With more and more playgrounds and fields using rubber, is this something that we should be concerned about? You'll notice in the story that the EPA [the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal (national) regulatory group]"told NBC News in a statement that 'more testing needs to be done,' the agency also said it considered artificial turf to be a 'state and local decision,' and would not be commissioning further research."
Is the EPA shirking its duty to the public if they're not conducting testing they believe is necessary? Is this truly just a state/local issue? Have you played on turf? If so, have you had experiences similar to those described by the athletes in the story?
(turf has also been in the news lately because FIFA is planning to use it for the Women's World Cup and female athletes have raised objections: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/female-soccer-players-file-discrimination-suit-over-womens-world-cup/)
-- Edited by MrsCavalluzzi on Friday 10th of October 2014 05:29:08 PM
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Lego, Cav (the Lego brand name was derived from the Danish expression "leg godt" - play well - and lego also translates in Latin as "I study" or "I put together"...really, one of the world's most perfect words!)
I don't think it truly is a state/local issues. If the government has insight on what is going on they have a obligation to have testing done.I have never played on turf but if it believed to cause cancer i wouldn't want this around my children if i had any.
I go on turf every day and have not experienced any of these symptoms. However, I still think it is important to conduct these test to ensure the public's safety.
I do believe that the EPA is shrinking its duty to protect the public since they aren't conducting testing that the public wants them to do. At the same time, i feel that the decision to use artificial grass is a state and local issue, but i believe that the gov't should take measures to intervene if the state/local decision becomes a nationwide issue. The use of artificial grass and turf has become very popular all over the U.S. and seems to be causing a lot of harm to the people who play on it for long periods of time (kids, athletes). The fact that the rubber in the turf is made of old tires, which are composed of a wide variety of chemicals/materials, is dangerous because the rubber crumbs get everywhere. Also, when temperatures rise, the gas emitted by the re-purposed tires are harmful when inhaled over a period of time. Personally, i don't like artificial grass because of the black crumbs that stick to me all the time. But to find out that it has (possibly) caused cancer? Considering that we live in California where there's hot weather almost year round, I think i'll continue to avoid artificial grass forever.
Being in band, I spend a large amount of time on the artificial turf. 2 hours every morning, monday night practice for 3&1/2 hours, saturday practices from 9-5, football games, and competitions. We try really hard not to fall, but sometimes accidents happen, we are still kids after all. But, we do put our instruments down on the side lines (laying in the turf) and I wouldn't be surprised if a mouth piece or two touched the ground a couple of times (yes and then put directly back to the face). So, I would hope that someone would go to the furthest length possible to insure that the fake grass were safe for kids.
I do think the EPA is sidelining its duty on this issue. If they think it is necessary, they should be investigating it! I don't think this is a state/local issue so much as it is a national issue. These fields are used all over the United States. I don't believe it is a coincidence that cases have popped up across the United States as well. The marching band, along with numerous other activities here at El Dorado, spend several hours on the turf field a week performing, exercising, and rehearsing. That is a lot of exposure to something we apparently know very little about. This article is very disturbing to me. I have personally not shared any of the experiences reported in the article. It was brought to our attention a few days ago by our Assistant Director, Phillip Inzerillo, that there had been multiple reports of football players experiencing health issues. Whether their health issues are serious and could have been caused by the turf are beyond me. It does raise the question of "Are these fields providing clean facilities for athletes and civilians to use?" Just my take on things.
I spend nearly every weekday for a good part of the year on turf. I'm not a big fan of it. Not because of the new cancer link under investigation though. That will need time to research. The little rubber "grains" or whatever you they are called get everywhere, and I mean everywhere. On top of that, the temperature on artificial fields on a hot day is literally up to 10 degrees hotter than off of it. That is why they have those sprinklers in turf fields. The argument that they save water is somewhat invalid in hotter climates like this because they need to water down the field to keep the rubber in the field and on our cleats from melting. When you slide on it, the resulting "turf burn" is a stinging, painful and bloody mess just waiting to get infected. Sure it looks nice and you don't have to worry about allergies to grass, but turf burn and impetigo (a fancy term for staff infection, the thing that a bunch of football players and cheerleaders just had) are much more painful than sniffles.
Plus there is that bit of traditionalist in me and many football players that love the smell of grass, the joy in getting muddy, and the fact that the oldest and most popular stadiums still have grass should mean something. The LA Colosseum, The Rose Bowl, The Big House in Michigan, Lambo Field, etc.
The costs for taking care of this would be astronomical and studying must first be done before any action, federal or state, is taken.
This is a national issue because artificial turf is being used everywhere around the country. Clearly the EPA did not do enough testing or possibly even think about what could happen to children in the long run knowing that the turf they're on, sometimes in really hot weather, is made from recycled tires that are disinfected, but with a variety of toxic chemicals.
Luckily, I have not had a lot of experience with artificial turf because the only physical activities I have done were in P.E, so I never suffered from any of the symptoms that the athletes in the article have. I remember the smell of it though and it's a smell you don't forget. I had no idea that artificial turf had all of these toxic chemicals in it, and after looking back at how hot it was when we did activities on it, I am kind of shocked. Maybe the smell makes sense now? The crumbs though do happen to be really annoying because they get everywhere.
I think the EPA is shrinking its duty if it is not conducting tests on the fields. Something could be in the turf that is causing young players to impacted with a deathly illness. Therefore, I think this should be a national concern, especially because it effects an extreme amount of children. I have been on turf before, but not enough that I would be at as high a risk as the goalies that were mentioned in the articles. Although I can testify that the black dots do get everywhere, despite the effort to keep them off of yourself.
I not sure how serious this is. I've never heard this symptoms coming from someone whose been on surf, nor do i know someone who knows someone who has. Id the solution is more natural grass, then i want to see ways to keep grass alive in places like California and Nevada. If the solution is no more turf, then were does the money come from to change surf fields in high schools, parks and club fields. This surf issue doesn't seem that important to even take any actions to improve it.
