Johnson & Johnson: New Tests Show No Asbestos In Baby Powder

Johnson & Johnson said 15 new tests from the same bottle of baby powder that had tested positive for asbestos have come back negative for the substance.

The new tests were conducted by two third-party laboratories, the company said. A test by the Food and Drug Administration found sub-trace levels of asbestos, which led to the recall of a single lot —or 33,000 — of the powder bottles.

The company also said that further testing from bottles in the recalled lot also confirm that the product does not contain asbestos.

One of the labs the company used for the testing tested five samples in an auxiliary room and three of those samples initially came back positive for asbestos. According to the company, the lab later determined an air conditioner contaminated with asbestos had tainted the samples.

The recall was announced as Johnson & Johnson fights thousands of lawsuits in which plaintiffs claim its iconic baby powder was contaminated with asbestos and that it caused ovarian cancer or another rare cancer. At multiple trials, Johnson & Johnson experts have testified asbestos hasn't been detected in the talc in its baby powder in many tests over 40 years.