Australian authorities are warning consumers to avoid a brand of Crayons made in China that have tested positive for asbestos, a silicate mineral that can cause devastating health problems for people exposed to it. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said that so far only trace amounts of asbestos have been found in children’s crayons marketed with images of Dora the Explorer, Mickey Mouse, and Peppa Pig. However, the agency added that the “presence of asbestos in crayons at any level is unacceptable because asbestos is a prohibited import.”
Parents are being urged not to panic because the Consumer Commission believes the crayons do not pose a significant health risk.
“The ACCC does not believe that traces of asbestos in crayons presents (sic) a safety risk to consumers because the asbestos is fixed within the crayon wax, which removes the risk of inhalation or ingestion,” the agency said.
Asbestos fibers are particularly life-threatening when they are airborne as dust, which allows them to be inhaled or ingested. Once in the lungs, asbestos can promote a number of diseases, the most serious of which are lung cancer and mesothelioma, an incurable cancer that attacks the protective linings of the lungs and other internal organs.
Australian regulators have not mandated a safety recall of the affected crayons, but some retailers are pulling them off the shelves anyway.
Vicki Hamilton, CEO of the Asbestos Council of Victoria, told News Corp Australia that there ought to be a national recall of the crayons because the current warnings in place aren’t urgent enough.
“We know which brands have been affected … They should be wiped from stores countrywide,” she told News Corp Australia. “I would not want to see any child putting crayons in their mouths when there is asbestos in them.”
Authorities said that any parents concerned about the crayons should return them to the place of purchase or take them to an authorized asbestos disposal facility.
Asbestos is sometimes present in talc, which some major crayon manufacturers (Crayola, Prang, and RoseArt) use in their products. Crayola agreed to stop using talc in its crayons in June 2000 and changed its product formulas in the U.S. Imported crayons, however, occasionally test positive for asbestos.
Source: Australian News Network
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