The record
FDA's FY2019 talc sampling assignment tested 52 samples; 43 were negative and 9 tested positive for asbestos by TEM.
Claim scope
In the FDA's first full-year (FY2019) sampling assignment, 9 of 52 talc-containing cosmetic samples tested positive for asbestos by TEM. The summary table enumerates FDA Sample IDs D-30 through D-82 (52 distinct IDs; D-48 is absent from the published table), and exactly 9 rows carry a TEM finding of 'positive for asbestos': D-30, D-31, D-34, D-35, D-49, D-50, D-51, D-52, D-58.
What this source does not establish
It does NOT establish a marketplace contamination rate. FDA expressly warned against that inference. It does not establish that any of these products is contaminated today; each positive is a specific batch/lot tested in FY2019, and every positive product was recalled.
Limitations
FDA's own text: 'The products were selected based on various factors including ... certain products that had been reported by third parties to be contaminated with asbestos. As such, the occurrence of positive samples in the 2019 testing should not be interpreted as reflecting the overall frequency of positive samples in the marketplace.' The sampling was deliberately enriched for suspected products. 43+9=52, which is the count of FDA Sample IDs in the published table; the recall notice separately describes the survey as involving 'about 50 cosmetic products.'
Source
Gov Report — FDA Constituent Update, March 9, 2020 — 'FDA Releases Data from the Agency's Year-Long Sampling Assignment to Test Talc-Containing Cosmetic Products for the Presence of Asbestos'; underlying data: 'FDA Summary of Results from Testing of Official Samples of Talc-Containing Cosmetics for Asbestiform Fibers by AMA Laboratories During FY19'