Elle’s twins played with asbestos-contaminated coloured sand for a year. Why wasn’t she warned of its danger?

Elle Chrisp with her husband, Dave Dingwall, and their twins Reverie and Ruel. Photograph: Joe Harrison/The Guardian

When Elle Chrisp learned her twins were playing with coloured sand from Kmart that could be contaminated with asbestos, she thought she had the problem sorted.

“When the recall happened I read the notice, saw the words ‘low risk’, and followed the instructions to double-bag the sand so it was ready to be chucked out,” says from her home in Christchurch, New Zealand.