Federal agencies study crumb rubber in turf |
On Board Online • June 13, 2016
By Cathy Woodruff
Senior Writer
Whenever students are playing soccer or football or almost any outdoor sport in New York these days, the chances are good that they are running, kicking and tackling on a field of artificial turf containing recycled crumb rubber.
The tiny bits of rubber, which often saw action in a prior life as part of a tire, are among the most popular turf ingredients for schools, colleges and professional sports teams throughout the country seeking a durable alternative to grass for their athletic fields.
"I would say a majority of schools that have artificial turf probably do have crumb rubber in them," said Todd Nelson, assistant director of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA).
"They're everywhere," agreed Keith Watkins, facilities director for the Phoenix school district and a past president of the New York State School Facilities Association.
Multiple studies in recent years have offered school officials reassurance regarding the safety of crumb rubber infill, and no definitive studies have linked turf with health problems. But some members of Congress have questioned the safety of the material, prompting a new federal study.
In January, two Democrats on the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Bill Nelson of Florida, asked the Obama administration to investigate the safety of recycled tire rubber, which can contain a variety of chemicals. They cited an apparent high rate of cancer among former soccer players, particularly goalies, reported by coach Amy Griffin of the University of Washington. Griffin's concerns were brought to wide attention through a report by NBC News.
In response, three federal agencies are conducting an expedited round of additional research and scientific analysis. The $2 million project involves a technical team of nearly 50 employees from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Consumer Product Safety Commission. The study began in February, and findings are expected by December.
The inquiry aims to "provide a better understanding of potential exposures that athletes, children and others may experience by using these fields," Laura Allen, a deputy press secretary with the EPA, said in an email to On Board.
"Limited studies have not shown an elevated health risk from playing on fields with tire crumb, but the existing studies do not comprehensively evaluate the concerns about health risks from exposure to tire crumb," according to an EPA website ( www.epa.gov/tirecrumb ).
Officials in some school districts in New York State are either avoiding using crumb rubber in new projects or delaying making a decision on infill material until the federal study is complete.
The Williamsville school board in Erie County voted in January to use a so-called "virgin rubber" - Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer or EPDM- rather than crumb rubber in an athletic field improvement project.
The Jordan-Elbridge school district in Onondaga County is taking a wait-and-see approach. Voters there approved a turf field project just days before the new federal study was announced in February.
"We didn't make any definitive decision whether we are going to use crumb rubber or some other type of infill," said Superintendent James Froio said. "We are just in kind-of-a holding pattern, and we feel fortunate that we have not committed to anything yet."
"We are very happy here that the federal government is getting involved in this," said Auburn Superintendent Jeff Pirozzola. The district, located in the Finger Lakes region, has voter approval for a $2.8 million building including an artificial turf field. "If the federal government came out and said there was a concern, we would have to look for a different kind of infill."
Pirozzola said it's likely that concerns about crumb rubber prompted some "no" votes in January referendum. Nevertheless, he said the district's research suggests crumb rubber is a safe material for shock-absorbing, durable turf.
"We are the last school district in our league to go with artificial turf," Pirozzola said. "We researched this for about a year and a half, and we found that crumb rubber is the only type of infill that's been tested over and over and over again and come back as safe. We really did a lot of homework."
The EPA's Allen told On Board that agency officials hope the information being gathered this year "will help answer some of the key questions that have been raised and reduce some of the uncertainty that has been raised about tire crumb use in artificial turf fields."
But the timeframe for the work is "ambitious," she added, and "depending on the findings, available resources and other considerations, additional research beyond the first year may be conducted."
Districts that have installed turf with crumb rubber say the field are durable and require less maintenance than regular grass fields.
In Broome County, the Johnson City school district's artificial turf field has an infill mix of crumb rubber and sand, and "one of the benefits of that surface is that it will stand up to multiple uses," said Eric Race, assistant superintendent for administration. "We use it for everything."
Only the number of hours in the day limits the district's ability to use the artificial turf, while the district could get about 10 hours of use each week, at most, from a regular grass field, Race said. Instead of mowing, seeding, grooming and alleviating mud problems, the district grooms the turf about once every three months with a machine that loosens the infill and evens it out in areas of heavy wear.
"The (artificial) turf is always cleared and ready for play long before any natural grass fields" in the spring, with earlier snow melt and efficient drainage, said Watkins, the Phoenix district facilities director.
Still, as the father of soccer players and as a school official, Watkins said he's glad the federal government is taking a deeper look at turf safety.
"We are talking about the health and wellbeing of student athletes," he said. "We all want to ensure the safety of these fields, because these fields are being installed everywhere."