Tests Find Asbestos in "CSI" Toy

Yet another children's toy -- Planet Toys CSI: Crime Scene Investigation™ Fingerprint Examination Kits -- should be recalled from stores, this time due to high levels of asbestos, a known cancer agent, according to news from the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

The EWG sent letters this week asking officials at Toys "R" Us, Costco, KB Toys and Walgreens to immediately remove the toys from their shelves. The letters also asked retailers to test a larger sample of the toys to assess how extensive the problem might be.

The EWG's request follows the release of a study by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), which spent 18 months and $165,000 testing hundreds of consumer products for asbestos.

"Exposing a young child to even a small amount of asbestos could have deadly results later on in life," said Richard Wiles, executive director of the EWG. "We hope all retailers take asbestos exposure seriously before letting one more of these toy fingerprint sets go out the door and home with a child."

The ADAO study found high levels of two kinds of asbestos in some samples of the white and glow-in-the-dark fingerprinting powder included in the Planet Toys CSI: Crime Scene Investigation™ kits. The kits instruct children to blow on the powder to reveal signs of fingerprints. The EWG warns that children are likely to not only put the contaminated dust on their fingers but inhale the dust into their lungs after blowing on it.

Asbestos is a fibrous mineral compound that's highly heat-resistant. It was used for many years to help insulate buildings and provide fire protective properties in machinery and electronics. However, inhaling asbestos can cause -- among other diseases -- mesothelioma, a cancer that affects the lining of internal organs, and asbestosis, a chronic inflammation of the lungs. The commercial use of asbestos is now banned in many countries.

"More than 100 years after asbestos exposure was first linked to disease in the modern world, asbestos continues to be the source of one of the largest manmade public health crises in history," said Linda Reinstein, co-founder and executive director of the ADAO. "But exposure continues. Asbestos is a known carcinogen and the Environmental Protection Agency, the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization all agree: 'There is no safe level of asbestos exposure.'"

Environmental Working Group, "Latest Dangerous Toy From China: Asbestos Found at Dangerous Levels in Popular Children's Toy in Stock at Stores Nationwide." URL: (http://www.ewg.org/node/25715)