Baby Powder Recalled Over Possible Asbestos Contamination

You may already be wary of baby powder after recent studies corroborated claims (and more than 50,000 lawsuits) that Johnson & Johnson’s talc-based baby powder caused ovarian cancer or mesothelioma. In June, the pharmaceutical company reached a $700 million settlement to settle these lawsuits, after they pulled their once-popular Johnson’s Baby Powder and Johnson & Johnson’s Shower to Shower off shelves in North America in 2020. But a new recall from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has once again put baby powder in the hot seat.

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In a Sept. 19 recall announcement, the FDA notified consumers that Dynacare Baby Powder may be contaminated with asbestos, which the agency found via a routine sampling program at Dynarex Corporation’s Montvale, NJ production facility.

“Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that is often found near talc, an ingredient in many cosmetic products,” the FDA explains in its notice. “Asbestos, however, is a known carcinogen and its health risks are well-documented. During talc mining, if talc mining sites are not selected carefully or steps taken to purify the talc ore sufficiently, the talc may be contaminated with asbestos.”

To put this in context, Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder was problematic for its asbestos levels, according to the peer-reviewed medical journal BMJ. In fact, in 2019, “Johnson & Johnson recalled 33,000 bottles of Johnson’s Baby Powder… after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found small amounts of asbestos in a tested sample,” notes Drug Watch.

Before this, the FDA did not test cosmetic products for asbestos, which is how Johnson & Johnson sold their baby powders for so many decades. Now, the FDA completes a yearly testing of talc-containing products to check for asbestos.

The baby powder included in the latest recall from Dynacare is item number 4875, batch number B051, expiration date 2026/12/28 (located on the bottom of the bottle). The 62 recalled cases were sent on or after March 11, 2024 to distributors in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Florida, and Washington. The product was also sold online via Amazon.

At the time of writing, there had been no reports of illness or adverse effects.

If you believe you purchased this product, you should “discontinue use immediately and return it for a full refund,” per the FDA. You can contact Dynacare directly with any questions using the contact information provided on the recall.