Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson has recalled over 30,000 bottles of talc. after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identified trace amounts of asbestos during routine testing.
Talc, a very soft mineral, is mined from deposits around the world, which can be contaminated with asbestos. The talc is crushed into a white powder and purified for use in personal care products to absorb moisture.
A spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson stated that their talc. is periodically tested for asbestos including as recently as last month, and no asbestos asbestos has been found.
In December 2018, Reuters reported that Johnson & Johnson had known about the presence of asbestos in its baby powder for decades. In its statement, Johnson & Johnson said: "Simply put, the Reuters story is an absurd conspiracy theory...Thousands of independent tests by regulators and the world's leading labs prove our baby powder has never contained asbestos."
An article written by the ABC last year includes a discussion with Professor Bernard Stewart, a scientific advisor for Cancer Council, which addresses some of the concerns around asbestos identified within talcum powder. The article can be found at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-28/is-it-safe-to-use-baby-powder/10630398