Five toys on sale in Britain found to contain asbestos
Five children's toys sold in Britain tested positive for asbestos, including products on Amazon, while regulators fail to issue a category-wide ban despite 30+ withdrawals since January. Children face serious health risks from asbestos exposure.
Five children’s toys on sale in Britain have tested positive for asbestos, exposing a gap in the UK’s product safety enforcement that has already seen equivalent items banned in the Netherlands.
The contaminated products included Glitter & Glow Magical Sand Art by KandyToys, sold through Glowtopia, and a Wordpad Montessori Sand Tray sold on Amazon. More than 30 toys have been withdrawn from sale since asbestos was first detected in toy sand products in January, but the new test results show contaminated items continued to reach British children after those withdrawals.
The Netherlands moved to prohibit the same category of products after its own regulators identified the hazard. Britain has not followed. No new category-wide ban is in force, and the products were still available through major online platforms at the time the tests were conducted.
Asbestos has no safe level of exposure. Inhaled fibres cause mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining, as well as other lung diseases. Children are considered more vulnerable because their lungs are still developing.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards is responsible for enforcing toy safety regulations in Britain. It has the power to require recalls and issue prohibition notices but has not issued a blanket prohibition on the product category. The regulator did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
Thirty-plus withdrawals since January, and asbestos is still turning up in the sandpit aisle. The regime is not working.
