21st December, 2018
Two Democratic U.S. lawmakers have called on the Environmental Protection Agency to answer questions about asbestos exposure after media reported that documents showed Johnson & Johnson knew for decades of the mineral’s presence in its popular baby powder.
Whether asbestos in the talc supply in Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder caused cancer has been the subject of litigation for years.
The lawmakers, Sen. Jeff Merkley and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, did not mention Johnson & Johnson by name but expressed “deep concern” about Friday’s media report, according to a copy of their letter dated Dec. 19, and reviewed by media.
In their letter, the two lawmakers asked the EPA how it was regulating potentially unsafe asbestos-containing products.
J&J has disputed the media report, calling it a “misrepresentation.”
The company says its talc is safe and has never contained asbestos, adding that decades of studies and regulatory assessments confirm the safety of its product.
Representatives for the EPA did not respond to an email or a telephone call seeking comments on the congressional letter.
Asked about the lawmakers’ letter, J&J spokesman Ernie Knewitz declined to comment but said the media report was “one-sided, false and inflammatory”.
According to the Reuters report, documents as well as deposition and trial testimony showed that from, at least 1971 to the early 2000s, the company’s raw talc and finished powders sometimes tested positive for small amounts of asbestos.
The company has defended its products in recent days with a series of full-page newspaper advertisements and a television interview with its chief executive.
Shares of the company have fallen by about 12.5 per cent since the Reuters report on Friday.
Merkley and Bonamici also asked the EPA to detail what steps it was taking to help to prevent vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and infants from being exposed to products containing asbestos, including other products with talc, a mineral.
Although baby powder is subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, other talc products sold to consumers would be within the purview of the Toxic Substances Control Act and, thus, the responsibility of the EPA, they wrote in the letter.
Democratic U.S. Senator Edward Markey separately called on the FDA to investigate the findings in the Reuters report in a letter on Friday. The FDA could not immediately be reached for comment.
“Asbestos is a known carcinogen, one for which there is no controlled use or safe level of exposure,” Merkley and Bonamici wrote.
“Fifty-five countries have already banned asbestos. Unfortunately, the U.S. still permits the use of asbestos.”