The biology of talc

Our plain-English summary of The biology of talc, by G.Y. Hildick-Smith (British Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1976).

The study

• Author: G.Y. Hildick-Smith
• Journal: British Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1976;33(4):217-29
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 53 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 002290).

Abstract

Data are presented on the effects on health of talc dusts from exposure in industry and use of talc-containing health products. The mineralogy of talc and the composition of cosmetic and industrial grade talc dusts are described. Studies in animals are reviewed, and epidemiological data are considered in relation to exposures that occur during industrial and consumer uses of talc dusts. Hamsters exposed to 8 mg/m3 of respirable cosmetic grade talc dust for up to 150 minutes a day for 300 consecutive days showed no difference in incidence or nature of pathological lesions from those observed in a group of untreated animals. A retrospective study of the causes of death of 227 talc mine millers exposed to cosmetic grade talc at the threshold limit value for talc (20 million parts per cubic foot) for an average of 15-8 years showed that the causes of death were no different from those in a control cohort not exposed to talc dust. The available data indicate that talc dust exposure in the modern mining of cosmetic grade talc does not appear to be injurious to health. The significantly lower dust exposure in the normal use of cosmetic grade talc dusts in talc-containing health and cosmetic products confirms that their use is not a hazard to health.

In plain English

This 1976 article reviewed published and unpublished information on talc dust and health: laboratory and animal studies, studies of talc workers, and consumer use. The author distinguished cosmetic grade talc, described as free of detectable asbestos, from industrial talcs that may contain asbestos such as tremolite. Among the reviewed studies, hamsters inhaling cosmetic talc (Wehner et al.) did not differ from untreated animals. In rats given pleural injections (Wagner et al.), 18 of 48 chrysotile-treated rats developed mesotheliomas, but none given talc did. Rubino et al. found similar deaths from respiratory disease and cancers in cosmetic talc millers and controls. Kleinfeld et al. reported deaths from carcinoma of the lung and pleura at four times the expected rate among New York miners of talc mixed with serpentine and tremolite. The author estimated an infant's weekly baby-powder exposure as 7840 times less than a miner's at the legal limit. The author concluded that concern about consumer exposure was unwarranted, and noted that most animal studies had not defined the talc's composition or dose.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Review of existing studies and data (laboratory, animal, epidemiological and case reports), with the author's own exposure calculations
• Who was studied: Published and unpublished studies on talc: cell and mutation tests, animal experiments (rats, hamsters, rabbits, guinea-pigs), studies of talc miners, millers and rubber workers, case reports, and a survey of 76 mothers using baby powder
• Exposure: Cosmetic grade talc (described as more than 90% mineral talc and free of detectable asbestos) and industrial grade talcs, which may contain asbestos (tremolite, chrysotile or antigorite) or free silica
• Main results:
  • In a reviewed hamster inhalation study (Wehner et al., 1975) of cosmetic talc at an average of 8 mg/m3 respirable dust, treated and untreated hamsters did not differ in viability, body weight, histology or tumour incidence
  • In a reviewed rat study (Wagner et al., 1975), 20 mg was injected into the pleural space of groups of 48 rats. 18 rats given chrysotile developed mesotheliomas, and none given cosmetic grade talc or left untreated did
  • In a reviewed hamster study (Smith et al.), 8 and 10 of the groups of 50 hamsters given chrysotile and amosite developed pleural mesotheliomas. No tumours occurred with a platy talc or with an industrial talc containing 57% tremolite
  • In a reviewed mortality study (Rubino et al., 1976), 227 millers exposed to cosmetic grade talc had death rates from respiratory disease, lung cancer and all cancers similar to the controls, and lower cardiovascular deaths. The 704 miners had significantly more respiratory deaths than the controls
  • In a reviewed death-certificate study (Kleinfeld et al., 1973) of 91 deaths among 220 New York talc miners, whose talc was mixed with serpentine, tremolite and silica, deaths from carcinoma of the lung and pleura were four times the expected rate
  • In a reviewed morbidity study (Kleinfeld et al., 1973), 12 of 35 miners in a higher-dust group had x-ray findings compatible with pneumoconiosis, compared with 1 of 39 miners exposed to less dust
  • The author estimated an infant's median weekly exposure from baby powder as 7840 times less than that of a miner working at the legal limit of 20 million particles per cubic foot
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that any health hazard is confined to industrial talcs rather than cosmetic grade talc, and that concern about consumer exposure to cosmetic talc is unwarranted
• Limitations the authors state:
  • In most animal studies of talc, the mineral composition, particle size and dose were not defined
  • Older information is hard to interpret because 'talc' has been used for both cosmetic grade talc and mixed industrial mineral powders
  • Little data exist on how often, and in what amounts, people apply talc dusting powders

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Talc and vermiculite.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Talc, Mineralogy, Threshold Limit Value (TLV).

Related studies

• Identification of chlorite and serpentine in cosmetic or pharmaceutical talc — A.M. Blount, A.H. Vassiliou (1983)
• Cosmetic talc and ovarian cancer — D.L. Longo, R.C. Young (1979)
• Perineal talc use and ovarian cancer: a critical review — J.E. Muscat, M.S. Huncharek (2008)
• Characterization of talc and associated minerals — D.H. Hamer, F.R. Rolle, et al. (1976)
• The dust hazard in tremolite talc mining — L. Greenburg (1947)
• Morbidity and mortality in talc-exposed workers — E. Wergeland, A. Andersen, et al. (1990)

Browse more research in British Journal of Industrial Medicine, or return to medical research.