Parents were told asbestos in play sand was low risk unless ‘pulverised’. But regulators hadn’t tested it themselves | Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)

Schools, retailers and government agencies have reassured parents that asbestos-contaminated play sand poses a low risk to their children’s health, according to the supplier’s own assessment, which has not been independently verified, the Guardian has revealed.

The now-controversial public messages spread quickly after a number of Educational Colors children’s litter products were pulled from shelves in November 2025 after samples were found to contain asbestos, followed by more than 20 similar recalls across different brands and retailers.

Tens of thousands of boxes of potentially contaminated sand were sold to consumers over a period of at least five years, and the products were used in hundreds of schools and childcare centers in Australia and New Zealand.

Until this month, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was advising that it was “unlikely” that toxic asbestos fibers would be released into the air unless the sand was “processed by mechanical means such as crushing or pulverising”.

This recommendation resulted from a risk assessment commissioned by Educational Colors itself, which did not include any additional testing or visual inspection of contaminated products, and was never made public.

The supplier’s safety claim became the official position of the Australian and New Zealand governments, despite no additional evidence to support it.

Airborne fibers found in 90% of samples

The ACCC last week updated some recall notices to say the products “may pose a health risk” after testing by the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) found 90% of handmade sand samples released asbestos into the air when played with.

New Zealand’s workplace regulator said it opposed Australia’s recall notices “from the outset” because its own tests showed the asbestos fibers were of a respirable size, according to internal emails seen by the Guardian.

On Friday a WorkSafe NZ spokesperson said the regulator had consistently recommended that potentially affected sand products “should be managed, removed and disposed of as friable asbestos-containing material until proven otherwise”.

However, the “low risk” argument was adopted in both countries; Schools, health officials, government agencies, asbestos disease experts and other major retailers including Kmart are using the same phrase to reassure consumers.

Although the contaminated sands were not initially supplied by Educational Colors, Kmart continues to claim that its recalled products do not “significantly” contain friable asbestos and are “low risk” unless mechanically treated.

Kmart did not respond to a request for comment.

Asbestos, a dangerous substance whose crystal fibers can cause fatal diseases if inhaled, has been banned in Australia since 2003 and is not allowed to be imported except in very limited circumstances.

The Educational Colors risk assessment, published on 10 October 2025 and seen by the Guardian, determined the risk to children was “negligible” because “the release of respirable asbestos fibers from colored sand is unlikely to otherwise occur.” [it] It is further processed by mechanical methods such as crushing or pulverizing.”

The report acknowledged that the safety assurance was based solely on an interview with an Educational Colors representative and a review of laboratory results provided by the company, and cautioned against extrapolating the findings.

As ABC first reported, a laboratory in Australia accidentally found asbestos in sand while analyzing samples for staff training and machine testing; this was only reported to authorities after a lab manager mentioned it in a podcast interview.

After being informed that some of its products were possibly contaminated, Educational Colors commissioned additional tests that found six of 14 samples contained non-breathable tremolite asbestos, according to documents seen by the Guardian.

The lab cautioned against making the same assumption about anything other than the samples it analyzed.

What’s more, AUT test results released this month show that tremolite asbestos-containing play sand can release fibers into the air even when handled much more gently than simply “crushing or pulverizing” it as a child would.

While the products continued to be sold to consumers and used in schools for at least another month before the recall, the company hired a Melbourne-based OHS firm to carry out the risk assessment.

Educational Colors said it proactively recalled its products and commissioned independent NATA-certified testing and an occupational hygiene firm, which reported the risk was negligible.

“We take our compliance responsibilities very seriously and are committed to working with relevant authorities to ensure the ongoing safety of our customers and compliance with evolving testing standards,” a spokesperson said.

Officeworks relied on the report when it informed consumers that there was “no identifiable safety hazard” associated with the contaminated products and that these products would be recalled on November 12, 2025 “purely as a precautionary measure.” Officeworks did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.

Parents with exposed children call for transparency

Christchurch parents Elle Chrisp and David Dingwall used freedom of information laws to uncover the documents after an eight-month search for answers that began when they learned their teenage twins had been playing with potentially contaminated sand.

Dingwall said he was shocked when he first read the risk assessment, which was released following a complaint to the ombudsman earlier this month.

“I’m no expert on this subject – but even I felt, as I read it, that this was not an appropriate document to rely on for public messaging types.”

The couple has an ongoing compensation case in the New Zealand civil disputes court against Kmart, where they bought sand for their children.

After being contacted by the Guardian on Thursday, the ACCC said Kmart and Officeworks had agreed “within the last 24 hours” to remove the phrase “importantly, no respirable asbestos was detected in any of the samples tested” in their recall notices.

“The ACCC’s asbestos-related product safety role is shared with specialist regulators,” a spokesman for the consumer watchdog said.

They said the ACCC continues to “actively communicate” with suppliers of the recalled products regarding the wording of the recall notices.

Ian Caplin, the New Zealand government’s product safety spokesman, said his department was “encouraging” suppliers to update safety messages and issue recall notices after AUT test results showed contaminated sand was releasing asbestos fibres.