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Why did Johnson & Johnson recall their sunscreen? Here's full list of problematic products

Johnson & Johnson says some samples of recalled products were found to contain low levels of benzene, known to cause cancer, anaemia, immune system damage, irregular menses and decrease in ovary size

Johnson & Johnson issued a product recall of several sunscreen products on Wednesday, July 14, after finding that they contain trace amounts of a cancer-causing chemical. According to a statement released by the company, the recalled products include five Neutrogena and Aveeno sunscreens. All are spray-on sunscreens.

According to Johnson & Johnson, some samples of the recalled products were found to contain low levels of benzene. Benzene is a colourless or light yellow liquid at room temperature which has a sweet odor and is highly flammable. According to CDC, it is known to cause complications like cancer, anaemia and immune system damage, as well as irregular menstrual periods and a decrease in ovary size in women. A few weeks ago, the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, Tyson Foods Inc. recalled approximately 8.5M pounds of chicken products over the prospect of them being infected with dangerous germs. Another product recall incident happened in February this year when the FDA increased its initial dog food recall after 70 pooches died and 80 fell sick due to poisoning after eating Sportmix pet food.

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The company released a statement on Wednesday that said, "Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (JJCI) is voluntarily recalling all lots of five NEUTROGENA and AVEENO aerosol sunscreen product lines to the consumer level. Internal testing identified low levels of benzene in some samples of the products. Consumers should stop using the affected products and appropriately discard them." The statement further added, "Consumers should contact their physician or healthcare provider if they have any questions, concerns or have experienced any problems related to using these aerosol sunscreen products."

The five spray-on sunscreen products which are impacted by the voluntary recall are:

NEUTROGENA® Beach Defense® aerosol sunscreen
NEUTROGENA® Cool Dry Sport aerosol sunscreen
NEUTROGENA® Invisible Daily™ defense aerosol sunscreen
NEUTROGENA® Ultra Sheer® aerosol sunscreen
AVEENO® Protect + Refresh aerosol sunscreen

Johnson & Johnson further said the voluntary recall of the sunscreen products stemmed out of an "abundance of caution." "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. Out of an abundance of caution, we are recalling all lots of these specific aerosol sunscreen products, " the statement added. 

'Put an end to all Johnson & Johnson products?'

As the news broke out, people swarmed Twitter saying 'J&J shall recall everything' and ' J&J shall stop making products altogether' One tweet read, "At this point I need a list of all Johnson & Johnson products so I know not to buy none of them." Another user commented, "Can we just put an end to all Johnson & Johnson products?" One user wrote, "Johnson & Johnson should just go ahead and recall everything." Another tweet read, "Johnson & Johnson needs to stop making products." One user tweeted, "at this point, Johnson & Johnson needs to either get their shit together or gtfo." Another wrote, "Johnson & Johnson couldn’t even make baby shampoo without introducing carcinogens a decade ago. They can’t be trusted to make anything!"