Children’s crayons and toy crime scene kits have been found to contain the cancer causing chemical asbestos.
Crayons affected include Disney Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Saban’s Power Rangers Super Megaforce and those made by Amscan.
Of 28 boxes of crayons tested, four contained the potentially deadly chemical.
The two crime scene fingerprint kits that were found to contain asbestos are the EduScience Deluxe Forensics Lab Kit and the white fingerprint powder in Inside Intelligence Secret Spy Kit.
The tests were carried out by two government-certified laboratories and were commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Action Group.
According to a report by the group, all the affected crayons and toys were made in China and imported to the U.S.
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring minerals and prolonged inhalation of fibers can trigger serious and fatal illnesses including cancer.
According to the report, it is unclear whether the companies whose names or trademarked characters appear on the packages ‘are responsible for, or had any role in, the manufacturing of the products or whether they merely licensed the use of their trademarks’.
The crayons that tested positive were bought between February and May this year at chains Party City and Dollar Tree in a ‘suburban county near San Francisco’.
The two crime scene sets were ordered from Amazon.com and ToysRUs.com.
EWG Action Group says federal health authorities have known since 2000 that crayons could contain asbestos, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission said that although risk of exposure was ‘extremely low’, crayons should not contain these fibers.
Just seven years later it was found in a crime scene kit.
DANGER OF ASBESTOS IN HUMANS
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring minerals. Prolonged inhalation of asbestos fibers can trigger serious and fatal illnesses including malignant lung cancer, Asbestosis and mesothelioma.
The most common diseases from asbestos are asbestosis and pleural abnormalities.
These diseases can emerge decades after exposure has ended.
People who become ill from asbestos have generally been regularly exposed in a job where they worked directly with the material, such as miners and roof mechanics.
Asbestos-related diseases have also been commonly diagnosed in these workers’ family members, and in residents who live close to asbestos mines or plants
Dr Philip Landrigan, an internationally-recognized asbestos expert and professor of pediatrics and preventive medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, was quoted in the report.
He said: ‘Asbestos in toys poses an unacceptable risk to children, today as it did in 2000 and 2007, the last time tests found the deadly substance in these children’s products.
‘Clearly some toy manufacturers haven’t done enough to protect children and others from asbestos in consumer products.
‘Therefore, it’s high time the federal government bans asbestos in consumer products.’
The action group says the crayons could release asbestos fibers as children use them, and with the crime scene kits it could be inhaled.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration states there is no safe level of exposure for any type of asbestos fiber.
Written by Jenny Stanton for The Daily Mail, July 9, 2015.
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