UL may be asking for trouble by throwing its doors open further to those who would like to replace it with government regulatory power. Several scientific tests performed on the crayons by independent laboratories had found them to be safe. Commissioner Mary Gall immediately issued a statement complaining about the role CPSC played in the reformulation request. The crayon problem began when the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published a story May 25 claiming that major brands of children's crayons contained asbestos. The article set off an almost hysterical reaction among government regulators and public health officials demanding action to address the alleged risk.
Asbestos is a known carcinogen.
The Seattle paper had been running a series of stories on the hazards of asbestos when some of its readers suggested testing crayons, because of their talc content. Stung by the newspaper's accusations, manufacturers responded by ordering their own lab tests. The RJ Lee Group, an EPA approved laboratory and testing body, conducted tests for the company which makes Crayola crayons. Crayola said its repeated attempts to obtain the details of the lab tests done for the Seattle newspaper were declined. That may be what happened in the case of the Seattle report.