The revelation that public assurances regarding asbestos-contaminated play sand were based on a supplier's own self-commissioned risk assessment has left parents, schools, and authorities in Australia and New Zealand reeling. The safety of hundreds of thousands of children who may have used these products is now under scrutiny as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) updates recall notices to reflect 'a risk to health'.
The controversy began in November 2025 when Educational Colours withdrew their children's sand products from shelves after asbestos was detected. This initial recall triggered over 20 similar actions across various brands and retailers, with tens of thousands of potentially contaminated sand boxes sold to consumers and used in hundreds of schools and childcare facilities across both countries.
The ACCC's official advice until this month maintained that toxic asbestos fibres were 'unlikely' to be released into the air unless the sand was 'processed by mechanical means such as crushing or pulverising', based on a risk assessment commissioned by Educational Colours itself. Notably, this assessment did not involve additional testing or even a visual inspection of the contaminated products and was never made public. Despite the lack of independent evidence, this supplier's safety claim became the official position of both the Australian and New Zealand governments.
However, testing conducted by the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) has challenged these initial claims. Their findings revealed that 90% of craft sand samples released asbestos into the air when played with, directly contradicting the previous 'low risk' narrative and leading to the ACCC's updated recall notices. Privately, New Zealand's workplace regulator, WorkSafe NZ, had reportedly challenged the Australian recall statements 'from the get-go', with its own testing indicating that the asbestos fibres were of a respirable size.
Asbestos, a material strictly banned in Australia since 2003 due to its severe health risks, can cause terminal diseases if its crystalline fibres are inhaled. The original Educational Colours risk assessment, published on 10 October 2025, concluded the risk to children was 'negligible' based solely on discussions with a company representative and a review of provided lab results, explicitly warning against broader extrapolation of its findings.