The researchers purchased the crayon packs in a county suburb close to San Francisco. This can cause trouble breathing, the lung disease mesothelioma, and cancer of the lungs, larynx, and ovaries.
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“All the products that tested positive were manufactured in China”, Lunder adds.
The report says asbestos was also found in two crime lab toys: EduScience’s Deluxe Forensics Lab Kit, and Inside Intelligence’s Secret Spy Kit.
He says the crime scene kits were a little more concerning because of the fingerprint dust.
The most common diseases from asbestos are asbestosis and pleural abnormalities. “Children’s safety is of the utmost importance to our agency”.
CNN contacted importers, distributors and retailers named in the report for comment.
“When this happened years ago I thought situation was put to rest, that the CPSC [Consumer Product Safety Commission] would take action”, Lemen said. Any product that fails to meet governmental or Amscan’s standards will not be distributed or sold.
Toys “R” Us was the only distributor of the contaminated products to give a statement regarding the incident. We take this responsibility very seriously.
The kits, which instruct children to use dusting powder to identify fingerprints on surfaces, could contaminate children by way of airborn asbestos fibers.
“We were surprised,” report co-author Sonya Lunder told CBS News.
In independent tests, four out of 28 boxes of colored crayons were found to contains traces of asbestos.
In 2000, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer found asbestos in crayons, and the nonprofit Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization found asbestos in a toy fingerprint exam kit in 2007. “This makes it harder to follow the supply chain and enact and enforce pledges to have asbestos-free products”. So, although only small amounts were found in the tests, they could still pose a potentially deadly hazard for kids.
Twenty-eight boxes of crayons and 21 crime scene fingerprint kits for kids were tested for asbestos by the Scientific Analytical Institute in Greensboro, N.C., using the most sensitive detection methods available. “There’s not enough information about where asbestos might be found”.
This isn’t the first time asbestos has been found in crayons or crime kits.
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10 News did some checking and we found a huge stock of the crayons at a Bay area Party City. There is the potential for this to occur when asbestos containing material is broken, or when it is being drilled, sanded or cut with a power tool. However, this regulation was overturned in 1991, leaving bans on only a few products.
