Press Trust of India
New Delhi, June 9: Laboratory testing of two popular baby care products of US firm Johnson & Johnson has been ordered by a child rights body of the government after taking suo motu cognisance of a number of US court orders against it over alleged lack of warning about health risks of its talc-based products.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked five states — Gujarat, Jharkhand, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh — to collect the samples of Johnson & Johnson baby powder and shampoo for testing.
In the letters to states last month, the NCPCR said there were news reports highlighting the concerns about the use of products manufactured by Johnson and Johnson as they may contain carcinogenic substances like asbestos and formaldehyde. When contacted, a company official said, “We have not received any query from the government and Johnson and Johnson has stopped using any dehydrate since 2015.” NCPCR Chairperson Stuti Kacker said, “We have the powers to take suo motu cognisance and we have done that. This is a fact finding exercise. We have to protect our children and if we find anything wrong then we will definitely take action,” The NCPCR old the states to carry out the tests only in government-accredited laboratories. The Commission has asked the states to submit the report within 30 days of the issuance of letter May 17.
