Another little present from China wrapped up and under your tree
Please note -- this is from a Canadian news source and refers to a Canadian version of this product. The USA version may be different.
Did you buy the C.S.I. Fingerprint Examination Kit? Be aware that the dusting powder used contains contains five per cent tremolite asbestos, a particularly virulent form of the mineral.
From
The Canadian Press:
NDP issues Christmas toy asbestos warning
The NDP is calling on the federal government to shut down Canada's asbestos industry and scrap "horrifying" regulations that allow the use of the cancer-causing mineral in children's toys and other products.
New Democrat MPs Pat Martin and Libby Davies released test results Friday showing that asbestos is present in CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit - a popular new children's toy made in China.
And the dusting powder in question:
The NDP produced test results from three different U.S. laboratories showing that dusting powder in the popular CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit - labelled for use by children aged 10 and up - contains five per cent tremolite asbestos, a particularly virulent form of the mineral.
Symptoms of exposure to tremolite asbestos dust can show up anytime from a couple years up to 40 years after first exposure. No safe exposure threshold for any of the asbestos minerals has been established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The $20-$30 CSI kit is made in China and licensed by CBS, which produces the popular crime-science television show. CBS Consumer Products said this week that it has asked its licensee to commission an independent asbestos test.
"If the toy is determined to be unsafe, then we will insist that the licensee remove it from the market," a CBS spokesman said in a statement.
Which begs the question, does real dusting powder contain tremolite?
The toy may have just been an authentic copy...
Still, not a good thing to hand to kids who will not use it in the manner intended.
Posted by DaveH at November 30, 2007 9:32 PM