Number of closed South Australian schools and kindergartens rises to 350 amid asbestos contamination scare

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The number of South Australian schools and kindergartens with coloured sand linked to an asbestos contamination scare has risen to more than 350. Two schools remained closed today for deep cleaning, but authorities reiterate the health risk remains low.

Transcript

00:00School gates locked as the classroom clean-up continues.

00:06It's of a concern of course whenever the word asbestos is used,

00:10but my reassurance to parents is that it is low risk to the health of young people.

00:16More than 350 schools and kindergartens around the state

00:20are now part of a growing list reporting coloured sand products

00:24which were recalled last week after testing found traces of asbestos.

00:29Two Catholic schools remained closed on Tuesday as contractors deep cleaned.

00:34We're seeing high numbers of schools reporting that they have this product

00:38either sealed in most cases or loose in some cases.

00:42The Department for Education says it's already begun work to remove the products from its sites,

00:48140 of which have reported loose sand,

00:51but says there's no current plans for further closures.

00:54The Education Minister says it's no surprise the sand products

00:58were found in so many schools given they were cheap and readily available.

01:03It's raised questions about how the products were able to be imported in the first place.

01:07Consumer Group Choice says while Australia has mandatory safety standards for toys,

01:13stronger regulations are needed for some online retailers.

01:16Those on third party sellers could be small offshore businesses

01:20that don't really care too much about their reputation or compliance in Australia.

01:25I think at some point or another there will need to be some active lines of inquiry made at a federal level

01:31around how the sand was able to get into the nation in the first instance.

01:34Questions remaining as students wait to return to the playground.

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