More than 30 different children's toys sold in the UK have now been recalled amid mounting fears that several products containing sand from China may be contaminated with asbestos.
Shops including M&S, Tesco, Primark and Matalan are among the latest retailers to have sold products including kids' candle-making kits, stretchy rubber toys and coloured sand, which have now been recalled.
All the toys are believed to contain sand mined from China where asbestos occurs naturally, but where safety standards and labelling are less rigorous.
How the crisis unfolded
The alarm was first raised in Australia at the end of last year, when 69 schools were forced to close after coloured play sand was found to contain the cancer-causing substance. After that, a parent in the UK sent samples of sand they'd bought at Hobbycraft to a testing lab, allegedly finding traces of asbestos fibres in the bottles of yellow, green and pink sand. Investigations subsequently revealed traces of asbestos in numerous products sold in the UK by companies including Asda, eBay, and Amazon.
Asbestos is a banned substance because the inhalation of cancer-causing fibres poses a risk, even at low levels of exposure.
Recalled products
Tesco's Squishy Pugs toys, Funkee Sand toys, Paw Patrol Sand Art picture set are all among the products being recalled. Meanwhile M&S had also sold Paw Patrol products containing contaminated sand, issuing a recall for products including the Paw Patrol Bumper Craft Set, and also Addo Play's Out To Impress Sand Art Creations set. Matalan has recalled the Pug Dog and Sausage Dog toys, which contain the asbestos-contaminated sand, and Primark has recalled the range of Stretcherz toys, which had also been sold previously, and also recalled by Asda.
Government response
The government's Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) said it recognised the failures would be a concern for parents and was clamping down on "irresponsible sellers".
Minister for Product Safety Kate Dearden told The Independent: "It is staggering toys are being sold with asbestos, and I know how concerning this will be for parents. We're taking action with new measures to strengthen consumer protection and clamp down on irresponsible sellers. Our product safety laws are clear – businesses must ensure the products they sell are safe and act when they have sold unsafe products to consumers."
"We work closely with the EU, Trading Standards and the toy industry to ensure businesses act immediately, and any products which test positive for asbestos are removed from sale and recalled."
Consumer advice
The full list of products containing asbestos can be found on the recalls page of the OPSS on the Gov.uk website. People who own any of them are advised to stop using them immediately and store them in a secure location out of reach of children. If the sand is still in its packaging, then it should be placed in a heavy-duty plastic bag, double-taped securely and returned to the place of purchase.
Calls for stronger action
Consumer group Which? said the number of recalls in the last three months pointed to a serious failure in safety checks and called for stronger action from the government.
Which? head of consumer protection policy Sue Davies said: "The Office for Product Safety and Standards needs to take action and ensure proper checks are being carried out to keep dangerous products off the shelves. It should also examine whether toys containing asbestos are being sold on online marketplaces where there is far more limited regulation."
In January Hobbycraft recalled the product and said: "Customers who purchased this product are advised to stop using it and keep it out of reach of children."
Laurie Kazan-Allen, of the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, said the UK recalls since the first wave of concern following the discovery of asbestos in play sand in Australia were "the result of individual tests carried out by manufacturers and sellers, and not of testing by the UK authorities".
A spokesperson for Primark told The Independent: "We have issued a product recall on behalf of HTI who are recalling several of their Stretcherz toys. This is due to trace levels of asbestos found during testing. The overall risk is low but may make the product unsafe. The products sold by Primark that are impacted include the Stretch Squad Dinos, Med Stetcherz, Stetcherz Slammerz and Stetcherz Street Smash Car. Customers are advised to bring the product back to stores where we will issue a full refund with no proof of purchase required."
The Independent has contacted Tesco, M&S and Matalan for comment.
