Yahoo Finance Johnson & Johnson recalls baby powder in US after test reveals asbestos traces
Johnson & Johnson is recalling a shipment of baby powder in the US after it was found to contain traces of asbestos.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) discovered small amounts of chrysotile asbestos in a bottle of baby powder bought online, J&J said.
The company's shares have dropped almost 4 per cent this afternoon following the announcement.
Around 33,000 bottles in lot #22318RB are subject to the recall, which is voluntary.
J&J, which has issued repeated denials of safety concerns about its products, said it had started and investigation into the issue.
It is the first time baby powder has ever been withdrawn from the market over safety fears and comes as J&J faces thousands of lawsuits from consumers who claim the product has caused their cancer.
Investigations by the New York Times and Reuters revealed last year that J&J knew for decades that its Baby Powder and other talc products contained asbestos.
J&J described the reports in December as “one-sided, false and inflammatory”. The company said its baby powder is free from asbestos and does not cause cancer.
"Studies of more than 100,000 men and women show that talc does not cause cancer or asbestos-related disease,” J&J said at the time.
The FDA's test indicated there was no greater than 0.00002% of chrysotile asbestos in the baby powder sample.
J&J raised the possibility that the test had delivered a false positive or that the tested product may have been counterfeit.
J&J faces lawsuits from 15,500 claimants relating to talc-containing products.
