The quality of Spanish cosmetic-pharmaceutical talcum powders

Seven cosmetic-pharmaceutical talcum powders from different commercial brands, currently for sale in Spanish pharmacies, have been studied in order to determine their mineral and pharmacopoeia quality. Four samples met the required conditions to be classified both of “cosmetic quality” and “pharmacopoeia quality”. These conditions are: absence of potentially carcinogenic minerals, talc purity of more than 90%, low levels of toxic elements and suitable compositional levels of Al, Mg and Ca. The remaining three samples were classified as of “industrial quality”. Although these are free from fibrous minerals, the high carbonate content, specifically dolomite (close to 40%) and calcite (about 10%), impacts on the purity in talc by significantly reducing its quantity to the point that the material no longer satisfies many of the compositional tests of the European Pharmacopoeia.