Jul 12, 2007
Town field officials:
No angst now over turf issues
|
by MAGGIE CALDWELL
mcaldwell@thereddingpilot.com
A new study exploring whether synthetic turf might pose health risks to humans may have some parents and anti-fields groups concerned, but local field officials say people shouldn’t be alarmist.
The Environment and Human Health Inc. (EHHI), a North Haven-based advocacy group, is concerned that the rubber pellets used as in-fill for synthetic turf fields releases chemical compounds which could potentially harm people, especially young children. A preliminary study conducted at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station shows that volatile organic compounds were released from a sample of rubber pellets. This out-gassing increased as the temperature was raised, the study says.
As many area communities and schools already have synthetic fields, or are in the process of installing them, the advocacy group worries that there hasn’t been enough testing to understand the potential dangers.
“I don’t think anybody thought about whether these fields are dangerous or not. That is the issue,” said Dr. David Brown, a former toxicologist with the state Department of Public Health and an adviser to EHHI, which paid for the Connecticut study. “That was really the question that we asked because... an evaluation of the fields hasn’t been done in detail.”
Little data
The problem, local field officials say, is that right now there are only questions. Little hard data is available suggesting that the rubber pellets, which are primarily made of ground up tires, might be dangerous.
“I did some research online and came up with nothing meaningful,” said Selectman Don Takacs, chairman of the Redding Athletic Fields Committee, at a meeting Tuesday night. “The statement about the dangers is based on supposition, not clear scientific facts.”
“It’s fair to say there hasn’t been any rigorous extensive research on this,” said Chris Hocker, a member of the committee.
“There is some indication in some places under some circumstances that there are cases where these materials may have exceeded somebody’s levels... For instance, in one Norwegian study, the gasses exceed Norwegian levels but not Canadian levels... Does that make it more dangerous to play sports in Norway? This is real fuzzy stuff,” he said.
The members of the committee began searching for information about health issues related to field turf after reading a News Times article about the EHHI study. Their comments Tuesday night were specifically in reaction to the story.
Benefits of turf
Though many neighboring towns have synthetic turf fields, Redding — which is suffering a field shortage — has none. The town is considering installing one synthetic turf field at John Read Middle School and the Region 9 school board is also looking at installing at least two at Joel Barlow High School.
Synthetic turf fields have become popular of late because of their durability, longevity, low cost of maintenance and increasingly safe conditions for athletes as compared to natural grass fields. Whereas grass fields get destroyed by over-use and poor weather conditions, synthetic turf can be used continuously, rain or shine.
Some argue that Redding’s athletes are at a disadvantage because, while other towns can keep their synthetic turf fields open virtually year-round, the town’s fields are closed unless the weather is cooperative.
Further investigation
EHHI, however, is now recommending that no additional synthetic fields be installed until the additional testing is completed.
“Synthetic fields are extremely expensive and can cost up to $750,000. Once these expensive fields are installed, towns and schools will probably not want to remove them no matter what is found,” said EHHI President Nancy Alderman in a press release.
The town’s field officials, however, do not want to unnecessarily stall forward momentum in addressing the field issue.
“Based on very preliminary research, I have seen nothing to demonstrate that synthetic turf fields are hazardous, whereas the benefits in terms of increased playing time, reduced maintenance costs, and avoiding fertilizers and pesticides are well established. At this point, I would have no concern about allowing kids of my own to play on synthetic fields,” said Mr. Hocker in an e-mail to The Pilot.
“The studies I have seen appear to be based on analysis of a small number of samples taken from existing synthetic turf fields. In some cases, there have been levels of one or two types of hazardous substances that were found to be above recommended levels. The results have varied, but so far I’ve seen nothing that shows a consistent pattern... There appear to be no studies that indicate whether or not the presence of these substances is an actual hazard to users. In other words, if a player steps on a synthetic surface that contains crumb rubber with a small quantity of a hazardous substance, is there any real danger? I don’t think anyone has answered that,” he said.
The Athletic Fields Committee and the town will “look into this question more closely and determine whether an actual hazard can reasonably be said to exist,” he added.
Art Poltrack, chair of the Region 9 Facilities and Fields Committee, agreed.
“The safety of our student athletes is first and foremost our number one priority, so we’ll do whatever the correct thing to do is with regard to the heating of the rubber issue,” he said. “Secondly, we’ll also do what is the most environmentally responsible thing to do with regard to the heating rubber issue. Obviously, we’ll monitor the issue and the concerns and the situation very closely prior to doing anything.”
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
|
