If you're using Colour Forge's Moss Green or Atlantiko Blue basing sands in your miniature wargame projects, stop using them immediately. That's the latest advice from both the manufacturer and the UK government, as of Friday - because they've ordered a product recall on both sands on the basis they "may be contaminated with a small quantity of asbestos", a known carcinogen and health hazard.
Last Thursday, February 5, several UK hobby retailers' social media accounts shared a statement from Colour Forge notifying stockists that it was investigating possible manufacturing issues with the two basing sands, and they should be removed from shelves pending the results.
Then, on Friday February 6, the British government's Office for Product Safety and Standards published a recall on both products, saying they fall short of UK safety regulations, and noting that "asbestos is a banned substance because it poses a risk to health even at low levels of exposure".
Colour Forge's own recall notice, published on its website on Monday, confirms that "testing to date indicates that there is Trace Asbestos Detected in some samples tested". It adds that "out of an abundance of caution, we have also temporarily removed the remainder of our basing sand range from sale, through our website and retailers, whilst we carry out more extensive testing."
"We will, of course, provide further information on this and any further actions if they are required," the notice says.
When Wargamer asked Colour Forge for comment on how asbestos traces came to be in these sands, how much defective sand has been sold, and what actions it's taking to address the cause of the defect and ensure products' safety, Operations Manager Huwy Barber told us they couldn't give "definitive answers" on most fronts, because "investigations are currently underway".
However, Barber tells Wargamer: "we currently believe the affected batch dates from June 2024 and are working with relevant parties to establish this."
"We are constantly looking at our processes and procedures regarding all aspects of our business and due to the nature of this recall we will be using the findings of the current investigation to inform our decision making processes regarding supply chain and production going forwards," Barber adds.
Colour Forge's February 9 recall notice gives the following "disposal instructions" to anyone who's bought or used either of these basing sands:
- Stop using the product immediately.
- If the sand is still in its packaging, place it in a heavy-duty plastic bag, double-tape it securely, label it clearly and store it in a secure location out of the reach of children until you can dispose of it.
- If the sand has been used, clean-up sites where the product was used using wet cloths to avoid generating dust. Wear gloves and a mask.
- Double-bag the sand, gloves, mask, and cloths, label clearly and store them in a secure location out of reach of children until you can dispose of them.
- Keep children and other people away from areas where the sand has been used until the area has been cleaned.
Colour Forge gives users further guidance on what to do with models which you've already based with one or both of the defective basing sands: "If you have models based with these products, we advise you to avoid exposure to them," the notice tells hobbyists. "Keep them in a secure location out of the reach of children, and contact our customer support at [email protected]."
The firm says anyone who purchased either of these products should (after following the full safety advice above) return them to the store they bought them from for a full refund - or if that's not possible, dispose of them in their household trash and contact Colour Forge directly for the refund via their official email: [email protected].
It's not currently clear to what extent the sands still present a health risk after they have been fully glued to model bases. When Wargamer asked about this, Colour Forge's Huwy Barber said that "whilst we cannot answer that definitively owing to the evolving nature of the ongoing investigation, we would, as a precautionary measure, advise customers not to disturb models based in the affected products until the conclusion of our investigations are made available."
There's no indication that any other Colour Forge products contain asbestos or present any other specific health risk to users.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), asbestos is "well recognized as a health hazard and its use is now highly regulated by both OSHA and [the Environmental Protection Agency] EPA".
OSHA's website advises that "asbestos fibers associated with these health risks are too small to be seen with the naked eye", and warns that breathing in these fibers can lead to serious lung damage, including diseases and cancers of the lungs.
Public information from OSHA, the EPA, and the World Health Organization (WHO) focuses largely on the risk to industrial workers who face long term, repeated exposure to high levels of asbestos, especially in construction and shipping. However, the WHO air quality guidelines also make clear that "no safe level can be proposed for asbestos because a threshold is not known to exist".
All six types of asbestos were banned in the UK in 1999, and the last remaining types were finally banned in the USA in 2024. However, it's still widely mined and used elsewhere in the world. The video investigation above, published by German news network Deutsche Welle last March, valued the global asbestos industry at over $1 billion in 2023.
Colour Forge is an increasingly popular maker of spray paints, basing materials, and other miniature wargaming hobby kit based in Sheffield, UK.
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