In South Australia, several schools have discovered sand contamination, prompting the closure of some classrooms for thorough cleaning. This comes amid nationwide warnings and product recalls that continue to affect parents across the country.

With the recall now extending to items sold at Kmart and Target, ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry announced that the majority of schools in the territory would remain closed today.

Yesterday evening, the government revealed it had begun auditing public schools for these products, resulting in 71 schools being closed, while only 23 will stay open.

This decision follows additional school closures that occurred on Friday.

Minister Berry acknowledged that the process involving asbestos contractors to “test, remediate, and clear the spaces for use again” could unfortunately take several days.

In South Australia, 130 schools were reported to have the sand but it was still sealed in 88 of the education facilities, meaning loose sand was found at 20 schools.

The SA government said some classrooms would be closed today for cleaning but a list was not freely available. Parents were urged to watch for communication from their schools.

No schools were listed as closed in NSW, Victoria or Queensland.

“The products may cause a risk to health as asbestos has been detected in some samples after laboratory testing,” ACCC Product Safety said.

“Importantly, respirable asbestos has not been detected in any of the tested samples.

“The release of respirable asbestos fibres is unlikely to occur in its current state, unless the sand is processed by mechanical means such as crushing or pulverising.

“The risk that any asbestos found, that is likely to be airborne or fine enough for inhalation, is low.”

Customers have been told to stop using the products immediately and safely dispose of them.

“Wear disposable gloves and a mask and either return in the original tub or place the sand in a heavy-duty plastic bag and double tape it securely and keep it out of reach of children,” the recall notice said.

“Do not dispose of the products in general waste.”