Asbestos found in Crayons

Perspective of a H&S professional.  Below is a minimally edited version of a message which was emailed to the staff of the employer for whom this H&S professional works.

        There's been a lot of talk about a recent evening news story that asbestos has been found in several brands of crayons.  While I did not see and cannot find a copy on the Internet of this story, I wanted to offer the following information about asbestos for those of you who may be concerned. First, let me say that we have a 1-1/2 year-old daughter who loves her crayons, and mouths them whenever she thinks we aren't looking.  She's even eaten the ends of a few.  And we have no intention of taking her crayons away. Why not?  It's true that asbestos is a human carcinogen.  But the only confirmed way asbestos causes cancer in humans is via inhalation of fibers in friable (=crumbles at the touch of your hand) asbestos-containing products.  Since crayons are not friable, there is no need to worry about inhalation of the fibers. Studies have not shown conclusively that asbestos causes stomach or other gastrointestinal cancers.  There have been studies that found gastrointestinal cancers to occur more frequently in people who are occupationally exposed to certain kinds of asbestos.  But there have been studies showing the opposite as well.*  And the key word is "occupationally exposed."  That means being exposed virtually every day at work, such as asbestos miners, people who work on brakes and clutches, and insulation installers.  Chances are they inhaled airborne fibers and swallowed them.  In addition, one kind of asbestos called chrysotile asbestos (and I don't know what kind(s) of asbestos were found in crayons) was found to cause a "statistically significant" increase of cancer in rats when added to their diet.*  

        There again, though, the amount of asbestos ingested would have been quite high, as studies typically try to examine a worst-case scenario.  It's hard to imagine a child being exposed to that much asbestos from eating a few crayons.One place you SHOULD be concerned about asbestos is baby or other body powders made from TALC (or "talcum").  I was surprised that old-fashioned talcum powder is still on the market, but it is.  Because of the way it is mined, talcum cannot help but sometimes contain some asbestos; and of course it's a dust when you are using it, so it is easily inhaled.  Prolonged or repeated exposure to talcum can produce a form of pulmonary fibrosis (stiffening of the lung tissue) that may be caused by the talcum itself, or by the asbestos in the talcum powder.**  Corn starch powders are considered safe, and they smell and feel the same as talc.  You can look on the back of the package to make sure that the main ingredient is corn starch.*Source: Seventh Annual Report on Carcinogens, 1994, Volume I. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, WAshington DC.

**Source: Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials, 6th Ed., N. Irving Sax.