The recall for the products, which were found to contain traces of asbestos in some samples, was issued by Kmart and Target on Saturday. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said the risk of the asbestos becoming airborne or fine enough for inhalation was “low”.

 Inspections of the schools are under way and could “take days”, ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry said in a post on Facebook. She added that air testing so far has come back “negative to airborne asbestos” at all schools. The new closures follow several full or partial shutdowns last Friday after warnings about asbestos risks in children’s sand sold by Officeworks. There have also been school closures in New Zealand due to concerns over similar sand products, with at least two more schools set to close for testing on Monday, according to the New Zealand Herald.

 Addressing the latest closures, Berry said: “Unfortunately, these sand products are even more widely used in our schools than the Officeworks products.” State Emergency Service volunteers and school staff have been walking through buildings and “mapping all coloured sand they see” over the weekend, she added. The ACT government said that people who have been in contact with the product do not require a clinical assessment. Berry emphasised that despite the minimal risk, the government is “required to eliminate risk as much as reasonably practicable”.

 Up to 23 schools will remain open as they either have “small stocks” of the sand or do not have any of the product. The products listed in the recall notice include the Active Sandtub 14-Piece Sand Castle Building Set, and Blue, Green and Pink Magic Sand.

 Asbestos—once widely used in building materials—can release toxic fibres into the air if disturbed or processed. These fibres can lodge in the lungs and, over decades, cause cancer. Importing or exporting asbestos or goods containing asbestos is prohibited under both Australian and New Zealand law. (BBC)