Is Your Child Coloring With Asbestos?

A private lab hired by the EWG Action Fund, a sister organization of the Environmental Working Group, also detected and confirmed asbestos in two of 21 toy crime lab kits it evaluated.

Mommies beware! Chinese made crime scene fingerprint kits and crayons that are now widely available in the USA schools supplies market were discovered to contain the substance asbestos that are linked to cancer development and lung disease particularly in children.

The commission said it would “monitor children’s crayons to ensure they do not present a hazard”, but it has not banned or regulated asbestos in crayons, toys or other children’s products.

When human lungs breathe in tiny asbestos fibers, the result can be lung disease and lung cancer.

Lunder also notes that, first of all, asbestos is a known carcinogen and has actually been found in various crayon types since 2000, and again in some of the crime-scene analysis toy kits since 2007. The affected products include Amscan Crayons, Disney Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Crayons, Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Crayons and Saban’s Power Rangers Super Megaforce Boxes.

Crayons and crime scene fingerprint kits were purchased at national retail chains or through online retailers and tested by two government-certified laboratories including Scientific Analytical Institute in Greensboro, N.C. using state-of-the-art equipment.

Check your child’s crayons. What could have been a source of harmless recreation for children could turn out to be the cause of cancer which normally manifests itself after one to four decades. People become exposed to asbestos when particles in materials become airborne. These asbestos laced crayons and kits could really be harming children.

Paulson, who is not affiliated with the report, said that powder from the crime lab kits was of particular concern. It is a fairly common occurrence, as asbestos and talc are often found in the same geological formations. He said the agency isn’t starting from scratch as it looked into exposure after the previous reports of asbestos but didn’t have a timeline as to when they might make a decision on whether regulatory action is needed.

The crayons and toys evaluated carried packaging labels that indicated they were manufactured in China. These were investigated in August of 2000 by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which found that risk of inhalation was very low, but that companies should take precautions to remove asbestos fibers from their products. However, this regulation was overturned in 1991, leaving bans on only a few products. “That was identified 15 years ago”. Landrigan used to be a senior adviser to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on children’s environmental health.