Allergan Issues Recall of Contact Lens Solution : Marketing: Official says company will take a $4-million pretax charge in the first quarter.

Allergan Inc. said Monday that it has voluntarily recalled about 400,000 bottles of contact lens solution it expected to sell worldwide.

The Irvine maker and marketer of therapeutic products said it will take a $4-million pretax charge in its first quarter because of the recall. Jeff D’Eliscu, a company spokesman, said the charge will reduce the company’s first-quarter earnings to 34 cents a share, off four cents a share from analysts’ consensus projections. The company plans to announce its earnings April 19.

The product being recalled is typically sold in 12-ounce bottles and used for rinsing and storing soft contact lenses, D’Eliscu said. In the United States, while it’s sold both under the brand name “Complete Multi-Purpose Solution” and retailers’ private labels, the recalled lots affect only private label products. Overseas, the recalled product is sold under the brand name, both by retail stores and opticians’ offices.

Company officials said the chances that someone using the product would suffer “adverse health consequences” are “remote.” The spokesman said that there’s a slim chance that the product would cause eye irritation, which could, in turn, be treated easily.

The company refused to disclose the names of the four major chains of U.S. retail stores affected by the recall until it notifies them. “We tried to contact them today, but we missed them, so we’ll get in touch with them first thing in the morning,” D’Eliscu said. About half of the 400,000 bottles being recalled were to be sold domestically.

Allergan recalled certain lots of the product after tests revealed that a small percentage didn’t meet its standards. The company blamed the problem on a minor change in manufacturing processes at its plants in Waco, Tex., and Westport, Ireland. The spokesman wouldn’t give details on the process change or explain why certain lots of the product didn’t measure up to company standards.

The company announced the recall after the stock market closed Monday. The stock closed at $29.50 a share, down three-eighths.