Schools and childcare providers remain on alert after an asbestos warning was issued for a range of children’s sand products.
Some 23 schools and preschools were shut or partially shut in the ACT on Friday, while one Brisbane school closed for the day after the consumer watchdog warned a coloured sand may contain asbestos traces.
Although there are hopes all schools can reopen on Monday, parents will be notified of a decision on Sunday afternoon or evening, ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry said.
“Our first priority is the safety of our schools and students, and it is a workplace as well, so we need to make sure that all school staff are safe and protected,” she told reporters in Canberra.
The discovery led childcare giant G8 Education to send an alert to families on Friday, confirming it had removed all coloured sand products from centres as a precautionary measure.
“It is important to note that respirable asbestos fibres have not been detected in any tested samples,” the company said.
The coloured sand was also sold and used in New Zealand, where the Ministry of Education has advised schools and educational facilities not to attempt to clean it up, but leave the area and close off access to affected spaces.
Health risks to children remain low after initial air tests at eight ACT schools came back negative for asbestos but results of other forms of testing are not yet known, the territory’s WorkSafe commissioner Jacqueline Agius said.
Mancel College in Brisbane was initially open on Friday morning but quickly shut after minor traces of the product was discovered at its junior and senior schools.
Parents were urged to pick up their children immediately and told students would be kept away from the sand.
Safety alerts have been issued in nearly every state and territory urging schools, consumers and service providers to stop using the sand products.
The coloured sand product found at ACT schools was imported from China and is sold as Kadink Decorative Sand in tubes weighing 10 grams, Worksafe ACT said.
It comes after a national recall of children’s sand products sold at retailers including Officeworks, Educating Kids, Modern Teaching Aids and Zart Art.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued alerts after asbestos traces were detected in laboratory testing.
Products affected are labelled as Kadink Decorative sand 10g 6 pack, Kadink Sand (1.3kg), Educational Colours Rainbow Sand (1.3kg) and Creatistics Coloured Sand (1kg).
The sand has been on sale in Australia since 2020 and is used for crafts or sensory play.
Asbestos cannot be disposed of in general waste and must be taken to resource management facilities.
Officeworks said the safety risk was “negligible” after commissioning an independent health and safety risk assessment, but it recalled products as a precaution.
Asbestos-contaminated mulch prompted the closure of schools, hospitals and parks in Sydney in 2024 while historic dumping and legacy contamination was blamed for traces found at parks in Melbourne’s west.
Some 1000 ACT homes were found to be riddled with loose-fill asbestos installed by insulation company Mr Fluffy up until the 1970s.
– Additional reporting by RNZ
