What’s the problem with talc? Why beauty brands are dropping this common ingredient

Take a look through your current make-up collection. Chances are there are no products containing talc. Since the 1960s, it has become something of a red flag in the cosmetics industry, largely due to concerns it could contain asbestos, a known carcinogen.

Most brands have reformulated their talc products over the past six decades, replacing the substance with alternatives such as zinc oxide and silica. However, talc has not entirely disappeared from cosmetics counters, with some beauty influencers lamenting the lack of talc in certain products. Meanwhile, major corporations continue to push back on the health concerns of some of their talc products.

Talc used to be in practically every make-up product, but now it’s increasingly being replaced by ingredients such as cornstarch and silica.Credit: Compiled by Aresna Villanueva.

So should we avoid talc-based products – and if so, what alternatives should we look for?

What is talc?

Talc, known chemically as hydrous magnesium silicate, is a naturally derived mineral mined from the earth.

It used to be common in cosmetic products, including loose and pressed powders, primers, mascaras, lipsticks and setting sprays. Saul Pyle, founder of personal care research and development laboratory Skinterest, says this is largely due to its versatile nature as a “bulking agent”.

“Talc makes for an effective carrier for other functional ingredients and helps to deliver those ingredients to the skin, a bit like water in many moisturisers and cleansers,” he says.

“It has many desirable properties, including a very smooth and soft texture, chemical stability, a neutral colour, and it helps absorb excess oils and moisture from the skin, providing mattifying benefits.”

Why has talc been removed from many products?

Last year, the World Health Organisation upgraded its assessment of talc as “possibly” carcinogenic to “probably” due to its potential contamination with asbestos.

While it is taking its talc-based product off the shelves, Johnson & Johnson will continue selling its cornstarch-based product.Credit: AP

Cancer researcher at UNSW and scientific advisor for Cancer Council Australia Bernard Stewart says that while industrial talc is often contaminated, pharmaceutical-grade talc (used in cosmetics) is recognised in Australia as asbestos-free. However, concerns around the safety of talc in personal items remain, largely because of highly publicised litigation in the US and reams of published research exploring talc’s possible connection to ovarian cancer.

Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, has been embroiled in lawsuits since the 2000s after it was alleged some of its products contained asbestos. Last week, the company had its request for a settlement with tens of thousands of people who are suing the company over its talc products rejected. The company claims there is no proven link between its products and cancer. In 2023, it stopped selling talc-based baby powder in Australia.

Since cases like these, many brands have removed talc from their formulas. Cosmetic chemist and director of the Institute of Personal Care Science Belinda Carli says the European Union is nearing a talc ban, and there are significant restrictions over its use in Canada.

“We should follow the guidelines of other countries where a limit is not imposed [e.g. Australia] for safety reasons,” she says. “If the brand is reputable, they should be using a talc replacement or ensuring it’s highly pure – asbestos free.”

Stewart says it’s erring on the side of caution.

“I can’t unequivocally rule out the possibility that talc causes cancer,” Stewart says. “What I can say is that the risk, if it is there, is very low … There’s a subtlety between unsatisfactory evidence – evidence that doesn’t absolutely clear up the safety of talc – and the marketing decision that there’s enough community concern to warrant taking it off the market.

“Taking it off the market is not evidence it’s hazardous.”

How do the alternatives stack up?

There are several talc replacements already in use in the make-up industry. Some are better than others.

The verdict

Carli recommends avoiding any talc-based make-up, particularly products imported from other countries which may have looser regulations around ingredients.

“I wouldn’t personally formulate with it because of the regulatory restrictions elsewhere, and mica is an affordable and suitable replacement,” she says. “In any case, talc shouldn’t be used as a loose powder because of its respiratory irritant effect.”

Conversely, Stewart says Australian consumers should have the confidence that a huge body of legislators, including the Therapeutic Goods Administration, carefully consider the safety of these materials.

As a discrete chemical ingredient, talc is “extremely safe”, Pyle says. Some even argue that the risk of using talc is largely only associated with loose-powder products, aerosols or mists, since asbestos is problematic when it enters the lungs.

“The combination of increased industry awareness and legislative requirements – including a pharmacopoeial monograph that includes a test for the absence of asbestos – reduces the likelihood for any contact with asbestos. The overall risk of harm is extremely low. [But] it can never remove the risk entirely,” he says.

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