On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 21:13:21 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Barss
wrote:

And a good thing too, as a lot of talc contains asbestos.

No, this is quite unreasonable scare mongering. In no possible way
does "a lot of talc" contain asbestos.

Talc and asbestos are both amphibole minerals (a whole lot of minerals
are amphiboles - if it's a calcium / magnesium silicate, chances are
that it's an amphibole). _Some_ talc deposits have associated asbestos
deposits with them. _Some_ talc minerals have been mined from these
deposits, leading to contamination with asbestos.

In _ONE_ infamous case, a study of the talc filler used for making
children's crayons was found to contain a miniscule, but detectable,
level of asbestos. Cue instant hysteria from the "Think of the
_CHILDREN_" brigade. This trivial and insignificant case has been
blown up out of all proportion ever since.

If you're selecting talc to make cosmetic grade talcum powder, you
didn't use these deposits anyway. You wanted something that milled
finely, and the last thing you need is some tough old fibre in there.


Got any houseplants ? Any of them potted with vermiculite (those
white spongy granules, to improve water retention) ? You'll get more
asbestos exposure from those than you will from talc. In the waords
of that great sage, John Otway, "Be careful of the flowers 'cos I'm
sure they're gonna get you, yeah"



Now flame away. I'm so chock-full of asbestos I'm fire-proof.

--
Smert' spamionam