Baby powder

Dusting powder - baby powder - cable insulation... 

Furan is possibly a carcinogenic substance. It occurs in heated food, especially in roasted coffee. Isotopic dilution analyses with [ H4]-furan as the internal standard yielded 2.5-4.3 mg/kg furan in differently produced coffee powders. Baby food, e.g., carrot mash and potato/spinach mash contained 74 and 75 pg/kg respectively. Furan is formed from amino acids which yield acetaldehyde and glycolaldehyde on thermal degradation (Fig. 9.4). Aldol condensation, cyclization and elimination of water are the reaction steps. Other precursors of furan are carbohydrates, polyunsaturated fatty acids and carotinoids (Fig. 9.4). Furan can also be formed from the thermolysis of ascorbic acid. 

In the experience of our laboratory, compared to methods involving extraction of total lipids, alkaline hydrolysis can give better recovery of FFA, at least in certain types of samples particularly powders (baby formula, soup, drinks), probably because of the strong association of lipid with other components and possibly the presence of lipid in a microencapsulated form. If the form (free or esterified) in which the fatty acids occur in the food is unknown, then it may be advisable to hydrolyze the sample so that all fatty acids are in the free form, and then use an appropriate derivatization method (see Section 2.3.3), although hydrolysis could also be done after hpid extraction. 

Symps of 25—30 DE are used as spray-drying aids in products such as coffee. High conversion symp, maltose symp, and 42-DE symp are used in jams and jeUies. Com symp is also used in table symps, baby food, meat packing, breakfast foods, salad dressing, pickles, dehydrated powdered foods, medicinal symps, textile flirnishings, adhesives, and numerous other products and processes. 

Cosmetics. Talc is widely used in baby and body powders, pressed powders, creams, and antiperspirants. Its softness, sHp, inertness (fragrance retention), and relative safety make this one of the oldest and most widely recognized appHcations for talc. Talc is also used in chewing gum as a detackifier and in tableting as a lubricating process aid. 

Talc sold to the cosmetics and baby powder markets must meet the Cosmetic, Toiletries and Fragrance Association (CTFA) specifications (8). For mote stringent appHcations there ate United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and Pood Codex specifications. 

Exposures of Children. Data need to be developed to properly assess the exposure of infants who eat processed baby foods containing residues of pesticides such as endosulfan. Several studies have estimated exposure based on endosulfan concentration found in foods typically eaten by infants however, no studies that directly studied infant exposure could be located. Attention should also be given to infant formulas and to the tap water used to prepare infant formulas from condensed or powdered forms. More data are also required to properly assess endosulfan exposure to children who live, play, or attend school near farmlands that are treated with endosulfan. Maps that catalog endosulfan use on crops and present average application rates would better allow an assessment of the potential for children in farming communities to be exposed. The possibility that farming parents work clothes and shoes may carry endosulfan residues into the home also should be studied. In addition, home use of endosulfan, which may result in exposure of children, needs to be investigated. 

Amphetamines (speed sulph, sulphate, uppers, wake-ups, billy whizz, whizz, whites, base) are synthetic stimulants which as medicines have been formed into a variety of tablets. Their current medical use is very limited and in fact only dexamphetamine sulphate, Dexedrine, is now available for use solely in the treatment of narcolepsy. The only other amphetamine available for medical use is methylphenidate (Ritalin) for the treatment of attention deficit syndrome in children. As a street drug, amphetamine usually comes as a white, grey, yellowish or pinky powder. The purity rate of street powders is less than 10%, the rest being made up of milder stimulants such as caffeine, other drugs such as paracetamol or substances like glucose, dried baby milk, flour or talcum powder. 

Lactose or Dextrose, a white powdered milk sugar used as a baby food supplement and purchased readily in the United States in any drug store. 

Wehner AP, Zwicker GM, Cannon WC, et al Inhalation of talc baby powder by hamsters. Eood Cosmet Toxicol 15 121-129, 1977... 

Heroin is usually cut with baking soda, powdered milk, baby powder, sugar, starch, or quinine, but has also known to be cut with lidocaine, curry powder, strychi-nine, and even laundry detergent. Law enforcement officials in New York report the existence of heroin cut with a rat poison from Santa Domingo called Tres Pasos (meaning three steps ). Three is the number of steps the mice take before dying after exposure to the poison. 

Even though most powder is referred to as baby powder, don t use any on your baby. Not only do some powders contain talc, which is a carcinogen, but powder can irritate babies airways when inhaled. People think powder is absorbent, but it can actually increase dampness, bacterial growth, and rashes. 

Chapped. Nipples 242 Stretch Marks 243 Hair Dye, Nail Polish, and Everything Else You Gave Up for the Last Nine Months 243 Bathing Baby 243 Powder 244 Organic Cotton 244 Baby Nails 245 Wipes 245 Diaper Cream 245 Blocking the Sun s Rays 246... 

Often the message is also culture dependent. The sweet powdery floral scent of Johnson Johnson s baby powder conveys the protected safety of infancy to Americans, while it may well convey mature femininity in countries with a different scent tradition in baby products. Lavender in colognes is quite acceptable in Latin countries but considered old-fashioned in Germany. 

Sonication with a waterD methanol solution is the most popular method for the extraction of As species from rice powder [24, 25], algae, chicken meat [26], oyster tissue [27, 28], and baby foods [29]. Sample treatment with triBuoroacetic acid at 100°C was reported to be an efficient method for the extraction of As species present in different food matrices when compared with alternative methods that included sonication and accelerated solvent extraction. Extraction recoveries from 94 to 128 percent were obtained [29]. Low-molecular-weight Se compounds were extracted from nuts with HCIO4 to produce a fraction containing 3 to 15 percent of the total Se in different types of nuts [30]. 

In Europe in the Middle Ages, red coral was given to babies to chew on, in order to fasten and strengthen dieir teeth. An added benefit was that coral was believed to ward off evil spirits. In powdered form it was fed to babies in milk to prevent fits. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries it was still being given to babies, as a traditional Christening present, for example as a necklace, or a teether attached to a rattle. 

In France, in 1972, 6% hexachlorophene was accidentally included in certain batches of a baby talcum powder. French law prohibited publication of the detailed report... 

Talc is a three-layered magnesium sheet with lubricant properties it is rarely found as a pure entity in nature. The particle size varies considerably (1) depending on the manufacturing process, and may be an important factor in the development of adverse effects. Talc is principally used as inert filler material in medicinal tablets or as a drjdng ingredient in baby powders. The adverse effects of talc include empyema, dysrhythmias, and respiratory failure (2). 

Overzealous application of baby powder can cause severe pulmonary complications if the infant inhales the powder (28). 

Pairaudeau PW, Wilson RG, Hall MA, Milne M. Inhalation of baby powder an unappreciated hazard. Br Med ] 1991 302 1200-1201. 

Zinc stearate is used in oral and topical pharmaceutical formulations and is generally regarded as a nontoxic and nonirritant excipient. However, following inhalation, it has been associated with fatal pneumonitis, particularly in infants. As a result, zinc stearate has now been removed from baby dusting powders. 

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