J&J was sued the day it recalled aerosol sunscreens

Shortly after Johnson & Johnson voluntarily recalled five of its aerosol sunscreens this week, a proposed class of consumers filed a federal lawsuit in Northern California against the company, claiming the products contained dangerous levels of benzene, a human carcinogen.

In its recall announcement on Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson said internal testing found low levels of the carcinogen benzene in some samples of its products. "Based on exposure modeling and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) framework, daily exposure to benzene in these aerosol sunscreen products at the levels detected in our testing would not be expected to cause adverse health consequences," the announcement said. "Out of an abundance of caution, we are recalling all lots of these specific aerosol sunscreen products."

The recalled aerosol sunscreens are: Neutrogena Beach Defense, Neutrogena Cool Dry Sport, Neutrogena Invisible Daily, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer, and Aveeno Protect + Refresh.

Benzene is found in crude oil, gasoline, cigarette smoke, forest fires, volcanoes, plastics, resins, dyes, detergents, lubricants and more, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by Walsh Law PLLC, Beasley Allen Law Firm, and Keller Lenkner LLC, said scientific studies have shown that exposure to the carcinogen can cause leukemia, blood and bone marrow disorders, and a weakened immune system. The filing said it has also been associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Johanna Dominguez and Sharron Meijer v. Johnson & Johnson Consumer, Inc., 3:21-cv-05419-JSC (N.D. Cal., filed July 14, 2021).

Valisure LLC, an online pharmacy that checks the chemical composition of medications, filed a citizen petition with the Food and Drug Administration on May 25 asking the agency to recall all products in which benzene was detected, including some Neutrogena sunscreens, the lawsuit said. It noted Johnson & Johnson's recall of some of the products occurred six weeks later.

Johnson & Johnson issued a statement Thursday saying, "When the industry was alerted to this matter, we immediately began a comprehensive end-to-end investigation of our manufacturing process and raw materials, including internal testing and a thorough data review. We also conducted a robust health and safety assessment. The results informed our decision, which we proactively brought to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."

"While the use of these products would not be expected to cause adverse health consequences, we are asking consumers to stop using them. We believe this is the right decision to ensure consumers are confident in using sunscreen products," the statement added.

The lawsuit alleges Johnson & Johnson misbranded its products as safe, and engaged in deceptive methods of competition by misrepresenting that safety.