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Temperatures across the country continue to climb, and people are spending more time outdoors—so naturally, there’s a recall of sunscreen products from pharma giant Johnson & Johnson. Specifically, it’s for five of the company’s aerosol sunscreens from their Neutrogena and Aveeno brands, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports. The reason? Low levels of a carcinogen discovered during J&J’s internal testing. Here’s what to know.
Which Johnson & Johnson sunscreens are being recalled?
While there are numerous sunscreens sold by brands under the Johnson & Johnson umbrella, the voluntary recall involves a total of five products from two brands—Neutrogena and Aveeno—all of which are aerosol sprays and were distributed to retailers nationwide.
According to a statement from Johnson & Johnson, they are:
NEUTROGENA Beach Defense aerosol sunscreenNEUTROGENA Cool Dry Sport aerosol sunscreenNEUTROGENA Invisible Daily defense aerosol sunscreenNEUTROGENA Ultra Sheer aerosol sunscreenAVEENO Protect + Refresh aerosol sunscreenWhy the sunscreens are being recalled
While conducting internal product testing, J&J found low levels of benzene—a carcinogen—in these five sunscreens. “While benzene is not an ingredient in any of our sunscreen products, it was detected in some samples of the impacted aerosol sunscreen finished products,” the company said in a statement. “We are investigating the cause of this issue, which is limited to certain aerosol sunscreen products.”
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What to do if you’ve purchased the recalled sunscreens
If you have any of the recalled products at home, stop using the sunscreens and throw them away. You can request a refund by contacting the JJCI Consumer Care Center 24/7 at 1-800-458-1673. Contact your health care provider with any questions or concerns regarding use of the recalled sunscreens.
If you have purchased and used any of the sunscreens and experienced adverse reactions or quality problems, you can report it to the FDA either online, by regular mail, or by fax (1-800-FDA-0178).
