Two more children's sand kits sold on Amazon and TikTok have been pulled from shelves after testing revealed asbestos contamination. The discovery by consumer group Which? follows numerous product recalls, many involving children's toys, due to asbestos.
Latest Recalls
One of the recalled kits was marketed as a Montessori sand art tray and sold on Amazon Marketplace and TikTok Shop. Which? found the sand contained tremolite asbestos, a banned substance. A second sand art tray, purchased from TikTok Shop, was also found for sale by three individual sellers on Amazon Marketplace.
Consumer Warning
Sue Davies, head of consumer rights policy at Which?, stated: "It is outrageous that online marketplaces are selling products which may expose children to asbestos, especially when some of these products had already been recalled by the OPSS."
Retailer Responses
An Amazon spokesperson said: "Customer safety is our top priority and we are taking this issue very seriously. We are in the process of removing all products in this category across our store while we investigate further, and as a result the highlighted items have been removed." An eBay spokesperson added: "We swiftly removed the items identified by Which? and are conducting further sweeps to identify similar listings."
Health Risks
Ashley Howkins, lead scientific officer at Brunel, noted: "Although the risk to health is small because the quantities of asbestos are small, there is still a risk. The younger the child exposed the more chance they have of developing symptoms."
Regulatory Concerns
Richard Clevers, an investigative journalist for Algemeen Dagblad, commented: "Product warnings are piling up but differ from country to country and the European system intended to provide an overview is failing consumers. Anyone wanting to know which toys are affected must monitor the websites of different regulators across the continent."
More than 30 toys have been withdrawn from sale since the Guardian first reported on asbestos in toy sand in January, prompting widespread testing and recalls.
