Fears sand linked to asbestos recall sent home in school artwork

Traces of asbestos may have made it inside students’ homes after schools advised parents it could have been used in children’s artwork.

The sand is brightly coloured and designed for children to play with and for educational purposes and, as set out in the recall, is labelled as Kadink Sand (1.3kg), Educational Colours - Rainbow Sand (1.3kg) and Creatistics - Coloured Sand.

Traces of asbestos may have made it inside students’ homes after schools advised parents it could have been used in children’s artworks.

In an email sent to parents on Sunday, multiple Brisbane Catholic Education schools advised parents to throw out artwork containing coloured sand that was sent home.

Among the schools was All Saints Parish Catholic Primary School.

Principal Roycelyn Wilden said they had been made aware of a recent product recall involving certain coloured sand products that were “sometimes used in the school”.

“I understand some artwork containing the coloured sand in question may have been sent home recently with students. If you have any of these, we recommend that you dispose of them immediately,” she said in her email to parents.

“The advice is to double wrap the item, seal it with tape, and take it to a relevant disposal unit.

“As an added precaution, any area in the school where these products have been used and opened has been closed and cordoned off. These areas will be professionally cleaned before any students are able to return to those areas,” Ms Wilden said.

Ms Wilden assured parents the school would be open on Monday, however, alternative locations would be used until cleaning was complete if not finished on Sunday.

The email was similar to those sent by other BCE schools, with the email saying the risk associated with the product was low.

Multiple Queensland schools have come forward after discovering they had used the coloured sand product which was found to contain traces of asbestos.

Mancel College in Fig Tree Pocket announced on Friday it would close “with immediate effect” following a national recall of the coloured play sand.

Fifteen Canberra schools also fully closed.

The recall was issued by supplier Educational Colours for colourful children’s sand products sold through multiple outlets including Officeworks, Educating Kids, Modern Teaching Aids and Zart Art that may contain asbestos.

The sand is brightly coloured and designed for children to play with and for educational purposes and, as set out in the recall, is labelled as Kadink Sand (1.3kg), Educational Colours - Rainbow Sand (1.3kg) and Creatistics - Coloured Sand (1kg).

Kmart and Target have also issued a recall of coloured sand. It has recalled it’s 14 piece Sand Castle Building Set, Blue, Green and Pink Magic Sand.

Premier David Crisafulli said he was mindful the Commonwealth were leading this issue.

“We play a role as well, of course, it’s important that we do and it’s important that people are given up to date information, and also that there is a proper analysis done on how this was imported and distributed,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“The up to date information will be on the school closures website, and we deliberately do that to make sure there’s a single point of truth.

A Department of Education spokeswoman said it did not anticipate there will be any state school closures this week and all schools were expected to be open as normal tomorrow (Monday 17 November).

“We are working to ensure continuity of education for all students,” the spokeswoman said.

“Of course, the department will continue to monitor the situation and is following advice from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ).”

The spokeswoman said it understood that families and members of school communities were looking for advice and reassurance and schools would continue to communicate with them about the matter.

“WHSQ and other agencies continue to investigate this matter. Further updates will be provided as additional information becomes available,” the spokeswoman said.

“No state schools are currently closed.”

Brisbane Catholic Education has been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Fears sand linked to asbestos recall sent home in school artwork