China examining Johnson & Johnson baby products for possible toxins

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.