# Asbestos in Play Sand?



## MamaKalena (Jun 17, 2005)

So, we just picked up a great little sandbox at a garage sale, but now after doing a little research, we are concerned whether play sand sold at places like Home Depot and Toys R Us is safe. Apparently, it contains trace amounts of tremolite, a form of asbestos. http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/120/play

We found a store that sells non-toxic, white sand, but it's $20 for 25 lbs --







! I don't think 25 lbs. of sand goes very far.

Anyone know anything about this? Do you think a trace amount is truly not harmful to kids? DS is SO excited to try his new sandbox!


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## nighten (Oct 18, 2005)

I had no clue about that -- nor about wooden swing sets being potentially hazardous! Thanks for the link and hope someone can point you to a safe alternative for the sand.


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## UUMom (Nov 14, 2002)

What if you kept the sand damp? That way, there would be little to nothing to inhale. Wear a mask as you dump it in, and wet it down really well. I have no idea if this would help, but it's all I got.

I agree, 25 lbs of sand is absolutely nada to play with...


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## LynnS6 (Mar 30, 2005)

We got beach sand for our sandbox. OK, we live near the westcoast and it's pretty easy to do.

For our little turtle sandbox, I think we needed 150 lbs. of sand. For our big one, we got a "scoop" of sand (i.e. a front loader scoop full). Don't remember how many pounds, but it was a lot. 50 lbs. is very little.

For me the sensory benefits outweigh the potential risk. I don't see anywhere that tremolite or the silica is a new additive, just that it's now found to be potentially hazardous. But in what doses? How long an exposure? I'd need to know that before I'd not let my kids play in a sandbox.


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## emma_goldman (May 18, 2005)

pea gravel is the new, hip alternative to sand


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## titania8 (Feb 15, 2007)

yikes! my boys eat sand from their sand table!


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

I tend to obsess about stuff like this, but honestly, I don't think it's a big deal. I use regular play sand for my daughter's water and sand table.


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## SMR (Dec 21, 2004)

I just had this same dilema. After looking around a bit at the options it really just seems like the whole silica thing (which was my main concern when researching) is really only hazzardous if you are inhaling small particles all day for 30 years or so.. anyway, we got our sand - 300 lbs of it (so no 25lbs is NADA! haha) for about 40 bucks at Toys R Us.. it's more expensive there than home depot or Lowes... but the sand looked really nice, it's white beach looking sand! AND.. there is a label on it saying Asbestos free!! Yippee!! So, I'd check Toys r us out!


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## MamaKalena (Jun 17, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SMR* 
I just had this same dilema. After looking around a bit at the options it really just seems like the whole silica thing (which was my main concern when researching) is really only hazzardous if you are inhaling small particles all day for 30 years or so.. anyway, we got our sand - 300 lbs of it (so no 25lbs is NADA! haha) for about 40 bucks at Toys R Us.. it's more expensive there than home depot or Lowes... but the sand looked really nice, it's white beach looking sand! AND.. there is a label on it saying Asbestos free!! Yippee!! So, I'd check Toys r us out!

The super-expensive sand at Lakeshore Learning Center is silica free -- but dang, I'm not paying $200 for sand. The sandbox cost only $3!

Well, I'm sure you're right that silica is relatively harmless in this situation. We will probably go with the Toys R Us sand (thanks for the tip!) and dampen it to keep the dust down like another PP suggested. I love the pea gravel idea, too...maybe we'll try that next time.


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## MamaKalena (Jun 17, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LynnS6* 
We got beach sand for our sandbox. OK, we live near the westcoast and it's pretty easy to do.

For our little turtle sandbox, I think we needed 150 lbs. of sand. For our big one, we got a "scoop" of sand (i.e. a front loader scoop full). Don't remember how many pounds, but it was a lot. 50 lbs. is very little.

For me the sensory benefits outweigh the potential risk. I don't see anywhere that tremolite or the silica is a new additive, just that it's now found to be potentially hazardous. But in what doses? How long an exposure? I'd need to know that before I'd not let my kids play in a sandbox.

Beach sand? Now that's resourcefull (but is it legal?







)

Do you know if it's actually any cleaner/safer than the packaged sand? I couldn't find any info about that. We also have the turtle sandbox. It's good to know how much sand it takes -- thanks!


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## mommy2abigail (Aug 20, 2005)

Darn! We just got a sandbox this weekend! We have the turtle one too, it took 4 bags of 50 lbs of sand, so 200 ibs to fill it half way. At HD they are $2.50 a bag.


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## MamaKalena (Jun 17, 2005)

So we went to Toys R Us and picked up a few bags of sand -- they didn't have the white sand unfortunately and the bag did not say asbestos or silica free. But we gave what they had a try (Quickrete was the brand). It was dark gray, super fine, dirty and DUSTY.

We did dampen it, but we had to make it pretty wet to actually keep the dust down. We just aren't comfortable using it so I think we are going try pea gravel. I bet DS will like it just as much -- as long as he can scoop it into his dump truck.


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## riverscout (Dec 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MamaKalena* 
So we went to Toys R Us and picked up a few bags of sand -- they didn't have the white sand unfortunately and the bag did not say asbestos or silica free. But we gave what they had a try (Quickrete was the brand). It was dark gray, super fine, dirty and DUSTY.

That sounds really gross. Play sand should not be dirty or noticeably dusty. Was it labled "play sand?" It should have been if they were selling it to use in sand boxes. If you have the time you should call and speak with a manager and let them know what poor quality the sand is and maybe even ask for a refund.

I bought a couple bags of play sand at Toys R Us when I bought a sand table. The sand was very clean, light-colored, soft, and not visibly dusty. However, it wasn't Quickrete brand, it was from a local company. Maybe you could try checking out a local hardware store for a better quality play sand.


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## beebalmmama (Jul 21, 2005)

We bought a half yard at a local landscaping business. They told us the white sand has the silica in it and so we got the brown beach looking sand.


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## SMR (Dec 21, 2004)

I think all sand has silica.. since it's naturally occuring.. not 100% sure though.. i kind of slowed the reasearch when someone made the point that are you going to take your kid to the beach?? Of course! I wouldn't think twice about going to the beach with her - sooo we got sand with no concern!







the sand I got at toys r us didn't even have a brand listed.. just said playsand in a white bag... and asbestos free label.


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## Carma (Feb 10, 2006)

As far as I know silica is the main component of sand. Fine dust is always a hazard when you breath it often. For example they found that mummies had damage from sand in their loungs from being in sandstorms in the desert. Talc is also bad if you inhale it.
Asbestos is also naturally found in sand. Not sure what dose would be a problem. It is maybe best to buy sand without asbestos if possible.

Carma

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand


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## feest (May 25, 2007)

during the time of asbestos mining, pure asbestos was given away free for sandbox use....it was probably one of the sadest pictures i had ever seen, a huge pile of asbestose out side the mining office with a big sign stuck in the top of it "FREE PLAY SAND" and little kids at the bottom shoveling buckets of the terrible junk into their little red wagons to pull home...
i just take myslef to the beach with big buckets...then make a quick sifter with some cheap screen tacked to a wooden frame, sift it to make shure there is no nasty stuff in it and tah dah, good to go


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