LOS ANGELES – A California asbestos awareness group sued CBS Corp, a toy maker and several retailers on Friday, claiming they sold toy crime-scene kits based on the hit CBS series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation“ that contained the cancer-causing substance.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that laboratory tests revealed the fingerprint dusting powder in the kits contained “substantial quantities of tremolite asbestos … one of the most lethal forms of asbestos.”
A spokesman for CBS’ consumer products division declined to comment on specifics of the suit, but cited the findings of tests commissioned by Planet Toys and major retailers showing no asbestos hazard in the fingerprint kits.
“Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, three months ago we demanded that Planet Toys issue an immediate recall of the product,” he said, adding that CBS also had ended its licensing agreement with Planet Toys for the kits.
