rubber band, consumers should not panic about airborne asbestos that may be in some talc powder used on candy wrappers nor rubber bands.

It seems more likely that such dust is below the limits of detection except in a constructed, closed lab environment.

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

Reader Question: Tests for talc used in matte or low-gloss paints? Hazardous?

I have recently discovered that talc is regularly used in matt paints, and is therefore likely to be present in many households worldwide.

Strangely, in Europe, the manufacturers seem to avoid listing talc and other substances on their safety data sheets, despite it having exposure limits.

I wondered if you have ever tested modern paint containing talc for the presence of asbestos contamination?

Many thanks, - Anonymous by private email 2021/02/17 - updated 2024/07/04

Moderator reply: uses of talc and asbestos in paint

Quite so Anon, a number of research sources include paint as one of the uses of Talc. Photo above: Simple Baby Talc, product labeled as "Pure Talc" for sale online (https://ibspot.com/), image retrieved 2024/07/04.

Talc has for many years been added to some paints in both building use and artwork, as an improvement to the paint's body, as an extender, filler, to improve suspension of colorant particles in the paint, to improve paint adhesion to the surface, and possibly to impart a matte finish to the dried paint.

Talc has also been used as alternative to titanium dioxide in some paints as TiO₂ is itself an environmental concern.

Some of the amateur articles we reviewed for this discussion even described using pure fine talc powder purchased retail as a baby powder, or as a product used in facial make-up formulations repurposed as a paint additive.

I have not had occasion to test paint samples for the presence of talc, inpart because there was not a claim of hazard, though I of course welcome additional research citations and data and am always open to learning something new.

Some talc-in-paint research citations are found below.

Watch out: don't assume that just because talc is purchased / used in various products that it contains asbestos, and also don't assume that other ultra-fine particles are safe to inhale, regardless of the presence or absence of asbestos. And as we explain in this article, not all talc is contaminated with asbestos.

So we cannot simply assume that paint containing talc is itself a cancer rtisk or a source of asbestos contamination.

Asbestos itself was used in paints not only for matte or low-gloss finishes, but also as a thickener. Some sources (without authoritative citations) such as mesothelioma lawsuit websites mention that kelly-Moore included asbestos in some of its paint, cement, and surface-texturing products produced in the U.S. up to 1978.

You will see that the exposure hazards to talc, IF the particular talc product contains asbestos (not all do, it depends on where the talc was mined), occur where the talc is in a powder form easily made airborne or is applied directly to skin in sensitive genital areas (this claim is arugable or at least has been so argued);

While no one with any sense would pretend to give a safety assessment of an arbitrary building about which we have not a shred of information, in general one would expect that there is no detectable, measurable asbestos hazard from a flat finish talc-containing paint on a painted surface in good condition, such as a ceiling or wall, as those surfaces don't release measurable amounts of airborne particulates from their constituents unless damaged, sanded, or demolished. 

• Baan, Robert, Kurt Straif, Yann Grosse, Béatrice Secretan, Fatiha El Ghissassi, Vincent Cogliano, and WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group. Carcinogenicity of carbon black, titanium dioxide, and talc. [PDF] (2006): 295-296.
  Excerpts:  
  Talc is used in agricultural products, ceramics, cosmetics, paint and other coatings, paper,pharma ceuticals, plastics, roofing materials, rubber, and for waste treatment. Occupational exposure to talc arises during mining, milling, and industrial use …
  
  Asbestiform talcshould not be confused with talc thatcontains asbestos. Talc is used inagricultural products, ceramics,cosmetics, paint and other coatings,paper, pharmaceuticals, plastics,roofing materials, rubber, and forwaste treatment. Occupationalexposure to talc arises during mining,milling, and industrial use.
  
  Consumers are exposed during the use of loosetalc-based powders—eg, baby powdersand body powders used by women onthe perineum or genital area ...and..Overall, the working groupconcluded that inhaled talc that doesnot contain asbestos or asbestiformfibres is not classifiable as to itscarcinogenicity (ie, group 3).
• Kalendová, A., D. Veselý, and P. Kalenda. "Properties of paints with hematite coated muscovite and talc particles." Applied Clay Science 48, no. 4 (2010): 581-588.

• mGanna 100% Natural Talc Powder for Facial Make-Up and Cosmetic formulations, sold in 0.5 lb bags by Amazon-UK, retrieved 2024/07/04 (shown above)
• OSHA, FOUR QUESTIONS ON "THIN LAYERED" ASBESTOS-CONTAINING PAINT (ACP) [PDF] U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, (25 April 1997) letter, Stephen Mallinger, Acting Director Office of Health Compliance Assistance - to Mr. James Prarat Assistant Director of Environmental Department Karl R. Rohrer Associates, Inc. 3810 Ridgewood Road Akron, Ohio 44321-1698
  
  Excerpts - note that OSHA answerd "2" of "4" questions posed by the original requestor.
  
  OSHA Asbestos standard does not require asbestos paint to be removed prior to interior demolition work. It is assumed that the "demolition" work you refer to is the removal of the wallboards that are covered with asbestos containing paint. The removal (demolition) of ACM that is not thermal system insulation, and therefore is a Class II operation.
  
  OSHA does not require that non-intact ACM paint be removed from surfaces prior to those surfaces being damaged in interior demolition work.
  
  Notes: The building itself was being demolished in this case. This does not address potential hazards from peeling, flaking paint nor from sanding painted surfaces - Ed.
  
  Watch out: in my OPINION a more significant asbestos hazard is encountered when sanding or demolishing ceilings that have been coated with asbestos-containing textured paint and "popcorn ceiling paint" products.
  
  See details at CEILING PAINT TEXTURED / POPCORN ASBESTOS
  
  
• Simandl, G. J., and S. Paradisl. "Carbonate-hosted talc." Selected British Columbia Mineral Deposit Profiles 3 (1999): 35-38.
  Excerpt:  
  Paint and ceramic-grade talc is sold for $US 110.00 to 200.00/tonne, depending on the degreeand method of processing. Some filler grades are sold at $US 600.00/tonne and cosmetic-grade talc and surface treated materials may sell for more than $US 2000.00/tonne …

• Simple Pure Fine Talc sold as body powder by UK vendors such as beautyontrial.co.uk - 2024/07/04 (above).

Reader follow-up:

Thanks for the reply and the references.

My main concern is that pretty much all houses have some kind of peeling paint, or cracks in paintwork, particularly where skirting boards meet the wall. Also, people regularly sand/fill areas of plaster and paint, unaware of the paint talc content.

I agree that in good condition, any fibre release should be minimal or non-detectable. However, I'm not sure about the level of potential asbestos contamination in industrial vs cosmetic talc.

I have read that cosmetic talc is more refined, yet safety data sheets on industrial talc also seem to say they are asbestos free, so presumably this must be filtered and sampled too.

Moderator reply: little research found on hazards of asbstos-contaminated talc used in flat or matte paints

I agree that sanding or demolishing in particular are likely to release more dust.

I have not found a reference that relates the potential asbestos hazard to level of talc refinement;

Some of the inconsistency about acknowledging talc in products derives from the problem of mining source - e.g. talc in J&J babypowder may not always come from the same mine.

And of course there's the Liticaphobia problem -

Having done a bit of lab work, I can emphasize that you don't find what you don't look for. Even the smallest change in how a microscope is adjusted or a slide is prepared, for example, pops small particles into or out of "existence".

(There may be other sources or uses of asbstos in paint such as in producing fire-retardant paint or "intumescent paints or coatings".)

When searching for research articles on the hazards of asbestos-bearing talc used in paint products, responses are dominanted by the more-widely known hazards from lead paint. But we do find mention of the frequent use of Crocidolite asbestos in paint (as well as a myriad of other products from road paving to woodstoves).

In my OPINION, friability, the ability to produce fine dust containing asbestos is what's critical.

Considering that there is asbestos in some drywall products and in some joint compound, people sanding a ceiling before re-painting would want to beware of and treat as potentially hazardous dyst from demolition or sanding of drywall in any event.

The airborne asbestos from large paint flakes is most-likely hard to even detect unless there is a demolition or aggressive treatment of ceilings and walls in progress.

• Jacobs, Neva FB, Kevin M. Towle, Brent L. Finley, and Shannon H. Gaffney. "An updated evaluation of potential health hazards associated with exposures to asbestos-containing drywall accessory products." Critical reviews in toxicology 49, no. 5 (2019): 430-444.
• Powell, Jon, Pradeep Jain, Ali Bigger, and Timothy G. Townsend. "Development and application of a framework to examine the occurrence of hazardous components in discarded construction and demolition debris: case study of asbestos-containing material and lead-based paint." Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste 19, no. 4 (2015): 05015001.

Reader follow-up: UK Paint Manufacturers give inconsistent talc-in-paint answers; tests underway

Thanks for this.

I recently contacted two large paint manufacturers in the UK to enquire if their matt paint contained talc. Both companies stated the paints did contain talc.

I then asked why talc was not included on the safety data sheets as it is an ingredient with exposure limits. Strangely, both manufacturers then replied that their previous replies were incorrect and talc was not in the paints.

Something strange seems to be going on here. They are either quite incompetent organisations or they are not being truthful on their safety data sheets which is illegal I believe,

After getting unsatisfactory responses from the paint manufacturers, I have managed to get a researcher interested who is planning to test a selection of paints for talc and any asbestos contamination.

I read on your website a section regarding bicycle inner tubes and talc/asbestos contamination. Do you think the guy who contacted you about this was genuine or just relaying hearsay? - Sid 2021/03/29

Moderator reply:

OPINION: You have to stop scaring those guys - that's why they're afraid to talk with you.

It might be worth looking directly at the MSDS sheets for your paints of interest as well as looking at some listings of contents in paint products to see what is actually listed by the manufacturer.

Of course you may find lists that say other ingredients without specifics. Take care also not to claim the talc is necessarily an asbestos hazard.

About asbestos-contaminated talc used on bicycle or tire tubes, it is established by research that soem tire and tube manufacturers used talc in packaging of tire tubes in order to prevent the product from sticking to itself during shipping and storage.

Of course without testing no one can tell you whether the talc contains asbestos.

My OPINION is that in such cases, excepting people who worked at the factory producting or packaging the materials, it's not likely that there's a detectable asbestos hazard from that case. 

Postal service workers exposed to talc from rubber bands?

[Illustration: Postal Grade bulk rubber bands from cameronpackaging. com - note that we are NOT representing that we have any information about the presence or absence of talc in this bulk postal-grade rubber band package - Ed.]

Reader Question:

I was wondering if you might be able to offer some advice?

I worked for several years part time as a postman and would use rubber bands on a daily basis to bundle up mail.

I recently became aware of the talc used in the manufacturing process and this has worried me due to potential asbestos contamination.

We tended to use the same bands for weeks if not longer before replacing them.

I don't recall the band's ever being dusty or any residue on my hands but I recently saw a YouTube video in an Indian rubber band factory and the talc was everywhere. The washing did not seem great either.

I'm wondering whether you think rubber bands would be significant source of asbestos exposure?

Also while looking into this it seems there are millions of women who use talc containing face powders on a daily basis, producing visible dust, yet mesothelioma in women seems very low.

Seems to be very difficult to calculate risk etc. - On 2020-07-13 - from private email, re-posted by (mod)

Moderator reply: possible asbestos exposure from handling talc-coated rubber bands?

Thank you for an interesting question. We have of course not a shred of objective data on this topic so what's left is mirror opinion. It seems to me that although there may have been Trace levels of talc on rubber bands and recurrent use it's not likely that that was producing a measurable asbestos hazard.

OPINION: The greater risk in cases such as of talc on rubber products such as rubber bands or bicycle tire tubes, is probably for industrial workers preparing and packaging those products.

Also, note that "industrial talc" is not identical to the talcum powder found in baby powder or in cosmetics.

Also note that not all talc contains asbestos. So asserting that there might have been a hazardous level of asbestos exposure from prior exposure to talcum powder or talc used on rubber products is a tricky topic to navigate.

That may explain the focus of some research examples cited in the page above and also at the following

Research on Talc & Asbestos in or on Rubber Products

• Barkstrom, Elmer E., and Jr Joseph Gurskis. "Winding and talc applying apparatus." U.S. Patent 2,508,484, issued May 23, 1950.
  Excerpt:
  This invention relates-to rewindlng apparatus for applying granular materialtotacky surfaces of strips and more particularl to a portableapparatus for applying talc to rubber strip during the rewinding thereof.
• Buzon, Marian E. Talc characterization: A provenance study. University of Idaho, 2016.
• Fine, Lawrence J., John M. Peters, William A. Burgess, and Louis J. DI Berardinis. "Studies of Respiratory Morbidity in Rubber Workers: Part IV. Respiratory Morbidity in Talc Workers." Archives of Environmental Health: An International Journal 31, no. 4 (1976): 195-200.
  Abstract
  
  Pulmonary function tests, chest x-rays, and respiratory questionnaires were administered to eighty talc* workers and 189 non-exposed rubber workers from three rubber tire manufacturing plants.
  
  The talc workers, who were exposed to talc at levels below the current threshold limit value (TLV) of 20 mppcf for nonfibrous talc, had a statistically significantly greater prevalence of productive cough and of positive criteria for chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) than did the control workers.
  
  The talc workers with more than 10 years of exposure had significantly decreased residual FEV1.0. Multiple regression analysis of FEV1.0 in the talc workers estimated that each year of exposure to talc dust reduced the FEV1.0 by 26 ml.
  
  Talc workers had a clear increase in respiratory morbidity, despite the absence of chest roentgenographic changes. Based on this study, a safe exposure level for talc appears to be 25 mg/m3 as a time-weighted average.
  
  Throughout this paper, the talc referred to is industrial grade talc.
• Hunt, A. C. MASSIVE PULMONARY fibrosis from the inhalation of talc [PDF] Thorax 11, no. 4 (1956): 287. Original source: NCBI https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1019329/pdf/thorax00044-0043.pdf
  
• Lee, Han-woo, and Sang-Woo Shim. "Apparatus and method of producing polyurethane rubber bands." U.S. Patent 6,994,534, issued February 7, 2006.
  Excerpt: .
  
  .. sheet, dries the release agent-coated polyurethane sheet to firstly remove the stickiness of polyurethane rubber bands, deposits talc or starch ...
  
  

 

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