Asbestos Nation – Bill Walker and Sonya Lunder: “Samples of four brands of children’s crayons and two kids’ crime scene fingerprint kits contained deadly asbestos fibers, according to tests commissioned by EWG Action Fund. The toys, purchased at national retail chains or through online retailers, were tested by two government-certified laboratories, using state-of-the-art equipment. The results are significant because even trace exposure to asbestos can cause cancer and other fatal lung disease. The tests found asbestos in four of the 28 boxes of crayons tested, several marketed under the names of popular fantasy characters Mickey Mouse, Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Two of the 21 crime scene fingerprint kits were tainted with asbestos. According to package labels, all the crayons and toys that contained asbestos were made in China and imported to the U.S. It is unclear whether the companies whose names or trademarked characters appear on the packages are responsible for, or had any role in, the manufacturing of the products or whether they merely licensed the use of their trademarks. Federal health authorities have known since 2000 that crayons can be contaminated with asbestos. That year the Seattle Post Intelligencer commissioned tests detecting asbestos in three popular brands of crayons (Schneider 2000). The Consumer Product Safety Commission conducted its own confirmation tests on crayons and concluded that the risk of exposure was “extremely low” but that “as a precaution, crayons should not contain these [asbestos] fibers.” 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 (CPSC 2000). Seven years later asbestos was found in the fingerprint powder of a similar crime scene kit (ADAO 2007). EWG Action Fund’s detection of asbestos in children’s toys renewed calls for action. “Asbestos in toys poses an unacceptable risk to children, today as it did in 2000 and 2007, the last time tests found the deadly substance in these children’s products,” said Dr. Philip Landrigan, professor of pediatrics and preventive medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Landrigan is an internationally-recognized asbestos expert and former senior adviser to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on children’s environmental health. “Clearly some toy manufacturers haven’t done enough to protect children and others from asbestos in consumer products. Therefore, it’s high time the federal government bans asbestos in consumer products.” Contaminated crayons could release microscopic asbestos fibers as children use them. According to Crayola, the world’s largest crayon manufacturer, by age 10 the typical American child wears down 730 crayons (Crayola 2004). As every parent knows, children sometimes eat crayons; health authorities and asbestos experts are divided on whether ingestion of asbestos-contaminated crayons is a health hazard. The Consumer Product Safety Commission maintains that the asbestos fibers are embedded in the crayon wax and that a child’s body temperature is not warm enough to melt ingested wax and free the fibers. In the case of the crime scene kits, people could inhale airborne asbestos fibers. Both products contained a straw or brush so that children could remove excess powder. Instructions for the EduScience Deluxe Forensics Lab Kit say: “Put a small amount of dusting powder on the brush, use the blower to blow on the brush gently and then run the brush softly over the fingerprinted spot. Use the blower to blow off excess powder on top.” Although the crime scene kits carried safety warnings that choking on small parts is dangerous, none cautioned of possible asbestos contamination. Asbestos fibers lodged in the lungs or other organs can cause grave, often fatal, illnesses whose symptoms are not evident for decades after exposure. If children are exposed when young, there is more time for asbestos-related illness to develop later in life. The asbestos found in the tested products was most likely a contaminant of talc used as a binding agent in the crayons and in powder in the crime scene fingerprint kits (SAI 2015). Asbestos is often found in mines alongside talc deposits. EWG Action Fund purchased the crayons that tested positive for asbestos between February and May 2015 at two national chains, Party City and Dollar Tree, in a suburban county near San Francisco. The fund ordered the two crime scene toys that contained asbestos through Amazon.com and ToysRUs.com.”