Fatal aspiration of talcum powder by a child, Report of a case.

THE talcum-powder container, often a favorite plaything of small children, may be a source of tragedy in the home. The case reported below demonstrates a rapidly fatal course in a twenty-two-month-old child, who aspirated talcum powder while playing with such a container. Aspiration of baby powder containing stearate of zinc was reported relatively often in the past, and fatal cases due to aspiration pneumonia have been recorded.1 Since talcum has largely replaced zinc stearate as a dusting powder for babies it was anticipated that accidents caused by its inhalation would have been described. It was surprising, therefore, to find in . . .