Parents take Kmart to Disputes Tribunal over play sand containing asbestos

Parents whose children played with asbestos contaminated sand are taking Kmart to the Disputes Tribunal and encouraging others to do the same.

In November 2025, Kmart issued a recall notice for some coloured play sand products.

Families, early childhood centres and schools responded by throwing away toys, ripping up carpet and testing homes and classrooms.

Christchurch parents Elle Chrisp and David Dingwall are now taking Kmart to the Disputes Tribunal in an effort to reclaim costs they incurred having their sand tested, and the subsequent checks and decontamination inside and outside their home that had to be undertaken by asbestos experts.

They have also formally laid complaints with the regulators involved - Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, Worksafe, Customs and the Commerce Commission, outlining a number of potential breaches of law that have occurred, changes that could be made, and urging them to take action.

In particular to do with claims, Kmart played down the health risks to consumers in its product recall notice, and has misled people over their rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act.

The pair say Kmart played down the health risks posed to consumers by saying in the product recall notice that respirable asbestos had not been detected in any of the tested samples, and that the release of respirable asbestos fibres was unlikely to occur in its current state, unless the sand was 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."

However, this was contradicted by advice provided by WorkSafe, where it said tremolite asbestos was easily crumbled, or "friable".

Chrisp and Dingwall also say Kmart's refusal to compensate customers for the costs of cleaning their homes that were contaminated breaches the Consumer Guarantees Act, and is similar to Jetstar's recent prosecution for misleading customers over their entitlements.

Statements in response

In a statement provided to Nine to Noon, a Kmart spokesperson said that several experts have made public comments regarding the low risk, and that as this matter is now subject to legal proceedings, it would not be appropriate to comment further.

"Since late 2025, we and other brands have conducted voluntary product recalls in response to an industry-wide issue impacting sand-based toy products, following the detection of tremolite asbestos in products across the industry.

"Several experts have made public comments regarding the low risk. It is important to note that Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora published advice that urgent medical attention is not required and provided practical advice for household cleaning and disposal of recalled products."

Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment product safety spokesperson Ian Caplin confirmed it had received the complaint from Dingwall and Chrisp on 23 April 2026.

"As part of the recall process, businesses must notify MBIE of any recalls within two days of the business undertaking one, which is to be then published on the Product Safety website. Throughout the sand recalls, this has occurred.

"However, we appreciate that there may have been some confusion on these notices and we are evaluating how we can better clarify that the information in these notices are from the business and not direct advice from MBIE."

MBIE will consider all the findings in the complaint and will continue working with the other agencies involved to address the issues raised, he said.

Commerce Commission head of fair trading and product safety investigations Simon Pope said it would asses the conduct raised but could not investigate every concern.

"We consider our Enforcement Priorities and Enforcement Criteria when discussing whether to start an investigation."

WorkSafe also acknowledged the complaint and said it was being assessed.

"All businesses involved, including Kmart, have been advised that these products must be treated as friable asbestos containing material and a Class A response is required. This information is publicly available on our website: Asbestos in coloured sand."

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