A MAJOR union said it wants the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test talcum powder sold by Johnson’s Baby Philippines, citing possible asbestos risk to consumers and manufacturing workers after the US parent company, Johnson & Johnson, voluntarily recalled its “Baby Powder” product last week.
The recall followed the discovery of low levels of asbestos in one manufacturing batch. The US FDA said it found chrysotile asbestos fibers in a US batch of the talcum powder.
In a statement Wednesday, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) said the Philippine FDA should inspect Baby Powder sold in the Philippines.
Asked to comment, the Philippine FDA said it believes the manufacturing batch that was ordered recalled in the US has not reached the Philippines.
ALU-TUCP National Executive Vice President Gerard Seno said Wednesday: “We are calling upon the FDA to proactively take steps to mitigate the undue anxiety felt by consumers caused by this serious discovery of asbestos contamination in a baby product commonly used by so many Filipinos across our growing population. We are urging them to conduct product evaluation test to assure the quality and safety of the product poses to the health of consumers.”
“Workers involved in the manufacture of asbestos-containing materials, construction workers, electricians, plumbers, pipe fitters, carpenters, power plant workers, boilermakers, shipyard workers, firefighters, and teachers are the type of workers who are highly risk to exposure to cancer-causing asbestos in the country,” he also said.
Last week, a TUCP-affiliated party-list legislator, Representative Raymond C. Mendoza, filed House Bill No. 2636 or the proposed Ban Asbestos Act of 2019, which calls for a ban on the asbestos manufacturing and imports, and the material’s use in the construction trades.
The use of chrysotile or white asbestos is regulated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) Chemical Control Order 02 series of 2000. Blue and brown asbestos are the only asbestos types banned in the Philippines.
In a mobile message to BusinessWorld Wednesday, FDA Officer-in-Charge Rolando Enrique D. Domingo said: “At this time we have information that the batches involved were not sold in the Philippines. We are now verifying this.”
According to the Johnson’s Baby website, all types of its Baby Powder are asbestos-free, saying that the company uses talc across its product line except for one that uses cornstarch. It said talc is non-carcinogenic.
“Our confidence in using talc is based on a long history of safe use and more than 30 years of research by independent researchers, scientific review boards and global regulatory authorities,” Johnson’s Baby said in its website.
Asked to comment on the ALU-TUCP statement, Johnson’s Baby said in an e-mail that its products are routinely FDA-tested, with the latest taking place last month, which showed no trace of asbestos in products sold in the Philippines.
“We have a rigorous testing standard in place to ensure our cosmetic talc is safe and years of testing, including the FDA’s own testing on prior occasions — and as recently as last month — found no asbestos,” the company said. — Gillian M. Cortez
