There is a call in the Netherlands to ban play sand due to asbestos contamination

Dutch laboratories have discovered the dangerous substance in at least 25 product samples that can be purchased in toy stores, they wrote.

The Dutch food inspection authority has launched a comprehensive investigation. In their opinion, a possible sales ban can only be decided upon once the final results are available, since – as they stated – it is not clear how much of a health risk the material, which is also used for sanding and crafts, poses to children playing.

The final laboratory results are expected in about two weeks, they informed.

The news portal reported that hundreds of kindergartens and nurseries in the Netherlands have removed the colorful product from their yards and playhouses.

“The supplier says the sand is safe, but we got rid of it as a precaution” – he said Deirdre Bernard, a representative of the Dutch childcare organization Partou, told the news portal. The organization operates in 764 nurseries in the Netherlands, they added.