Chinese health authorities are investigating baby bath products made by Johnson & Johnson in response to a US consumer group's charges that some of the products' chemicals could cause cancer, the US company said on Thursday. (See: Scientific study finds toxins in baby products and other cosmetics)

Joannan Lu, the Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman in China, confirmed the company had handed in products to the Shanghai quality watchdogs for checks, but added it has no plan to pull its products from the Chinese market.

The company has no information about when the results would be available from the quality checks by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision and the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration, he added.

Johnson & Johnson disputes the consumer group's charges, saying in a statement that the trace levels of the compounds in question result from processes that make the products gentle for babies and safe from bacteria growth.

"The trace levels of certain compounds found by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics can result from processes that make our products gentle for babies and safe from bacterial growth," the statement said.

The US Food and Drug Administration "and other government agencies around the world consider these trace levels safe, and all our products meet or exceed the regulatory requirements in every country where they are sold," it said.

Johnson & Johnson makes everything from contraceptives and contact lenses to baby products and genetically engineered drugs. Its products were among 48 from different manufacturers that the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics says it tested for 1,4-dioxane, 32 of which were found to contain the chemical.

According to the FDA, 1,4-dioxane can form as a byproduct during manufacturing of some cosmetics. The compound, a suspected carcinogen, is used as a solvent for paints, varnishes, cleaning and detergent preparations and as a solvent stabilizer and corrosion inhibitor.

In a statement on its Web site, the FDA says the levels of the chemical that it has found in cosmetics it has monitored do not present a hazard to consumers.

According to local media reports, a Shanghai-based regional supermarket chain, Nonggongshang Supermarket Group, has ordered its 3,500 chain outlets to remove baby bath products made by Johnson & Johnson from their shelves.

Other major outlets in China, including the US supermarket Wal-Mart Stores and its French rival Carrefour, still carry the products.