Individual Herbs Notebook

滑石 Hua Shi

Pharmaceutical: Talcum / Magnesium Silicate
Chemical Formula(e): Mg3Si4O10(OH)2

Other names: Talc / Talcum Powder

Category: Herbs that Drain Dampness


Properties: Sweet, bland and cold

Meridans Entered:
Primary: Bladder, Lung and Stomach

Traditional Actions/Indications:
  1. Promotes urination and drains Heat from the Urinary Bladder (aids the movement of gravel and stones), (expels Damp-Heat)
    Hot Painful Urinary Dysfunction (Lin Syndrome) with hot, painful urination, dark, painful, burning, scanty urine
    Damp-Heat diarrhoea
    Qi Level Heat with Dampness with unremitting fever, heavy feeling in the body, thirst, yellow tongue coat
  2. Releases Summeheat and resolves Dampness
    Summerheat (fever, urinary difficulty, thirst)
  3. Absorbs Dampness and clears Heat (topically)
    Damp skin lesions (eczema, damp sores, prickly heat)
  4. Stops bleeding due to Heat
    Heat type bleeding
    Nosebleed, vomiting blood (taken internally) Bleeding from wounds and sores (topical)
  5. Aids fasting
    Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the superior class of minerals which can, with protracted taking, make the body light, free from hunger and prolong life. This may suggest it was part of supplementing the diet when engaging in an "avoiding grain" (Bigu 辟穀) fasting regime to cultivate life (Yangsheng 養生).

Suggested Daily Dosage: 10-20g in decoction, or applied externally.

Cautions: Talc can cause granulomas in the rectum, vagina or wounds and prolonged external use has also been linked to ovarian (Wentzensen & O'Brien, 2021), stomach (Chang et al., 2020) and lung (Chang et al., 2017) cancer but other reviews contradict these findings (Goodman et al., 2020) suggesting this may only be an effect seen in rats (Prueitt et al., 2024). For safety it should therefore not be used for prolonged periods.

It should also not be in inhaled as it can cause lung irritation and remain in the body for up to 40 years (Johnson, 2021).

Mineral products are prohibited from use in the UK under the Medicines Act 1968 ch. 67 which restricts herbalists to the use of plant products only. It is generally substituted with Chi Fu Ling and Ze Xie.

Appears in 41 formulae listed on this site: (click to display)
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