Asbestos Contamination in Talc-Based Cosmetics: An Invisible Cancer Risk

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos Contamination in Talc-Based Cosmetics: An Invisible Cancer Risk, by T. Stoiber, S. Fitzgerald, N.S. Leiba (Environmental Health Insights, 2020).

The study

• Authors: T. Stoiber, S. Fitzgerald, N.S. Leiba
• Journal: Environmental Health Insights
• Published: 2020;14:1178630220976558
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

The lack of regulation and adequate testing of talc-containing personal care products in the U.S. has resulted in the contamination of cosmetics with asbestos. As such, the true exposure of consumers to asbestos is poorly characterized and likely underestimated. In this study, transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed that 3 of 21 powder-based cosmetic products tested were contaminated with amphibole asbestos. One of these contaminated products is expressly marketed for use by children. The presence of asbestos found in products demonstrates the urgency to revise cosmetics policy. Further, talc-based cosmetics may be an overlooked and difficult to characterize source of exposure to asbestos, a known carcinogen.

© The Author(s) 2020.

In plain English

This rapid communication reported laboratory tests of 21 talc-based cosmetic products bought in stores in San Francisco, California, and Washington, DC, and from an online retailer. They included 7 toy make-up kits and 7 eye shadow palettes, plus face and body powders, a blush and a contouring palette. Samples were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) following an EPA test method. Tremolite asbestos was found in 3 of the 21 products (14%): 2 eye shadow palettes and 1 toy make-up kit, all bought from a large online retailer. Actinolite asbestos was also found in one palette. In the toy kit, 1 of 3 eye-shadow shades tested was positive; in the two palettes, 5 of 25 and 18 of 45 colors tested were positive. Amounts ranged from 1.49 to 4.67 million amphibole asbestos structures per gram. Estimated concentrations, based on assumed fiber sizes, were 1.5 to 4.6 parts per million. The study tested products, not people. The authors called their sample small and concluded that industry methods for screening talc supplies are not adequate. One author has served as a testifying expert for plaintiff and defense firms in asbestos and talc cases.

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: Laboratory analysis of retail cosmetic products for asbestos, published as a rapid communication
• Who was studied: 21 talc-based cosmetic products (7 toy make-up kits, 7 eye shadow palettes, 3 face powders, 2 body powders, 1 blush, 1 contouring palette) bought in retail stores in San Francisco, California, and Washington, DC, and from an online retailer. Purchase dates were not stated.
• Exposure: Amphibole asbestos (tremolite, actinolite) in talc-based cosmetics, identified by transmission electron microscopy using EPA Test Method EPA/600/R-93/116, with quantification per AHERA and Millette
• Main results:
  • Tremolite asbestos was detected in 3 of 21 products tested: 2 eye shadow palettes and 1 toy make-up kit
  • Actinolite asbestos was also detected in one of the eye shadow palettes
  • All 3 positive products were bought from a large-scale online retailer
  • In the toy make-up kit, 1 of 3 eye-shadow shades tested was positive. In the two palettes, 5 of 25 and 18 of 45 colors tested were positive (20% and 40%)
  • Toy make-up kit: 4.33 and 4.67 million amphibole asbestos structures per gram, 0.0004 to 0.0005% asbestos, 4.3 to 4.6 ppm
  • Eye shadow palette #1: 2.25 to 3.57 million amphibole asbestos structures per gram, 0.0002 to 0.0004%, 2.2 to 3.5 ppm. Eye shadow palette #2: 1.49 to 3.86 million structures per gram, 0.0001 to 0.0004%, 1.5 to 3.8 ppm
  • The percentage and ppm figures were calculated by assuming average fiber dimensions of 5 µm length and 0.25 µm width, and the specific gravity of tremolite (3.15)
  • Overall, 14% of the products tested positive for asbestos
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, with nearly 15% of products contaminated in a small study, the methods industries use to screen talc supplies are not adequate. They called for a sensitive, cosmetic-specific testing method that routinely uses TEM.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors described their sample of products as small

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Talc, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Amphibole Asbestos.

Related studies

• Evaluation by electron microscopy techniques of asbestos contamination in industrial, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical talcs — L. Paoletti, S. Caiazza, et al. (1984)
• Invisible threats: environmental asbestos exposure and water contamination in a former mining area of Northeastern Brazil — O.S. Brito, M.F.M. Pereira, et al. (2026)
• Cosmetic talc as a risk factor for pleural mesothelioma: a weight of evidence evaluation of the epidemiology — B.L. Finley, S.M. Benson, et al. (2017)
• Occupational exposures to cosmetic talc and risk of mesothelioma: an updated pooled cohort and statistical power analysis with consideration of latency period — G.M. Marsh, A.M. Ierardi, et al. (2019)
• Absence of mesothelioma risk maintained in an expanded international cohort of cosmetic talc miners and millers — A.M. Ierardi, G.M. Marsh (2020)
• Confidence interval function analysis to evaluate the risk of mesothelioma among an expanded international cohort of cosmetic talc miners and millers — G.M. Marsh, A.M. Ierardi (2020)

Browse return to medical research.