It would be best to sift the sand.The things that would remain otherwise shouldn't be put in the hamster's cage,and even though it takes extra effort it is much better to put more time and energy into something initially rather than to take a huge risk and compromise any form of safety especially at the risk of expensive vet bills.
A pasta sifter/strainer is perfect as mentioned!You just need something with a very fine mesh much like the pasta ones,it doesn't have to be anything expensive
