Scientific Association of the European Talc Industry aisbl

Crystalline silica is one of the most common minerals on our planet, representing about 12% of the earth's crust. As in most naturally occurring mineral substances, talc can contain some crystalline silica (generally less than 5%). The main health effect of exposure to crystalline silica is silicosis, a progressive and impairing fibrosis. This illness develops as the consequence of long term exposure to excessive amounts of respirable crystalline silica particles. A recent evaluation (IARC - International Agency for Research on Cancer - 1997) concluded that crystalline silica is a human carcinogen. This conclusion was limited to certain occupational circumstances only.

There is a consistent body of evidence supporting the fact that carcinogenic effects, if any, are secondary to the well known fibrogenic effect of crystalline silica. At the present stage, all established evidence suggests that prevention is the appropriate way of managing this issue. The silicosis risk should be evaluated and managed at the workplace, where the product is handled, essentially by complying with the occupational exposure limits (OEL) for quartz.

There is no clinical evidence to suggest that talc causes lung cancer. Mortality studies conducted over the last 20 years in France, Austria, Italy and Norway on talc workers exposed to talc dust all of their adult lives have shown that there is no excess cancer risk amongst these people compared to the population at large. Thus the silica content of these talcs shows no evidence of being carcinogenic.

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