Asbestos in child’s toys

[wildflower93]

I suffer with OCD. On the whole it’s manageable, however with the recent recall affecting children’s sand-based toys for having traces of asbestos in, I have been unable to rest for weeks and weeks.

We had a leak, which led to a small hole and our artex ceilings were tested for asbestos. They came back negative but I’ve not been able to settle. I’m constantly on plagued by the thought of ‘what if the other end of the ceiling is’

Two of my son’s toys have tested positive for asbestos - the most recent being a Dino dig set. One of the eggs was stored in a drawer in a console table. The plastic came off and went everywhere - all over important documents such as passports.

i cleaned the drawer out with the hoover, spray and a cloth (prior to the recall) but I just want to get rid of the entire console and everything in it now because I am so unbelievably anxious. I’ve already got rid of lots of dolls, a flisat table and a tuff tray due to a previous recall.

i don’t know the point of this post entirely.

I am just convinced my son is going to become incredibly ill from all these exposures.

Am I being dramatic?
Will he be okay?

Have you got a mental health professional to talk to? Asking mumsnet for reassurance isn't going to help with your OCD symptoms.

It sounds like all your precautions make your house the least likely to have asbestos now! But it’s not really about whether there’s a genuine exposure or not, OCD isn’t ’reasonable’ like that. Are you currently having any support for the OCD symptoms?

I can’t comment on OCD as I’m not medical, but I do have 15 years in the asbestos industry, so here’s my two pence worth;

You said your ceiling was tested and came back negative. Provided this was sampled and tested by a UKAS accredited company, there’s no reason this should be wrong. There are sampling strategies dependant on ceiling size with regards to textured coating, down to the fact asbestos content of these materials is so low. Secondly, ‘artex’ would contain Chrysotile (white asbestos), which is way less of a risk than the types associated with all the horror stories you’ve probably found online. This curly fibre type does not penetrate lung tissue in the same way Amosite and Crocidolite (brown and blue) do. So combine that with the stupidly low (~0.5%) volume in Artex, and you are talking very low risk.

Your ceiling came back negative so all of that is irrelevant anyway.

With regards to the toys, I don’t know anything specifically about these Dino eggs but it’s certainly not something as an industry we’ve been called up to go to peoples houses and investigate or dispose of. It’s a shame you’ve chucked out solid plastic items, there’s no reason they would be contaminated.

To give you some perspective, people don’t get ill from very small and theoretical exposures. The human body can deal with that. Single exposures need to be off the scale in terms of airborne fibre level. If I run an air test, they are never fibre free. Ever. It doesn’t work like that. BUT those fibres aren’t necessarily asbestos, it’s just that the air on our planet is full of many things detectable by microscope that look fibre shaped, we just can’t distinguish them. There is a threshold used in the industry (<0.01f/ml of air sampled) which is considered a satisfactory level. It is repeated and prolonged exposure that makes people ill. Think trades people drilling through asbestos board day after day, year after year.

What I’m getting at is that the risk to your son’s health is unbelievably low. It is no different to any one else on any other day. The very fact it is legal to dismantle a cement garage roof and take it to the tip yourself, or pull down your own Artex ceilings and bag it up shows how well understood this risk is. There is years worth of data on asbestos now. It is very well recorded and studied. Unfortunately people don’t know this, google ‘asbestos’ and get wildly irrelevant information back which stokes the misunderstanding further. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard “but I googled it and people have died”. Yes, those people were spraying raw asbestos into ships in the 1960’s, not changing a light fitting in their downstairs toilet.

I hope this helps somewhat, but like others I think you need to speak with someone about your ocd as I can only provide you with some facts and industry perspective.

This is incredibly incredibly helpful.
Asbestos is not uncommon as an ocd trigger.
Op, please go and get medical help. Your brain is causing you absolute misery over this and I promise you, you can gain perspective over this.
It will all be OK x

out of interest those kits form amazon where you dig for gems, could they have asbestos?

i do! I am on medication and I have private therapy.

I think in terms of OCD, this is an incredibly grey area as it’s not an unfounded obsessive thought where I’m seeking reassurance. It’s the fact a actual threat has occurred. Many parents have experienced anxiety over the recalls so to have OCD during this I cannot contain the absolute mass spiral. That’s why it’s so tough for me at the moment. I was doing okay and at 3am last night got another notification of a recall, no one was up and Mumsnet I went 🫠😆

Hi,

i think the gem one has also been recalled. Not sure if the brand sorry!

The thing is that we are all exposed to asbestos. I get that it's an actual threat, but it's all about perspective. If asbestos caused death to everyone who had any exposure whatsoever, humankind would cease to exist.
We are all also exposed to carcinogenics in so many things that we willingly risk. The foods we choose to eat, for example. Our lifestyle choices that could result in illness and death.
Of course, obsessive thoughts like a ledge to perch on. Your brain has chosen asbestos at the moment. And, of course, when we feel our children are in danger, this is heightened. But remember this - your ocd has leapt on this and is causing a spiral. Your ocd has decided that because of the horror headlines of years ago ( we know how mass media likes to whip up a frenzy) this time your fear is justified.
Are you on any medication? Perhaps it's worth exploring the option. Sometimes brains send wonky messages and the signals its sending you need straightening out so you can rationalise things.

Apologies, I see you're on medication. Fluoxetine? Maybe it's worth asking about a dosage review?

It was interesting to read @SquashPenguin above. Thank you.

I hope that helps you a bit op. Take care x

It's good that you're on meds and getting therapy for the OCD. Hopefully they've given you tools so that you can manage these thoughts when they intrude. I can hear you using the rational reason to be concerned about asbestos, but it's all part of the OCD because it's nowhere near the threat level you've latched onto and as pp says, it's the OCD using the asbestos to get its hooks into you again. If it's any help asbestos-wise, as kids in the early 80s, we used to burn asbestos for fun! There was a bizarre amount of it lying around from old garages and local lads chucked it on bonfires. Absolutely clueless and not to be recommended ofc, but felt it's no bad thing to balance that level of risk with your unfounded fears for your child encountering some minute/phantom exposure. We're all fine btw, and your DC will be too. Focus on looking after yourself and silencing that OCD.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.

I am slightly in the unknown over asbestos as I did really well to refuse to give into the compulsion. I only learned what it was last year after my brother needing a survey on his ceilings when buying a house. We purchased ours five years ago and nothing was mentioned! This obviously resulted in mass panic and I had a company come and test my ceilings. Only two needed testing as he confirmed that two were ‘textured paint.’ I know he’s the expert but I am convinced the textured paint is asbestos and I know if I get a second opinion I’m giving in to the OCD as he’s a professional. And then when will it end? Will I want a sample taken from every single area? 5 different tests to confirm what I’ve already got in writing? But it sent me on a wild spiral that just could not be contained after my dad knocked down and replaced plasterboard (lath and plaster) on a wall the year before. We even replaced the carpet 😬

I got over it… was able to use the Hoover used to collect the plasterboard debris then I started to panic because I remembered my dad replastered one of the ‘textured paint’ ceilings after a leak four years ago.

In a nutshell this resulted in me
-Purchasing a new hoover as I’m unable to use my beloved Nuvac
-throwing away a lot of stuff I deem ‘unsafe’
-we had our roof replaced a few years ago and it left a layer of dust over everything in the attic and whilst they were not asbestos I’m convinced the attic is condemned and all the things in it that got the thin layer of dust

I’m just sick of my mind. I’ve calmed now. But I’m sickkkkk of my mind.

I will be okay. I’m doing all the right things (maybe not asking for reassurance on Mumsnet at 4am is my proudest moment 😆) but I just needed someone to speak to at that hour.

Thank you for your kindness 🩷

You are completely right. I appreciate both your honesty and kindness.

All my other OCD obsessions have been crazy and irrational. Theoretically, I know the risk for this is low but the fact that it DOES come with a health warning is something so new for me and something so foreign and petrifying. It’s not the obsessive checking for a ceiling collapsing or contamination of water from pipes that’s all completely unfounded. It’s ’he has had played with a material that is your very worst fear.’ My tools and strategies aren’t working with this cruel one 😆

I know I have to sit with it and let the thoughts come and go. But I also want to ring an asbestosis hotline for advice 😆 they’d laugh me off the line

It is actually a big help 😆 I’m trying to be kind to myself. It’s just so rubbish - trying to look for an alternative to the asbestos sand he’s being playing with for his messy play 😆

This is a phenomenal post, thank you so very much. I say as someone who also has contamination anxiety. ❤

I have someone coming out tomorrow as a fascia board has dropped with the wind and some grey-ish insulation is poking out. 3 professionals have said that it doesn’t look like asbestos but one said he’d have to test to make sure. Is this massively dangerous? I’ve shut all windows and I’m keeping doors closed until we’ve got the result. I’m absolutely petrified to say the least. I’d just become calm 🥲

No it's is not dangerous op. All lofts have insulation and it is made of fibreglass which is a totally different product. The problem is you keep asking trades if it is asbestos and they think 'uh oh, law suit alert' so then they say ' well I can't be sure without testing' even though they are likely pretty sure. You then spiral because you become convinced it is.

On a side note, you mention getting recall notifications, are you signed up to some sort of service? I would think that is just another massive trigger for your ocd and you might want to consider unsubscribing.

Thank you for this.

I get the notifications after I’ve purchased the items online. It started last year with a small toddler karaoke machine I purchased from Amazon that was recalled for lead. Since then it’s spiralled.

With the insulation, it’s the uncertainty that plagues me. The asbestos specialist who is coming tomorrow is testing some ceilings (textured paint) so I’m getting him to have a look at test it too. He said it is pointless but it’s my peace of mind. My brain convinces myself it 100% is until I have facts.

I feel this week I’m stuck in an endless OCD trap that I can’t get out of. I’m absolutely exhausted, I’m doing all the right things: medication, therapy, back and forth the doctors for reviews but ultimately it keeps coming back with a vengeance.

It’s ruining my life. I wish I had one of those machines you see in films that can wipe your brain of memories and I was ignorantly to every harmful thing in the world.

My partner nearly died in December and now here I am, up at 5am shaking because I’m convinced we are all in immediate danger and I need to protect my son at all costs. It’s typically manageable apart from the odd blip but since December I’ve lost the plot. In 14 years I’ve never had to take a single take for my mental health but I was off work for weeks.

My partner is the most chilled person you’ve ever met and isn’t worried at all, which is a saving grace.

It’s not unheard of for a tradesperson suggesting they will get something tested, to add a mark up to the price of getting that material tested. Make of that what you will…

Asbestos surveyors on the other hand, less likely. Surveyors don’t test every single material on a survey. There has to be reasonable grounds for it and that is what their training entails. Otherwise people would be forking out their life savings having wood, brick and brand new plasterboard tested. Asbestos insulation is incredibly unlikely in a house. Also, asbestos isn’t like gas, it doesn’t spontaneously disperse. I work with it every single day, but the biggest risk of my job? Driving! I do 40,000 miles a year, that is far and beyond any calculated risk posed to my health than the asbestos is.

Our houses are packed full of chemicals and substances that are hazardous to us, but its perspective. I appreciate it’s easy for me to say this, but knowing what I know, it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest if I had positive artex ceilings and floor tiles in every room of my house, a cement bath panel and a cement garage roof.

I think you may be the best person who has ever existed- thank you for being honest and rational. I’m slightly calmer now. I am still panicking that my son’s ceilings (suspected sandtex) haven’t been tested but they are getting tested tomorrow before they are boarded up and replastered. Is this what you’d suggest as the best step? I’ve had an expert out saying there is no need to have them tested as it’s clear they are not artex but my brain cannot process that.

He has been sleeping in my bed as the cracks in his ceilings are pretty bad. I haven’t even been putting clothes in his drawers. There’s also a small hole (these cracks happened when our loft was being boarded- so it’s literally just plaster and nothing structural- they haven’t got any worse in 5 years).

I’ve avoided getting them replastered for years due to my anxiety but now it’s time and has to be done for the buyers and I’m so anxious over it it’s actually so insane!

I don’t like to make educated guesses from photos because that would kind of go against what I’m paid to do for a living, but say those were textured coating ceilings with asbestos in- I would 100% let my 22mo daughter sleep in that room. Like I mentioned in my other post, it doesn’t spontaneously disperse, so there would be no reason to believe any fibre released is happening, and therefore no tangible risk posed to occupants of that room.

I really appreciate this.

They have been tested prior to having some areas cut out for re plastering.

in other news, more sand has been recalled that has been all over my sofa, his kallax drawers, all over his toys. I cleaned and wiped everything months ago after the first recall. Should that be enough?

I am convinced we are all about to be diagnosed with asbestos related diseases but the stress is more likely to kill me first. Trying to stay calm but had a panic attack yesterday. Forever mourning the person I was before OCD destroyed my mental health.

Again, 90% of the time I’m ok and this is through hard work, dedication, therapy and medication.

But when something triggers it that is out of my control, and something poses an actual risk (even if it’s small) I implode and no methods I’ve learned could ever work.

His was the kinetic sand. I await my recall notification. I have emailed Baker Ross who advised me back in January that all their sand had been tested and was negative. Cannot wait for Tuesday when they are open to give them a piece of my mind

@SquashPenguinhis ceilings tested negative.

His kinetic playsand from Baker Ross has tested 0.001% positive for asbestos. It has not officially been recalled but I only found out as I emailed them for clarification as all his usual sand had been taken down from the website.
They have been great- they tested their sand in November and it was negative and sent me their report. However more recently it tested positive. They’re refunding me. I feel bad for them because you never expect your product to have asbestos in!! This could mean ours was positive or it’s fine. I don’t think we can ever know.

Anyway, we had around 10 small bags of it and it’s been all over my house. In my carpets, in my toddler’s craft table, on my sofas. I’ve even just found a blob of it in my underwear drawer.

There is no way I can inspect every area to ensure it’s not there because it’s like glitter- everywhere!

Will we be okay? Do I need to throw everything away?