According to Reuters, Johnson and Johnson is issuing a product recall for another lot of Tylenol drugs. The company is recalling the drug after consumer complaints that the medicines have moldy odor. The company’s website states that it will recall one lot of Tylenol 8-Hour Extended Release Caplets, 150 count, which amounts to 34,000 bottles.
The company believes the odor is caused by the presence of trace amounts of chemicals called 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA) and 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). The lot was produced at the company’s plant in Fort Washington before the plant closed in April 2010.
2,4,6-Tribromoanisole is a chemical compound that is a brominated derivative of anisole. Tribomoanisole is a fungal metabolite. In January 2010, according to WebMD, Johnson and Johnson expanded its recall of Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplets 100 count with red caps for a moldy, musty or mildew-like odor. Some consumers reported having symptoms of nausea, stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea. The same chemical was linked to that recall, with the company determining that the source was breakdown product of a chemical used to treat the wooden pallets on which the product’s packaging materials were transported.
Pfizer recalled 19,000 bottles of Lipitor in 2010 after consumers complained of an odor which was linked to the packaging bottles. The company determined the cause to be exposure of the bottles to low levels of tribromoanisole as they were shipped to suppliers.
2,4,6-Tribromophenol is a flame retardant used in epoxy, polyurethane, plastics, paper and textiles. A recent study linked TBA and TBP to musty off-odor in corked wine, as the chemicals were used to treat the wood used to store wine.