What is a Magic Eraser and is it safe to use?

[DaveC426913]

I have heard rumours that, while these Magic Erasers (a white bar of foam like a chalkboard eraser) are truly magic at erasing almost any sort of blemish from hard surfaces - they are made of urea-foraldehyde, which, as an insulating material in houses, has been illegal for years.

Does anyone have any information on this? Are they carcinogenic in this form?

 

[Cyrus]

Don't worry about it, I am sure your eraser will be finished off long before it can give you cancer.

 

[DaveC426913]

Don't worry about it, I am sure your eraser will be finished off long before it can give you cancer.

Nono. They last forever. They don't wear down like rubber erasers.

Besides, these things are around children.

Rather than advice or reassurance, I'd prefer pointers to information so I can read up on it. Also means I can give references to others.

 

[Moonbear]

I had to look up what a magic eraser was. I never heard of it before. But here's what I found about what it's made of:
http://frugalliving.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=frugalliving&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunpowerusa.com%2Fmiclfaq.html

And I got to that site from this one:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/cleaning/a/magiceraser.htm

It's made of melamine foam. Depending on whether or not you trust the information at wikipedia, here's information from them about melamine and melamine foam.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine

Just to add to what I've gathered from those sites, it doesn't sound like it's carcinogenic. It sounds like it's been banned as an insulating material because it isn't any good as insulation, though it's good as soundproofing (that's the other major application of this foam I'm coming across on a google search).