Artifial Turf Hazard?
See:
http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070923/NEWS/709230459/1001 Turf-safety queries raised
Studies show hazards found
Home News Tribune Online 09/23/07
By RICK HARRISON
STAFF WRITER
rharrison@thnt.com
A running back takes the handoff, chugs through a hole toward a defending linebacker and slams on the breaks. Planting his left foot, the runner cuts right and spins, leaving nothing but what looks like a puff of black smoke where the hapless defender now stands.
But the puff is not black smoke. It's a spray of rubber crumbs created from chipped and pulverized recycled car tires and sneakers. Combined with sand, the rubber granules provide a spongy cushion that fills beneath and between individual plastic blades of fake grass to form the most popular innovation in synthetic sports fields.
As area high schools join colleges and professional football teams in a move away from less-durable natural grass fields, some questions remain concerning possible health and environmental risks that might lie beneath the cleats.
Studies have indicated that carcinogens and other hazardous substances can be found inside the rubber filler, raising questions about dangers to player health.
It's all about repetition and quantity. The amount of "rubber dust" that any one player may inhale in a play, a game, or a lifetime, is statistically insignificant. If you work in the factory where they grind up the tires, your length of exposure may be a cause for concern. But for kids playing a sport I think it's just another case of the media creating a false paranoia. Just my opinion.
