Johnson & Johnson are in hot water with safety regulators again after it revealed five products that tested positive for low levels of benzene.
The five products are:
- Neutrogena Beach Defense aerosol sunscreen
- Neutrogena Cool Dry Sport aerosol sunscreen
- Neutrogena Invisible Daily defence aerosol sunscreen
- Neutrogena Ultra Sheer aerosol sunscreen
- Aveeno Protect + Refresh aerosol sunscreen
Johnson & Johnson has explained that retailers and other distributors will be notified, and product returns will be arranged. At this stage, it is understood that the products affected are only for sale in North America.
“While benzene is not an ingredient in any of our sunscreen products, it was detected in some samples of the impacted aerosol sunscreen finished products,” Johnson & Johnson said in a statement.
“We are investigating the cause of this issue, which is limited to certain aerosol sunscreen products.”
In 2019, the company recalled more than 30,000 bottles of its famous baby powder after the US Food and Drug Administration found small amounts of asbestos in a sample.
So far, no adverse health effects have been reported by customers to date. The levels of benzene, according to Johnson & Johnson, are unlikely to be high enough to affect the health of consumers. It explained that it is recalling them “out of an abundance of caution.”