Protecting Californians from deadly sand!

While setting up my umpteenth aquarium (yes, I have too many fish), I noticed an odd thing. I needed to buy sand for the substrate, and the consensus is that the best deal for the buck is pool filter sand. This is a high quality sand that does not need to be washed repeatedly as does regular construction grade sand. It is clean and pure, and said to be ready for aquarium use right out of the bag. (Just to be on the safe side fish-wise, I washed it anyway.)

Here’s the odd thing. My nice pure sand is illegal to sell in California. I kid you not; here’s the bag:

Huh?

Pure sand can’t be sold in California? What could be up with that? I mean, I realize California is run by insane bureaucrats, but let’s be logical here. Their beaches are covered with sand — all up and down the coast. Are they afraid of having too much sand? No, that can’t be it, because various California laws criminalize removing sand, and in the case of Santa Monica, actually make sand castles illegal.

Yet still. Why would pure sand be against the law to sell in California? I have to know, so I looked and looked. Finally, some Amazon comments about children’s play sand which is said to be “unsafe” clued me in on what the problem was.

Only California requires labels for products with potential carcinogens. If the Toys ‘R’ Us sand was not intended for sale in California it doesn’t need to be labeled.

It’s a safer bet to see what kind of sand it is. Silicates are harmful, carbonates are not. Well over 90% of all sand sold is silicate.

[…]

A large percentage of the time, plain old beach sand is a silicate. Unless the beach has large reefs or oyster shells nearby to add a calcium carbonate content, it is hazardous for long-term exposure. Silicosis is prevalent among people working with sand.

http://www.uic.edu/sph/glakes/harts1/HARTS_library/silica.txt

[…]

PF is right on the money. If California beaches were commercially marketed they would all carry the cancer warnings.

I would still let my kids play in it. it is more or less the same sand we all played in. Last time I read a label on a “playsand” bag it said it was sterilized, but it did not say anything about pesticides.

I would be more concerned about putting talcum powder on my newborn than letting my kids occasionally play in sand.

[…]

go to the safesand.com website. It describes in details what kind of sand you can get…Toysrus used to carry it, however, it appears that they may not be stocking it this year.

[…]

I was in So Cal a couple of weeks ago and the ELEVATOR had the California Prop 65/cancer-causing message posted. Everything causes cancer in California, I guess. But really, even if the cheap sand is dusty, the first rain will get rid of that. I think maybe we’re (and I’m not pointing fingers at anyone in particular) a little paranoid?

Well, that’s putting it mildly. The problem is obviously that the product can’t be sold in California because the company that makes it has not warned people that it can potentially cause cancer (like everything else).

I used to play with sand as a kid. I guess that, too will be a thing of the past.

Next, close all beaches!

I never stop wondering why people put up with such tyranny, and I am unable to come up with an explanation. Given a chance, they won’t even vote against it.


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2 responses to “Protecting Californians from deadly sand!”

  1. Simon Avatar
    Simon

    Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin

  2. Neil Avatar
    Neil

    People used to sacrifice animals to make sure that winter was followed by summer, too. It’s the religious impulse–we don’t understand cancer, so we act on ridiculous correlations. Just like when there was an early summer that one time that one guy killed that animal at that one sacred rock…