The issue has led to the closure of schools and parks, most recently in North East England. It is believed the affected toys contain sand sourced from specific quarries in China
Two more children’s sand kits sold widely in the UK have been removed from sale after they were found to contain asbestos by a consumer group. The testing by Which? follows numerous products – many of them children’s toys – being recalled from shelves because of asbestos contamination.
One of the latest two recalls was marketed as a Montessori sand art tray, and was being sold on Amazon Marketplace and TikTok Shop. It is designed for hands-on learning to support fine motor skills by encouraging children to draw in the sand using pencils provided in the kit or with their fingers.
Which? testing revealed that the sand in the kit contained the banned substance tremolite asbestos, a harmful naturally occurring mineral that can become airborne and cause severe lung diseases if inhaled, even at low levels of exposure.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified all forms of asbestos as carcinogenic to humans. Products containing asbestos in any quantity, including trace amounts, are prohibited for sale in the UK.
A second sand art tray tested by Which? was bought from TikTok Shop and was also found for sale from three individual sellers on Amazon Marketplace.
Which? said the set remained on sale on both platforms until May, despite the same product being subject to a recall by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) in March because of asbestos contamination.
The OPSS has now updated the original recall notice to include Amazon and TikTok Shop.
Which? researchers also found tremolite asbestos in the GL Style Sand Bottle Art Heart or Stars set, bought from Asda and carrying the brand name RMS International Limited. But the watchdog also found what appeared to be the same kit for sale on eBay from three private sellers.
More than 39 recall notices have been issues by the OPSS since November relating to asbestos-contaminated sand products. The issue has also led to the closure of schools and parks, most recently in North East England. It is believed the affected toys contain sand sourced from specific quarries in China, where naturally occurring asbestos is present.
Sue Davies, head of consumer rights policy at Which?, said: “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. Seemingly innocent items like toys and craft kits can have serious health consequences if there are not proper checks to make sure they comply with safety laws.
“The Government has published proposals that would require online marketplaces to exercise due care in preventing, identifying and removing dangerous products sold through their platforms, an area where regulation is currently far too limited.
“Ministers now urgently need to introduce legislation that makes these duties sufficiently robust and properly enforceable. The longer the Government delays taking action, the greater the risk that more dangerous products will reach consumers.”
A spokesman for Amazon 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.”
Asda said they began a full product recall as soon as they were made aware that the product had failed testing. They advised customers who had bought the product to stop using it immediately and return it to their nearest store for a full refund.
A spokeswoman for eBay said: “We swiftly removed the items identified by Which? and are conducting further sweeps to identify similar listings.”
TikTok said the product identified during the investigation had already been removed from TikTok Shop.
