Some
children’s crayons—marketed with colorful characters such as Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers and Mickey Mouse—and play crime lab kits contain
cancer-causing, lung damaging asbestos fibers, according to a report released last week.
The report,
commissioned by the environmental nonprofit Environmental Working Group Action
Fund, found that four brands of children’s crayons out of 28 boxes tested and
two of 21 children fingerprint kits contained asbestos.
All
of the products that tested positive for asbestos were made in China and
imported to the United States.
Experts
say there is no “safe” level of asbestos exposure. Even short exposures—just a
few days—can cause serious lung problems, according to the U.S. Occupational
Safety and Health Administration.
“There
are no rules banning asbestos contamination in many consumer products and, to
us, toys really stood out,” said Sonya Lunder, report co-author and senior
analyst at Environmental Working Group Action Fund.
Asbestos
fibers and children are not a good mix. The fibers can separate and the particles
release into the air and can be inhaled, leading to lung problems such as lung
cancer and mesothelioma.
While
the fingerprint powder could easily be inhaled, for crayons the concern is
children eating them. In response a report in 2000 that found asbestos in
crayons, the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission said that the risk to children from
asbestos in crayons is “extremely low” because asbestos fibers are embedded in
the crayon wax and wouldn’t escape inside the child.
"Some
may say they're [children] not at risk of a very high of exposure, but children
are much more reactive to toxic materials and we’re dealing with a
carcinogen," said Richard Lemen, retired U.S. assistant surgeon general
who specialized in occupational health. "We haven’t identified a
concentration or exposure below which we are at not risk."
Exposure
to asbestos as a child means there’s more time for an asbestos-related illness
to develop later in life, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Scott
Wolfson, communications director at the U.S. Product Safety Commission, said
the agency is taking the new report "very seriously."
"The
law requires us to look at exposure—how much exposure could a child get from a
crayon, fingerprint kit. How much of that do they have to inhale in order for
their safety to be at risk," Wolfson said.
"A
lot of science will need to go into staff’s work to pass judgement as to
whether regulatory action should taken," he said. "Children's safety
is of the utmost importance to our agency."
This
isn’t the first time asbestos has been found in crayons or crime kits. In 2000 the Seattle
Post Intelligencer newspaper had crayons tested and found asbestos
in three popular brands. Seven years later, asbestos was
found in crime kits.
"When
this happened years ago I thought situation was put to rest, that the CPSC
[Consumer Product Safety Commission] would take action," Lemen said.
"Here we are four years later, we’re still seeing it happen. It's a
breakdown in the system that is set up to protect the American public,
specifically American children."
Asbestos
is more commonly used in building materials such as insulation and shingles, as
it is resistant to heat and fire and doesn’t readily degrade. It’s unclear how
the asbestos got into the crayons and crime kits, but it was likely a
“contaminant of talc used as a binding agent in the crayons and in powder in
the crime scene fingerprint kits,” Lunder and colleagues wrote, adding that
asbestos is often found near talc deposits.
The
current report found asbestos in:
- Amscan Crayons,
- Disney Mickey Mouse Clubhouse crayons,
- Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Crayons,
- Saban’s Power Rangers Super Megaforce crayons,
- EduScience Deluve Forensics Lab Kit (black fingerprint powder), and
- Inside Intelligence Secret Spy kit (white fingerprint powder).
The
tests were conducted at the Scientific Analytical Institute in Greensboro,
North Carolina.
The
U.S. Product Safety Commission did not put in place any regulations or bans
following the previous reports on asbestos in crayons and kits.
Lunder
and colleagues say the report should spur the safety commission to ban talc in
children products.
Wolfson
said, unlike lead and some other metals that have specific content limits, for
asbestos the agency will have to look at exposure levels from these toys, which
requires a more "rigorous amount of science."
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.
American
crayon manufacturers largely stopped using talc after previous asbestos
findings, Lunder said, and in the new report they didn’t find any asbestos in
American-made products. “But since so many toys come from China, those
manufacturers promises aren’t fully protective” of U.S. children, she said. None
of the asbestos-containing products listed talc on their labels either.
While
no one has pinned an illness on asbestos-tainted toys or crayons, the authors
of the report point out that asbestos in such products was discovered only
recently and diseases can take years to develop.
“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,” Landrigan said.
For
questions or feedback about this piece, contact Brian Bienkowski at bbienkowski@ehn.org.