SACRAMENTO — California officials have authorized spending US$2.9 million to study the health effects of using recycled tyre pieces on artificial turf fields, hoping to put to rest a simmering debate over their safety.
But even as the health effects are studied, the state will dole out millions of dollars in subsidies to schools and cities so that they can install public playgrounds and fields using the materials in question.
“I think it’s irresponsible,” said Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, who authored legislation that would have stopped the grant program while the state conducted the study.
Hill’s bill was killed amid fierce lobbying from well-funded opponents in the tyre recycling industry as well as labor interests. The groups spent nearly US$300,000 for lobbying on Hill’s bill and other legislation during the first three months of the year, according to filings with the secretary of state.
“There have been enough questions raised about the health effects and cancer risk that we should err on the side of caution, especially when we are dealing with children,” Hill said.
ARTIFICIAL TURF
Crumb rub ber bounces from syn thetic turf as a soccer ball hits it. Critics say EPA played dual role in recycled tyre controversy Repurposing fills gap for nonrecyclable junk Gopher holes dot the landscape at the Beach Chalet Soccer Fields at the Western end of Golden Gate Park in 2012. The City of San Francisco has plans to redo the soccer fields with artificial turf and install lights to allow the fields to be used by more teams. Some neighbors are opposed to the idea. Time to bury the artificial debate over synthetic turf Brothers Dakota Yackel (left), 16 yrs. old, and Zack Yackel (right), 17 yrs. old, playing soccer on the artificial turf at Crocker Amazon park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, December 28, 2010. A recent state study found that synthetic fields are actually safer than grass. Artificial turf study: Abrasions only health risk
Arsenic, lead, cadmium
Recycled tyres are used on thousands of playgrounds and sports surfaces across the nation, refurbished into colorful landing mats beneath playground equipment or shredded into mulch to replace wood bark. Ground up further, the tiny tyre pieces are spread on artificial turf to give the surface traction and resiliency.
Environmental groups and health advocates say states and federal agencies promoted the so-called crumb rubber even though it has been shown to contain carcinogens and toxic substances such as arsenic, lead and cadmium.
They say existing health studies were limited in scope or industry-funded, while industry groups say the studies validate the safety of synthetic turf.
The calls for additional research grew late last year when University of Washington assistant soccer coach Amy Griffin compiled a list of cancer-stricken athletes who primarily played on artificial turf fields. Griffin’s list includes 153 athletes, 85 of whom were soccer goalies.
“Goalies are relied on to slide and dive,” said Delaney Frye, an 18-year-old Petaluma soccer player who is on Griffin’s list. Frye was diagnosed with thyroid cancer during her junior year of high school last year.
Frye said it’s common for goalies to accidentally ingest the small rubber pieces, which players sometimes call “turf bugs.”
“They would be in cleats, in my socks, in my hair and I’d spit them out in the middle of the game,” she said. “They were in my bed. They get tracked everywhere.”
Millions in subsidies
Frye is thankful California is moving forward with a study, but said she finds it hypocritical that the state is, at the same time, paying local governments subsidies to use the material.
This year alone, the state has awarded US$2.2 million for 29 projects that will use recycled tyre material, mostly to replace aging wood bark with rubber mulch on playgrounds. Fremont was recently awarded US$164,000 to help pay for rubberized surfaces at nine playgrounds and crumb rubber for two synthetic sports fields.
The annual grants are paid for out of the US$1.75 fee added to each new tyre purchased in the state.
Hill proposed legislation that called for the subsidies to stop while the state studied the health risks of recycled rubber. SB47 died in a Senate committee in May, despite many opponents saying they supported the crux of his bill, the study.
But opponents told lawmakers that stopping the grants was premature because studies have shown no health risks from the material.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted its own study in 2009 that did not find health risks, but the agency said no conclusions should be drawn from its study because it was limited in scope. Instead, the EPA said states and local agencies should conduct more research on crumb rubber.
SB48 initially called for a ban on new field installations and playgrounds using recycled tyres, but that language was later removed. Hill’s amended bill required the study, as well as for schools and local governments to consider alternative material to crumb rubber, such as coconut fibers or cork.
Opposition wins
It was the freeze on state subsidies that opponents seemed most concerned with during hearings in the state Capitol.
Terry Leveille, a lobbyist for crumb rubber manufacturer CRM Co. of Compton (Los Angeles County), said stopping the state subsidies would “be an indictment of crumb rubber” that could influence other states. The State Building and Construction Trades Council told lawmakers that ending the state subsidies would endanger jobs.
“When you look at the opposition and the money they spent in their lobbying against my bill, you can see they were concerned it would affect their industry,” Hill said.
Hill plans to revive SB47 in January. In the meantime, he said he’s glad to see the study move forward with many of the provisions he outlined in his bill.
Testing turf
CalRecycle, the state program that promotes reduction of waste, signed a contract June 30 with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to complete the study, which will be paid for through the same US$1.75 tyre recycling fee that funds the grant program.
The study will determine what chemicals are released from crumb rubber and whether they pose health risks. Unused crumb rubber and artificial grass blades as well as artificial turf fields of various ages and at different locations across the state will be tested. Researchers will consider the effect of ingesting and inhaling the material as well as skin exposure to it in children and adults. – San Francisco Chronicle