# safe sand for the sand box.



## BellaClaudia (Aug 1, 2008)

okay, so I did not even know there is an issue with sand and now
I see that we were using the carcinogenic sand... although it is from toysrus and it is lebeled as play sand. buffled.

people tell me not to worry as it is only harmful when breathing the fine dast from it as it is not really a sand but grainded quartz.









problem is my DD plays wild with it and there is sand allllll over hte place
and so does she breath it.

furthermore I found somwhere info that this sand is also pesticide treated and something else yacky.. and it might check as when my dd would add water to make mud each time she did it she would get rash allllll over the place, first thought.. coincidence, then it really worked like a clock, each time she was playing mud she had a rash. thank you very much.

so..

what do you do for sand?
I could drive 2 hours to the nearest beach but then again is it even legal?
to dig up 200 lbs of sand?

I could order online and pay 60 bucks per 50 lbs .. if only I had this amount of money...







:

so I am stucked... please tell me what do you do and how do you solve the issue?

P.S. some advised me to go to the constructions company and or home depot and alikes.. and FYI.. their sand is jsut as bad.. it is not sand at all, it is grainded quartz. or something equally bad. it looks great but that dust is jsut as bad in baby lungs. It is not a concern of kid eating it that much as it would get out of the systme fast eventually..
but the dust stays in lungs like you married it.


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## snoopy5386 (May 6, 2005)

sand is either crushed up rock (aka silica/quartz) or crushed up shells and coral (if you happen to live in the caribbean). The sand on the beach is still going to be mostly quartz. The safe sand you speak of online is made of crushed feldspar instead of crushed quartz. Feldspar still has silica as part of its composition. Chemically speaking quartz is Silicon Dioxide, Orthoclase Feldspar (a type of feldspar, there are several) is Potassium Aluminum Silicate. (Can you tell I have a background in geology?) I don't honestly know if crushed up feldspar is better for your lungs than crushed up quartz. I keep the sand moist so it isn't dusty, if it is dried out I spray it a few times with the hose, no biggie. The rash could just be from the abrasive nature of sand. Good luck!


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## LuxPerpetua (Dec 17, 2003)

We always just use the sand from Toys R Us but . . .

Another idea:

Our children's museum uses round birdseed instead of sand and kids love it. Just a thought


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## SweetPotato (Apr 29, 2006)

Another geologist here- really, try not to sweat it. What you think of as beach sand is just tiny pieces of quartz-- it's the most abundant mineral at the earth's surfce and we all evolved in the presence of lots of it! My understanding of the danger of silica inhalation is that it's dealing with the ultra-fine dust created in industrial environments- this is really completely different from child playing in sand. If you're very concerned, you can buy your sand (anywhere) and rinse it through a sieve towash off any very fine particles before putting the coarser stuff in your sand box. I buy "white play sand" from Menards for my dd's sand table-- it's very clean quartz (no other minerals, and a fairly uniform grain size)-- might be a little expensive for filling a lrge sandbox, but certinly less than any specialty "safe sand" that someone might try to swindle you into buying.


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## BekahMomToOliver (Oct 31, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SweetPotato* 
Another geologist here- really, try not to sweat it. What you think of as beach sand is just tiny pieces of quartz-- it's the most abundant mineral at the earth's surfce and we all evolved in the presence of lots of it! My understanding of the danger of silica inhalation is that it's dealing with the ultra-fine dust created in industrial environments- this is really completely different from child playing in sand. If you're very concerned, you can buy your sand (anywhere) and rinse it through a sieve towash off any very fine particles before putting the coarser stuff in your sand box. I buy "white play sand" from Menards for my dd's sand table-- it's very clean quartz (no other minerals, and a fairly uniform grain size)-- might be a little expensive for filling a lrge sandbox, but certinly less than any specialty "safe sand" that someone might try to swindle you into buying.

Thank you so much for this information!
We just today picked up 1/2 a pickup load of regular sand from our local quarry for DS's sandbox. It cost $14.00 total, too, and gave us way more than enough to fill the box.
My sister had mentioned the inhalation dangers, so I was a little worried. A quick google search showed lots of research, though, saying that it was more of an issue in industrial settings, like you said. I think what happens is that the fine dust particles act as irritants in the lungs, and with constant daily exposure (8 hours a day) the cells have to constantly multiply in order to repair the damage. The more they multiply, the greater the odds of a mutation occurring, which is where the cancer concern comes in. Apparently a similar risk is found in farmers who deal with alot of dusty hay, for example, and in a couple other occupations.
I think even if he's in there a couple of hours a day, the sand isn't being crushed finely enough to create much of this silica dust, if any. It's been rainy here for weeks, and the sand was thoroughly wet when we got it, so I think it's been rinsed (our stuff was from the top of the pile), but I'll keep an eye on it that it's not too dusty when dry. I feel pretty comfortable now, knowing all this.

Honestly, now I'm more worried about keeping the cats and raccoons out








Thanks again!


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