More than 70 schools in Australia's capital, Canberra, were ordered to close on Monday (11/17) due to growing concerns about possible asbestos contamination from decorative sand products.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government said 71 of 94 public schools in Canberra and surrounding suburbs would close on Monday after an audit found widespread use of sand products detected asbestos.
This comes after 24 ACT schools and preschools were fully or partially closed.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued a recall notice for a type of decorative colored sand after laboratory testing detected chrysotile asbestos.
the ACCC revealed that asbestos had been detected in four other sand products and said they could pose a risk to public health.
ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio that the health risk to students and staff was low, but the temporary closures could last for several days.
He added that school staff, building services officers, and volunteers spent the weekend identifying and mapping the sand products at the school so the assessment team could safely remove them.
The ACCC said on Sunday that respirable asbestos was not detected in any of the samples tested and was deemed impossible to remove unless the sand products were mechanically crushed or ground.