Based in Redondo Beach, California, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is an all volunteer, private donation funded organization that promotes public awareness about the dangers of exposure to asbestos in the home, the workplace, and anywhere else the extremely hazardous, cancer causing material may exist.
In addition to its campaign to heighten consumer awareness of the dangers of asbestos in children's toys and other American marketed products, the ADAO regularly sponsors independent laboratory inspections of merchandise that is suspected of being contaminated with asbestos in one form or another.
In 2007, the ADAO identified several popular toys that contained potentially harmful levels of asbestos. The toys were located on the shelves of thousands of toy stores and general merchandise retailers in all regions of the country. The most notable and popular asbestos contaminated toy is the CBS licensed, "CSI Crime Scene Investigation Fingerprint Examination Kit".
Scientists discovered that the white and glow dusting product in the CSI kit contained tremolite asbestos, a particularly hazardous form of the material. The toy, as with so many other products that have been proven to contain health hazards, is manufactured in China where product safety standards in general are often suspect. "It is simply unacceptable to have asbestos in toys," stated Linda Reinstein, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the ADAO, who further noted that deadly asbestos exposures are irreversible. "Prevention is the only cure".
Public Justice, a national public interest law firm that utilizes attorney skills to advance the public good, also became involved in the CSI Fingerprint Kit issue. Arthur Bryant, Executive Director of Public Justice, sent a letter to CBS, Planet Toys of New York City, the toy's distributor, and to individual retailers, all of whom were urged to schedule an immediate meeting between all parties involved in order to come to a swift resolution of the problem.
While the toy's production has ceased, Public Justice noted that the fingerprint kit is still widely available, and in his communication to those responsible for toy's distribution and sale, Mr. Bryant suggests the very real possibility of legal action designed to affect a wholesale recall of the item, as well as to put in place strictly controlled measures to safely dispose of the toy's asbestos contaminated powders.
"Potentially millions of households, and especially children, have been exposed to the fingerprint powder," Bryant states in his letter. "And because the product is already in powder form-and intended to be blown or dusted away by children searching for fingerprints-any asbestos contaminant is almost certain to be inhaled and widely disseminated." It's difficult to imagine a more insidious form of asbestos contamination in a product marketed to children, all of whom can be far more susceptible than adults to health threats in general.
The ADAO tests thousands of toys and other products annually, and in addition to the CSI Fingerprint Kit discoveries, the California organization identified trace amounts of asbestos in Ja-Ru Toy Clay and Art Skills' Clay Bucket . Not just in toys, the ADAO also warned parents of the potential hazards of talc-based baby powders, as well as other common household products.
Asbestos contamination was discovered by the ADAO in: Scotch High Performance and All Weather Duct Tape; Gardner Leak Stopper; DAP Crack Shot Spackling Paste, and DAP 33 Window Glazing. Additionally, asbestos contamination has been detected in small appliances such as hot plates, certain cleaning powders, and hair rollers-all of these items sold by major retailers across the country.
The ADAO, Public Justice, and other organizations strongly suggest that consumers guard themselves vigilantly against any exposure to asbestos, and if exposure is suspected, individuals should seek prompt medical attention while investigating all avenues of possible litigation to help recover damages in whatever form possible.
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