From: Robert Smythe <robertsmythe-AT-mumpuppet.org>
Subject: Re: PUPT: smoke effects question
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 15:02:56 -0500


Gee, Christopher, I guessed you proved me wrong!

However baby powder may be formulated now, I guess I relied on when 
I've gone to buy it for use in smoking puppets and found only 
cornstarch, which I was happy about since I had been alerted by a 
doctor in an audience about the potential risks of blowing particulates 
toward children who might have asthma.

I understand that in your experience this is unlikely to have happened 
(it hasn't in my experience either) but I found myself feeling better 
about explaining to parents that I use corn starch (not the grocery 
kind, but the baby-powder kind). It put their minds at rest.

Now, for some specific information instead of anecdotal conjecture:

> Robert W. Steele, M.D., is a board certified pediatrician at St. 
> John's Regional Health Center in Springfield, Missouri.
>
> 	Talcum powder is usually made up of various combinations of zinc 
> stearate, magnesium silicates, as well as other silicates which are 
> finely ground. The size of particles is so small that they are both 
> easily carried in the air like dust and can reach even the smallest 
> areas of the lung.
>
> 	There have been numerous reports of babies having life-threatening 
> episodes from inhaling the powder. And in fact, there have been many 
> deaths reported from aspiration of the powder. A good number of these 
> cases occurred during a diaper change when adult supervision is 
> usually very high. But as every parent knows (including myself), 
> infants and toddlers can be awfully quick sometimes, so reaching for 
> and spilling the powder bottle is not such a hard thing to do for the 
> little ones.
>
> 	The feeling from many dermatologists is that there isn't much 
> advantage of powders as compared to ointments when it comes to 
> preventing and treating diaper rash.
> So, clearly talc can cause pneumonia, inflammation (or swelling) of 
> the airways of babies, and even death. But what about cancer? When the 
> link to asbestos and cancer came to light, it was noticed that a lot 
> of the exposure to asbestos was accompanied by other inhalable fibers 
> and dust including talc. However, a specific link to talc exposure and 
> lung cancer has not been established. On the other hand, there has 
> been some interesting research into a possible link of talc to ovarian 
> cancer.
>
> For a number of years now, epidemiologists (scientists who try to 
> establish cause and effect relationships in diseases) have been 
> interested in trying to find some link to the environment and ovarian 
> cancer. Some of their focus has been on talc powder because it is a 
> product that is commonly used in the groin area by women. Several of 
> these studies have shown a possible link between talc powder use and 
> ovarian cancer while other studies have not. One interesting study 
> published last year (1996) was done by examining the ovaries of women 
> who had had them removed for reasons other than ovarian cancer. In 
> that study, talc powder was found in all the ovaries including the 
> ones from women did not use talc powder on themselves. This suggests 
> that talc powder could reach the ovaries of women who use talc powder 
> on their babies.
>
> The relationship between talc and cancer is by no means certain. It 
> may turn out there is no relationship, on the other hand, it could be 
> an important contributing factor in the development of ovarian cancer. 
> More studies need to be done. Currently, there is absolutely no hard 
> evidence to suggest talc powder use causes cancer in babies. However, 
> the immediate danger of inhaling baby powder is clear. Therefore, I 
> would discourage the use of baby powder.
>
>
>
> On Mar 11, 2004, at 10:36 AM, Christopher Hudert wrote:
>
>> on 3/10/04 12:04 PM, Marie Buga at mbuga-AT-rpl.regina.sk.ca wrote:
>>
>>> Baby powder is less likely to clog than cornstarch but is probably 
>>> more
>>> dangerous to inhale or get in your mouth.
>>>
>> I've used baby powder for over 20 years to set my clown makeup so 
>> that it
>> doesn't smear. I can't tell you how many bottles of the stuff I must 
>> have
>> inhaled over the years. Hasn't affected me none (twitch, twitch). 
>> Seriously,
>> I don't know what the mds list is on baby powder/talc, but the 
>> practical
>> effect of the amount you would inhale using the dragon is, IMHO, less 
>> than
>> zero or at the very least not measurable.
>>
>> Also have used powder as a smoke affect in dragons and other things. A
>> little messy sometimes and if you use too much it may be slippery on 
>> some
>> surfaces. Also you will want to be aware of potential build up where 
>> it will
>> land on the stage. Be careful or you will have a nice grey spot on 
>> your
>> black playboard and/or curtains that may be hard to clean depending 
>> on what
>> materials they are made of.
>>
>> Christopher


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