EPA

about the health and safety of children and student ath- letes who play on artificial turf’s crumb rubber isn’t going away—it is escalating instead. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which indicated in April 2015 that they no longer stood by the safety of crumb rubber used on artificial turf and playgrounds, also stated they are not investigating further because they don’t have the resources at the pres- ent time. When Gina McCarthy, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was asked by an NBC reporter about the issue as recently as October 2015, she responded, “I have nothing to say on that right now.” Responses such as “I have no comment,” “more research is needed,” or “no further research is planned,” have only served to feed the anxiety of concerned parents.

Amy Griffin, the soccer coach at the University of Wash- ington who made national news when she identified a trend in cancer among soccer players who play on artificial turf’s crumb rubber, has seen her list of young amateur athletes with cancer grow. In November 2015, ESPN’s E:60 reported that, what began as a list of 38 soccer players with cancer (reported in October 2014 on NBC Nightly News), has be- come an index of 187 athletes, including 150 soccer players, 95 of whom are goalies.

A representative of synthetic turf stated that such news is anecdotal and represents a very small sampling of the millions of people who played on or used synthetic turf. While that is true and studies have yet to be done that will definitively conclude whether synthetic turf is safe for athletic play, such comments are of little comfort to parents and others who expressed concern, and especially to young people, their parents, or those families who are dealing with health issues that may or may not be related to crumb rub- ber contact.

Major television networks and cable news outlets have touched on the issue. WJLA-TV ABC 7 in Washington, D.C. recently reported during one of their 7 On Your Side broadcasts that there are as many as 12,000 artificial turf fields across the country and asked the question—“Are these fields causing cancer?” They certainly aren’t alone in making such an inquiry.

As referenced earlier, ESPN’s E:60 airing of “The Turf War,” which featured former U.S. National Soccer Team midfielder Julie Foudy as she investigated the use of crumb rubber on synthetic turf fields by talking to those who make it, those who have studied it, those who play on it, including an exclusive interview with the EPA’s McCarthy, only added to the controversy.

As recently as October 23, 2015, the U.S. House of Rep- resentatives Committee on Energy and Commerce sent a

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letter to McCarthy addressing the growing sense of uneasi- ness regarding tire crumb rubber and the committee wanted some immediate answers.

McCarthy was advised to respond to a series of questions by the 6th of November. The following are but of a few of the questions submitted for a prompt response:

• Has the EPA conducted additional testing to fully assess the hazards and exposures associated with crumb rub- ber on artificial turf athletic fields?

• Is the EPA aware of other scientific studies on the haz- ards and/or exposures associated with crumb rubber on athletic fields?

• To the best of your knowledge, do chemical substances, or a chemical substance in crumb rubber present a hazard to human health? If so, has the EPA determined whether exposure to such a chemical from crumb rub- ber presents an unreasonable risk to human health?

• Do data indicate that risk is greater for female ath- letes than for male athletes; for soccer players than for lacrosse, field hockey, or football players; and for one position in soccer more than for others?

• To the best of your knowledge, is the incidence [of can- cer or other health issues] for persons who play on fields treated with crumb rubber higher than in the general population?

• Has the EPA identified a specific pathway of exposure to hazardous materials in crumb rubber, e.g., inhala- tion, ingestion, or skin absorption?

• Are you aware of any industry standards that set limits for exposure to crumb rubber based on potential health hazards? What analysis supports those standards?

UPDATE: On the requested due date of Friday, November 6, EPA spokesperson Liz Purchia told NBC News that the agency was still “in the process of responding” to the Energy Committee’s list of questions. As of this writing the EPA still had not responded.

State of California Funds Synthetic Turf

Research in Search of Answers In June of 2015, the state of California announced they had authorized spending $2.9 million to study the health effects of crumb rubber. California’s Office of Environmen- tal Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), under contract from CalRecycle, the California Department of Resources

TPI TURF NEWS • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016