20/11/2025
There's a lot of talk about asbestos in play sand products - but very little about what to do from here if your child has been exposed (and let's face it, there's a reasonable risk here for many children across the country, and Australia, if this stuff can become friable or is friable... and that's looking to be the case for the craft sand, and has potential for the magic sand given how loose a product it is).
So let's say, hypothetically, that your child has been playing with the sand, and there does happen to be friable asbestos in it...
First, we need to understand the risks. Not everybody who is exposed to friable [respirable] asbestos will go on to develop asbestosis or mesothelioma. And if they do, the latency period between exposure and onset of symptoms can be a long while - sometimes many decades. They aren't going to get sick tomorrow.
My suggestions, with that in mind, would be the following:
🌿 Educate your children around the importance of keeping their lungs healthy. Not necessarily scaring them and saying they've been exposed to something toxic - we don't want to point the bone, so to speak, and instil fear - but just making sure they're aware, and understand the importance of taking care as they grow.
🌿 There is good evidence that ci******es and va**ng are an especially bad idea here. There is evidence that the risks are higher for people exposed to asbestos if they also smoke, particularly for a long length of time, and presumably this will be just as bad (if not worse) for those who v**e. So encouraging your kids to stay away from those would help lower their risk.
🌿 If you v**e or smoke, making sure you keep that well away from children, change clothing afterwards before hugging them, and never doing it in a closed environment like a house, shed, or car.
🌿 Likewise, supporting them towards careers and jobs where they aren't likely to be exposed to large amounts of airborne pollution might be a good idea, because this will also increase the risk of lung issues later on. Staying clear of heavily built-up industrial areas or motorways for homes, and ensuring PPE is used if around airborne chemicals, fumes and smog will keep lungs healthier in general.
🌿 Avoiding clay based cat litter if you have pets, as this can produce fine airborne crystalline silica dust that has also been linked to lung cancer and a condition called silicosis, which is very similar to asbestosis.
🌿 Silicosis is also a problem for people working with and cutting or drilling stone and clay, particularly those who work with manufactured stone (think bench top production and installation).
🌿 Ensuring you're careful when dealing with asbestos anywhere else, and making sure they understand the danger going forward into adulthood and potentially encountering it in the workplace. Repeat exposures increase the danger, so the safer you can be, the better. Check where asbestos may be present in your home and take precautions when doing renovations - think popcorn ceilings, old Lino flooring, cladding, roof tiles, some pipes, etc.
🌿 Be mindful of cleaning products in the house, as these can also harm lungs (particularly sprays used in closed environments). Avoiding 'air fresheners' and synthetic perfumes that add VOCs to the air is especially important for lung health.
🌿 Looking after immune health in general, and living a healthy lifestyle will help a lot. Fresh air, sunshine, exercise, clean water, healthy food rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants, and avoiding refined sugars and refined, toxic oils etc, to keep inflammation down and wellbeing up. Sulforaphane is of particular interest in preventing mesothelioma development.
🌿 Use herbs to support respiratory health, particularly during times of infection, to reduce further inflammation and damage to the lungs.
🌿 Finally, not stressing. You can't undo what's been done, and stress will also lower immunity - and kids are great at picking up on our stress as parents.
The risks do seem to be reasonably low here if you believe the official line for the magic sand, higher for the craft sand, but I also think it's wise to take precautions, as there is pretty good reason to be very concerned. As a parent, I certainly am.
If anybody has any other ideas to add, please do so in the comments below.
