Know Your Environment. Protect Your Health.
EWG Home EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning EWG’s Food Scores Healthy Living App Open menu

EWG's Skin Deep®
Find products and ingredients Learn how Skin Deep® works Meet our experts Discover EWG VERIFIED™
GET UPDATES DONATE
Score legend
HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES Learn more About EWG VERIFIED™

Data: Good

Talc

  • †This ingredient’s score is higher if used in products that are inhalable (e.g., sprays, powders) because of respiratory concerns.

IMAGE SOURCE: PubChem

SEARCH PRODUCTS

Other Concerns

Use restrictions (high), Non-reproductive organ system toxicity (moderate), and Contamination concerns (high)

SYNONYMS

COSMETIC TALC, FRENCH CHALK, MAGNESIUM SILICATE TALC, TALC, and TALC (MG3H2(SIO3)4)

Talc is a powdered native, hydrous magnesium silicate sometimes containing a small portion of aluminum silicate. Talc can be contaminated with asbestos fibers, posing risks for respiratory toxicity and cancer. Studies by the National Toxicology Panel demonstrated that cosmetic-grade talc free of asbestos is a form of magnesium silicate that also can be toxic and carcinogenic.

Common concerns

See how this product scores for common concerns.

  • HIGH
    Cancer
  • LOW
    Allergies & Immunotoxicity
  • LOW
    Developmental and Reingredientive Toxicity
  • HIGH
    Use Restrictions

Ingredient concerns

  • CONCERNS
  • DATA SOURCES

Products with this Ingredient

Expand content Collapse content
foundation906 products
eye shadow855 products
blush376 products
facial powder368 products
bronzer/highlighter340 products
concealer332 products
lipstick318 products
antiperspirant/deodorant164 products
setting powder/spray136 products
brow liner132 products
eye liner72 products
mascara71 products
antiperspirant/deodorant (men's)57 products
makeup primer49 products
BB cream38 products
lip liner35 products
bar soap33 products
daily use with SPF33 products
mask21 products
lip gloss18 products
facial cleanser17 products
exfoliant/scrub16 products
CC cream15 products
hair color and bleaching14 products
body powder13 products
anti-aging12 products
11 products
recreational sunscreen10 products
glitter10 products
foot odor control9 products
nail polish8 products
diaper cream7 products
lip balm5 products
facial moisturizer/treatment4 products
sunless tanning4 products
around-eye cream3 products
hair styling aide3 products
serums & essences3 products
hand cream3 products
shampoo3 products
body wash/cleanser3 products
nail treatment3 products
oil controller3 products
bath oil/salts/soak2 products
foot moisturizer2 products
baby powder2 products
moisturizer2 products
toners/astringents1 products
fragrance for women1 products
shaving cream1 products
hair treatment/serum1 products
depilatory1 products

Contamination concerns

Expand content Collapse content
Chemical
ASBESTIFORM FIBERS

Cancer

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Known human carcinogenOpen scientific literature

Use restrictions

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Violation of government restrictions - Restricted in cosmetics; use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - anyCosIng
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - anyOpen scientific literature
Restricted in cosmetics (recommendations or requirements) - use, concentration, or manufacturing restrictions - Use is restricted in Canadian cosmeticsCanada - Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetics Ingredients

Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Classified as expected to be toxic or harmfulEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Classified as medium human health priorityEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
Limited evidence of respiratory toxicityScorecard.org Toxicity Information

Multiple, additive exposure sources

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Food Additive Status
Designated as safe for general or specific, limited use in foodFDA Everything Added to Food

Informational

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Industry or government recommendations for safe use: restrictions on concentration, impurities, product types, or manufacturing methods - anyCosmetic Ingredient Review Assessments

Data gaps

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
23653 studies in PubMed science library may include information on the toxicity of this chemicalNLM PubMed

Ecotoxicology

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be an environmental toxinEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List

Persistence and bioaccumulation

Expand content Collapse content
CONCERN REFERENCE
Not suspected to be bioaccumulativeEnvironment Canada Domestic Substance List
  • Open scientific/peer reviewed literature
  • European Commission. 2013. Cosing, the European Commission database with information on cosmetic substances and ingredients. Accessed on March 1, 2013 at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/ .
  • Health Canada. 2007. List of Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetic Ingredients. Canada's Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist. March 2007.
  • EC (Environment Canada). 2008. Domestic Substances List Categorization. Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Environmental Registry.
  • ED (Environmental Defense). 2006. Scorecard _ The Pollution Information Site. http://www.scorecard.org.
  • FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) 2006. Food Additive Status List. Downloaded from http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/opa-appa.html, Oct 16, 2006.
  • FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). 2008. EAFUS [Everything Added to Food]: A Food Additive Database. FDA Office of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
  • CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review). 2006. CIR Compendium, containing abstracts, discussions, and conclusions of CIR cosmetic ingredient safety assessments. Washington DC.
  • NLM (National Library of Medicine). 2012. PubMed online scientific bibliography data. http://www.pubmed.gov.

Understanding scores

Cosmetics and personal care products are not required to be tested for safety before being allowed on the market. The Skin Deep® scoring system was designed to help the public understand whether a product is safe to use or whether it contains ingredients of concern.

Every product and ingredient in Skin Deep gets a two-part score – one for hazard and one for data availability. The safest products score well by both measures, with a low hazard rating and a fair or better data availability rating.

HOW WE DETERMINE SCORES

Hazard score

The Skin Deep ingredient hazard score, from 1 to 10, reflects known and suspected hazards linked to the ingredients. The EWG VERIFIED™ mark means a product meets EWG’s strictest criteria for transparency and health.

Score legend
WEIGHT-OF-EVIDENCE APPROACH

A product’s hazard score is not an average of the ingredients’ hazard scores. It is calculated using a weight-of-evidence approach that factors in all of the hazards or health impacts associated with the ingredients.

Data availability

The Skin Deep data availability rating reflects the number of scientific studies about the product or ingredient in the published scientific literature.

NONE LIMITED FAIR GOOD ROBUST
Low Availability
Moderate Availability
High Availability
NONE

Ingredients have not been assessed.

LIMITED-FAIR

There is only a modest volume of research.

GOOD-ROBUST

Ingredients have been studied extensively.

Can’t find your product?

Enter the ingredients in EWG’s Build Your Own Report tool to get an approximate score for that product.

BUILD YOUR OWN REPORT

News & updates

Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
RESEARCH
Big Market for Black Cosmetics, but Less-Hazardous Choices Limited
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
RESEARCH
K-Beauty Trends: Serums, Essences and EWG’s Best Bets
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
NEWS RELEASE
FDA Asks Women To Protect Themselves From Products The Agency Refused To Ban
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
NEWS RELEASE
Study Highlights Importance of Cosmetics Ingredient Safety Tests
READ ALL ARTICLES

EWG research
on the go

Find personal care, cleaning, and food products on the EWG Healthy Living app.

DOWNLOAD THE APP