PARIS - The French government urged tens of thousands of women on Friday to seek removal of breast implants made of a suspect silicone gel by a firm that exported its product worldwide.

Junior Health Minister Nora Berra said the government was recommending removal as a precautionary measure after complaints about abnormal rupture rates, but she added that there was no conclusive evidence of a link between the sub-standard silicone and cancer.

An estimated 30,000 women in France have had breast implants made by the now-defunct company Poly Implant Prothese SA (PIP), which produced about 100,000 implants a year before its product was ordered off the market in early 2010.