A study done at Yale University has found a combination of carcinogens, respiratory irritants, eye irritants and skin irritants in the rubber tire infill used in synthetic turf and rubber tire mulch surfacing in toddler playgrounds.
The study was performed on 96 separate chemicals found in the rubber tire infill and was performed at the request of Environment and Human Health Inc., an organization of physicians and public health professionals.
It is of interest to Ridgefield because the town has three artificial turf fields, two at Tiger Hollow and one at Scotts Ridge Middle School.
“Not surprisingly, the shredded tires contain a veritable witch’s brew of toxic substances. It seems irresponsible to market a hazardous waste as a consumer product,” said Gaboury Benoit, Ph.D., Yale professor of environmental chemistry and engineering and a lead investigator of the study.
The 96 chemicals were found in 14 samples analyzed. The shredded rubber tire playground mulch samples were provided by the manufacturers. The rubber tire infill for synthetic turf fields was obtained as new infill material from installers of synthetic turf fields.
The study did not analyze for the carbon black that makes up to 30% of each tire, nor did it test for heavy metals like zinc that are known to be in rubber tires. These additional substances add to the toxicity of the shredded rubber tires, said Nancy Alderman, president of Environment and Human Health Inc.
“This study should give pause to all those schools, towns, and government agencies that have told the public these fields are safe,” Alderman said. “Exposing toddlers, students and athletes to this many chemicals, many at the same time, seems like an incredibly irresponsible experiment in people’s health and needs to come to an abrupt end. There is no government agency collecting data of players who have contracted cancer after being exposed to synthetic turf. That cancer data is collected privately by Amy Griffin, associate head soccer coach at the University of Washington, using data from around the country. She found that of 153 cancer cases among former players, 124 were soccer players, and 85 of those soccer players were goalies, who get the most exposure to the turf. Six were field hockey or lacrosse players, 18 were football players, and five were baseball players.
Outgoing School Superintendent Deborah Low said she was not familiar with the Yale study and would have to look at it carefully. She said she could not respond until she’d had a chance to do so.
John Pavain, chairman of the Tiger Hollow Committee, could not be immediately reached for comment.
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