The kiddy craft set could be contaminated with the dangerous substance asbestos, experts have warned, with a stark warning to parents to ‘stop using immediately’
Parents are being warned to be extra cautious about a popular craft set amid fears it could be contaminated with deadly asbestos.
A children’s play sand set has been recalled, with adults asked to immediately take the set away from their little ones if they have it in their homes. The Glow Sand Art set, on sale across online retailers, has been deemed unsafe by environmental experts who say there is a chance some of the batches could be infected with the cancer-causing substance.
The warning states: “Asbestos is a hazardous material that can cause serious health problems if its fibres are inhaled. Please stop using the product immediately. The play sand from Jono Toys B.V. may contain asbestos. The fibers are carcinogenic.”
The colourful play sand batches affected were sold from January 15, 2025, to February 23, 2026 and now the asbestos warning has been made public.
The company advises parents who find the toy at home to moisten the open play sand, place it in a sealable bag, and dispose of it properly at a recycling centre or return it to the point of sale.
The sand was sold with only small infections believed to be in circulation, but toy production experts say it is better to be safe than sorry and are advising all to dispose of the play stuff as soon as possible.
Asbestos was formerly used primarily as a fire-retardant building material. Until the 1990s, these resilient fibres were used in cement, facades, tile adhesive, and brake linings.
But these previously labelled “miracle fibres” have a problem, they can be inhaled and penetrate deep into the lungs and cause serious illness.
This leads to fatal diseases such as asbestosis and lung cancer. Asbestos has therefore been banned across the entire EU since 2005.
Sonja Pannenbecker from the Bremen Consumer Center in Germany which distributed the toy said: “We advise against giving children play sand, craft sand, and Montessori sand play tables from China.
“Adults should also be cautious with colored decorative sand from China, for example, for filling vases.
“In Australia, where toys contaminated with asbestos were examined, some of the affected sand could be traced back to a quarry in China.”