Source: Radio New Zealand
The latest coloured sand products to be recalled over asbestos fears. Supplied
Consumers are being warned to assume imported products including kids play things are not being tested and its best to avoid anything that could be contaminated or faulty.
An asbestos scare has prompted a recall of several brands of children coloured play sand.
It expanded yesterday with two more products added; Rainbow Sand Art Toy, approximately 800 units have been sold at various discount stores nationwide, and sand craft.
Some of the coloured sands are laced with tremolite asbestos.
That is despite it being illegal to import any product containing asbestos.
University of Auckland law professor Alex Sims said shoppers should not assume the law is being followed.
“We’ve just seen it with the with the coloured sand, but I think to be honest, it’s not sort of a product that people naturally thought would have asbestos in it.”
Sims told Checkpoint it is up to retailers and importers to do checks on products, but that doesn’t mean it is always being done.
“There’s a whole lot of laws that cover kids toys…. and if you’re importing product it can’t have asbestos in it.”
“There’s lots and lots of laws, but it is up to the people selling it and importing it to make sure that the law is being followed.”
She said products having safety issues is not uncommon and has happened in the past, but often consumers don’t hear about it.
“What often happens is something happens… where some poor child almost dies and then they look into it, and then the prosecutions happens, but this after the fact.”
“One thing that could happen is the Commerce Commission and other people could do spot checks to see that the products are actually meeting specifications, but there’s so many that it might be impossible to do.”
If parents wanted to be reimbursed the cost of asbestos testing or any clean up, Sims said the responsibility lies on the retailer, which is in many cases Kmart.
“Under the Consumer Guarantees Act if a good is not safe, and if it’s contaminated with asbestos it’s not safe, then yes [you are entitled to] a refund of the money, but also the cost of the testing the cost of cleaning,”
“If the colour sand is all through a carpet and it can’t be cleaned properly then the cost of replacing that carpet as well.”
Despite this, Sims said she would be surprised if this would occur.
“The only real way at the moment is for someone to go to the disputes tribunal.”
Schools are also covered under the consumer guarantees act, said Sims.
Despite the laws in place, she said it was ultimately down to buyers to be aware of what they are purchasing.
“Unfortunately the laws don’t work…yes, we’ve got laws, but then as we’ve seen here, they’re not protecting anybody, so it is buyer beware.”
With Christmas around the corner, Sims said for now it might be safest to stick to simpler and more traditional toys, such as wooden items without paint on them.
MBIE product safety spokesman Ian Caplin said the Ministry is working retailers of children’s sand products to understand supply chains and determine the origin of the sand.
The Ministry said it is the retailer’s responsibility to sell a safe product, and the importation of a product containing asbestos is not allowed without a permit.
Kmart did not respond to a request for an interview about its sand products.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
