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Connecticut schools will stop using an art clay that may have asbestos contamination from the talc added to lower the temperature at which it needs to be heated.

The state's health and education departments issued the directive, and in response one of the major suppliers of clay says it has changed the product it will ship to the state in the future.

Last week, the Art and Creative Materials Institute, an international association that is an authority on art and creative materials, asked its manufacturers to replace within six months Nytal 100 talc used in art and craft products, according to vice president Deborah Fanning.

She said the move was made more to quell consumer concerns than it was due to safety, and her agency did not ask that products be pulled from shelves.

Two Brookfield residents calling for this alert are pleased with the state's actions and hope more people will be aware of the risk of Nytal 100, described as asbestos or similar to asbestos, depending on which labs test it.

"If schools aren't buying this clay, this is great,'' said Kerry Swift, who worked with Kathy Rossland to urge Connecticut to take action. "It's not just schools that are buying it, though, other people and other states are buying it. The Connecticut departments of health and education are taking the lead on this, but the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has been totally remiss."

In the June 20 letter to superintendents, the two state departments wrote that although there has been a debate as to whether the talc material falls under the regulatory definition of asbestos, "there is enough uncertainty to warrant caution when using clays with added talc."

The state health department recommends that schools inventory their art clays and wet-wipe when cleaning art rooms or kilns where talc-added clays are used.

"We are recommending art clays that use talc, especially Nytal 100, shouldn't be bought for the foreseeable future," said Brian Toal, a supervising epidemiologist for the state health department.

The state considered a lot of research, including lab results from an art room in the Brookfield schools that had a positive asbestos test, Toal said.

In addition, he said, the state considered the result of a New Jersey court case that found Nytal 100 talc mined by the R.T. Vanderbilt Co. of New York was responsible for the asbestos-related cancer of a pottery shop owner who bought large bags of the talc for his clay.

"This seemed like the right thing to do," Toal said.

The Vanderbilt company has denied that talc is a problem.

Sheffield Pottery in Massachusetts, which provides thousands of pounds of art clay to schools in Connecticut, has changed its product in response to the alert.

"As soon as we got wind of this, we made the decision to make talc-free clay for Connecticut schools," owner John Cowen said.

Cowen's company will no longer purchase talc from Vanderbilt's New York mine but will buy from a Texas company. Cowen said although he thinks the material in the talc was misidentified as asbestos, it is similar to asbestos and could be a health hazard.

"There is stuff coming up all the time" about Nytal, Cowen said. "It's never going to go away. The best thing is to get rid of the material."

Rossland said the state's action to ban the product is important.

"To us, it's very exciting that they've done it. It's the start. We're concerned about other users of the clay and the whole nation. We're hoping the word gets out and that schools take it seriously."