26 Metal Pollution in the Eastern Midcontinent and Beyond

Friday, 8 April 2022
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
North Meeting Room 206

NICKEL AND CHROMIUM CONTENT IN A BOTTLE OF JOHNSON’S BABY POWDER FROM 1985 DESIGNATED FOR HOSPITAL USE OPENS QUESTIONS REGARDING PRODUCT SOURCE AND CONTAMINATION

Paper number: 26-7
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 9:20 AM – 9:35 AM

Authors

Abstract

Talc is commonly used in consumer cosmetics and personal hygiene products. Due to the nature of talc deposits in ophiolitic rocks, contamination of consumer talc products has the potential to occur if derived from them. A bottle of Johnson’s Baby Powder from 1985 that was specifically used in hospitals was investigated using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and bulk X-ray fluorescence. Bulk X-ray fluorescence on 5 replicate samples analyzed 10 times indicates that concentrations of Ni are approximately 2000 ppm and concentrations of Cr are approximately at 500 ppm. Appreciable Fe content on the order of a few weight percent is also observed. Scanning electron microscopy indicates that mineral impurities occur with chromite and/or Cr-bearing magnetite observed as individual crystals a few micrometers in diameter. These mineral impurities may be the cause of Cr content in the bulk analyses however Cr content in talc cannot be ruled out. Transmission electron microscopy - energy dispersive spectroscopy (TEM-EDS) data indicates that Ni and Fe occur in platy talc particles. Talc fibers are present and also have Ni and Fe content. TEM-EDS confirms the presence of Ni and Fe in bulk XRF analyses as largely being apportioned to talc. Observed particles ≤ PM10 are of special interest due to their inhalable size. Bulk chemical data is consistent with an origin derived from an ophiolitic or ultramafic setting based on Ni and Cr content and is consistent with bulk chemistry from a number of deposits. Bulk chemistry of this bottle is consistent with the bulk chemistry of a single talc sample from the Argonaut Mine in Vermont in the early 1990s. This serves as a potential source match. Results of this study open broad questions regarding the concentration of Ni and Cr in Johnson’s Baby Powder from the mid-1980s and perhaps other time frames. Additional questions regarding the variation between bottles and sourcing are also to be considered.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 54, No. 4

doi: 10.1130/abs/2022NC-374622

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