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I used asbestos mitts in the lab to take stuff out of a muffle furnace (where we used it for analysis like "ashing" and the temp for it there was set to 500C, which is 900+ F).

The issue is that as long as the fibers from the material are intact, then it is generally "okay" (in quotes). The problem is this material, many decades later, is crumbling, and fabric woven with it has been experiencing dry rot, sending the stuff airborne, where it can be breathed in.

I expect the problem is that since J&J sourced the talc globally, there would be some variation in composition that testing (at points in the past) was not comprehensive enough to get lot consistency for some max level of contamination.

There was/is a similar issue with vermiculite (used for insulation and gardening) that was sourced from a particular mine that had been contaminated with asbestos.