Analytic Comparison of Talc in Commercially Available Baby Powder and in Pelvic Tissues Resected from Ovarian Carcinoma Patients Shows that the Most Frequent Size Class of Baby Powder Particles is the Same at the Most Frequent Size Class in Resections

Abstract

Using polarized light microscopy (PLM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), we measured the size and shape of 1,000 talc particles in samples of talc‐containing baby powder (TCBP) and 200 talc particles in surgically resected pelvic tissues (hysterectomies) from talc‐exposed patients with ovarian carcinoma. The most frequent class of particles in TCBP (aspect ratio 1–3.9, area 1–400 μm2)(79.4% of total) can be unequivocally identified as talc, using both polarized light microscopy, where talc particles are birefringent; and, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X‐ray analysis (SEM/EDX), where talc particles show a spectrum with magnesium, silicon, and oxygen in the correct amounts. The talc particles found in resected tissues from ovarian carcinoma patients are similar in size and shape (aspect ratio 1–3.9, area 1–400 μm2)(83.5% of total) to the most abundant morphological class of particles in TCBP, are birefringent in PLM, and show SEM/EDX signals typical of talc. This finding, combined with previous epidemiological literature and tissue‐based analytical studies provides further evidence that the small, isodiametric particles that dominate TCBP can migrate from the perineum and become lodged in distal structures in the female reproductive tract, where they may lead to an increased risk of developing ovarian carcinoma.