Should you be
concerned when you see your child coloring with crayons? A new report says
yes. According to laboratory studies
conducted for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, three popular brands of coloring
crayons tested positive for asbestos. Of the 40 crayons tested from brands that
showed asbestos, 80 percent of them were above the detectable trace level. These
three brands are Crayola, Prang and Rose Art. They were tested in two
government-certified laboratories. Crayon
manufacturers responded that safety is their No. 1 priority and said they will
review the manufacturing process and materials
used. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
report says the asbestos may be a contaminant of the talc, a mineral used by
many companies to strengthen coloring agents and parafin, a waxy substance, used
in crayons. According to the newspaper,
Crayola, the world's largest manufacturer, had asbestos levels in its crayons
ranging from 0.05 percent in Carnation Pink to 2.86 percent in Orchid.
"We believe our products pose absolutely
no health risk," Tracey Muldoon Moran, a spokeswoman for Crayola, tells
OnHealth. "This is one report that flies in the face of years and years of other
reports that contradicts this." Muldoon Moran says the company is in contact
with federal agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission. She
also says Crayola is considering alternatives to talc. The company, she says,
has asked the newspaper for a copy of its lab report, but so far has been
denied. Prang's levels ranged from 0.3
percent in Periwinkle to 0.54 percent in a yellow crayon. And Rose Art showed
0.03 percent in a brown crayon and 1.20 percent in an orange crayon, according
to the newspaper. The CPSC says it is
currently discussing the problem with all crayon manufacturers to determine how
much asbestos is in the crayons and how much can be potentially ingested by
children. The newspaper tested a total of four domestic crayon brands and four
foreign brands. --ByKatrina Woznicki
