FDA alert on Johnson’s Baby Powder

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting consumers of a voluntary recall by Johnson & Johnson of Johnson’s Baby Powder after FDA testing has found that a sample from one lot of the product contains chrysotile fibers, a type of asbestos. Consumers who have Johnson’s Baby Powder lot #22318RB should stop using it immediately and contact Johnson & Johnson for a refund.
During talc mining, if talc mining sites are not selected carefully and steps are not taken to purify the talc ore sufficiently, the talc may be contaminated with asbestos. Asbestos is a known carcinogen. Not all talc contains asbestos and the majority of product samples tested by the FDA did not contain asbestos.
As part of this testing, two samples of Johnson’s Baby Powder were tested: one sample from lot #22318RB was found to be positive for asbestos; a second Johnson’s Baby Powder sample, lot #00918RA, tested negative for asbestos.