Talcum powder: the reason why children’s crayons can be contaminated with asbestos fibres.
Crayons manufacturers often use talc as a binder in the wax. Unfortunately, the talc can be contaminated with asbestos fibres as asbestos and talc can be found near each other in mines.
In this example, the sample was first analysed using PLM where no asbestos was detected, TEM analysis at high magnification (x15000) was performed.
The high resolution, EDS spectrometry and electron diffraction/crystal structure that offers this technology, determined traces of tremolite and anthophyllite fibres in the crayon sample.
