U.S. Investigates Whether Crayons Contain Asbestos

WASHINGTON — A U.S. consumer watchdog body on Wednesday said it was investigating whether popular crayons used by generations of children worldwide contained cancer-causing asbestos.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, while urging parents not to panic, said a Seattle newspaper had conducted its own tests on crayons and found they contained asbestos.

“The newspaper brought this to our attention, and we are investigating the matter. No consumer products should have asbestos in them,” commission spokesman Ken Giles said.

Crayons are typically certified as “nontoxic” by the Art and Creative Materials Institute, a trade association based in Massachusetts.

“We don’t allow anything in art material for children that can cause a hazard. We are confident that the report used by the Seattle reporter is inaccurate,” said Debbie Fanning, executive vice president of the institute.

Giles said the safety commission did not plan to advise parents to take away crayons from their children during the investigation. “If parents choose to put away crayons while we are doing our investigation that is their choice, but the facts are not in yet,” Giles said.

He said the agency began its investigation this week, adding he could not provide details about which companies’ products were being checked or when the testing would be completed.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that Crayola, Prang and Rose Art brand crayons contain talc, which often has asbestos as a natural contaminant.

Crayola said an independent government-certified lab came back with results late Tuesday that found no asbestos in its crayons. No more details were released about those results.

The paper said the safety commission tests would take several days and would be done in two government-certified laboratories.