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Tired of Tire Turf
Janelle Sorensen
Saturday, September 20, 2008
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Despite a quiet uproar over potential safety hazards, fake turf is quickly covering fields nationwide. According to The Synthetic Turf Council, a trade group representing manufacturers and installers, by the end of the year about 4,500 fields in North America will be made of fake grass, up from about 3,500 a year ago.
In addition, grants are being given out hand over fist for schools and playgrounds to use recycled tires for playground surfaces through programs like the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Scrap Tire Playground Surfacing Material Grant and the Iowa Scrap Tire Program.
After public outcries over lead levels and other potential heavy metals and chemicals in synthetic turf and playground fill, both federal and state health agencies have been examining the issue for months. Most of the studies are still arguably limited, focusing mostly on lead. And there’s no consensus.
- The Consumer Product Safety Commission released a report saying they were confident that lead levels are safe and synthetic turf poses no risks, but Congress quickly challenged the report for its flawed methodologies.
- The US Centers for Disease Control says the lead levels are safe, but precautions should still be taken (like vigorous washing after playing on fields and turning clothing inside out and washing it separately), but many question how something can be deemed “safe” if people still need to take these strong precautions.
- The New York State Health Department recently released its report finding, among other things, that on a 98 degree sunny day the turf heated up to 178 degrees within a half hour. Watering the surface helped cool it down, but only temporarily. They also found that based on available evidence, chemicals in crumb rubber pose no threat, but the argument from the public continues to be that there simply isn’t enough available evidence to make an informed decision. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation is still looking into it.
- New Jersey is following suit with the CDC and claiming everything’s okay, but children should shower and wash thoroughly after playing on artificial turf fields and clothes that were worn on the field should be taken off inside out and washed separately.
- Three state agencies in Connecticut are studying fields to assess safety and the State Attorney General is pressing for the CPSC to do further research.
- In California, synthetic turf manufacturers and retailers are being sued due to their lack of disclosure about the presence of lead in their products.
I understand the savings is enormous over time costing about half as much each year for maintenance. I also understand the durability factor making synthetic fields more usable than their natural counterparts. I don’t understand why it’s asking so much to use safer materials to create synthetic turf or fill in playgrounds if grass or other natural materials are not a viable option. Why use lead to color the grass? Why use old tires as fill where children play? European companies are coming up with alternatives like cork underlay or a product that is a mix of artificial grass and natural grass and does not need rubber. Due to REACH, car manufacturers have even begun designing less toxic tires, so reusing them for playgrounds won’t be an issue in the future. Why can’t we design non-toxic tires?
I’m getting tired of the tire turf battle. What do you think the solution is?
