BULLISH ON ARTIFICIAL TURF
My View
By Darren Gill Director of Marketing, FieldTurf tarkett
The natural grass industry is big business, with over $40 billion in annual sales in the U.S. They have a very slick lobby group, specifically created to attack artificial turf which they recognize as a serious threat to their business. Their business, by the way, includes some 80 million pounds of herbicides and pesticides sold each year to grow and maintain natural grass in the U.S.

These are intentionally toxic and known carcinogens with dangerous health risks linked to central nervous system disorders, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, childhood leukemia, brain cancer and soft tissue sarcoma. Other childhood malignancies associated with pesticide exposures include neuroblastoma, Wilms tumor, Ewings sarcoma, non- Hodgkins lymphoma, and cancers of the brain, colorectum, and testes. Pesticide by-products were found in 93 percent of urine samples taken from children ages three to 13, and 99 percent of Seattle area children tested, ages two to five, had detectable levels of residues in their urine.

The U.S. Geological Survey found that 96 percent of all fish analyzed in major rivers and streams contained residues of one or more pesticides at detectable levels. Pesticides have been identified as a potential cause of amphibian declines and deformities and have been implicated as one of the reasons that wild and managed pollinators are disappearing at alarming rates. Studies of major rivers and streams have documented that one hundred percent of all surface water samples contained one or more pesticides at detectable levels.

Pesticides, especially herbicides, have contaminated drinking water throughout the country. Removing pesticides from contaminated water supplies is difficult, expensive, and not always successful. A California study found that among 600 water suppliers that have detected pesticides in their water sources, only 40 use treatment facilities that effectively reduce concentrations of pesticides.

We all need to know a lot more about the very 'un-natural' chemicals that are used to grow and maintain what is called 'natural' grass."

While the discussion on PAHs, heavy metals and any potential carcinogens must continue to be addressed on a regular and consistent basis, this article appears to be totally misguided in its reference to artificial turf.

Hundreds of studies have been completed to discover the truth about any potential risks of artificial turf. Government health ministries and environmental bodies around the world have commissioned extensive research.

So have world health organizations, leading universities and independent scientific committees. Elected officials have reacted to the concerns of their constituents by commissioning studies to get the facts.

But recent headlines reveal the tactics being used by some with a different agenda. They do not report the truth.

The research has been done. The studies exist. Get the facts and find out for yourself.

• Tests comparing samples of artificial turf infilled with rubber showed similar release rates to control samples without any infill material.

• Tests show no VOC in tire factories to be in excess of those found in the ambient air levels. There is clear scientific evidence that release of PAHs into the environment is negligible relative to other sources such as cooking, power generation, wood stoves or vehicular traffic. Neighborhood Sunday BBQs release more volatile compounds into the atmosphere than the local artificial turf fields.

• In the event of ingestion of crumb particles, although highly improbable, the particles do not present any toxicity, as the digestive system is not powerful enough to extract the chemical components from the rubber.

• Tire waste has no toxic influence on fauna and micro-aquatic organisms. Inhaling is practically negligible because crumb rubber does not give off volatile products. Direct contact with the skin does not present any real danger, even from the point of view of allergy. Biological tests have shown the absence of genotoxicity.

• Not a single injury has ever been reported as a result of inhalation, ingestion or direct contact with rubber particles in artificial turf. Yet each year over 750,000 Americans suffer injuries - including 82,000 brain injuries - playing recreational sports. A five-year study shows artificial turf reduced neural injuries by 55 percent and cranial / cervical injuries by 47 percent.

• Artificial turf represents .0000075 of the rubber worn off tires on our roads. If this is a concern, why are we not doing anything about the 99.9999925 part of the problem?

For a listing of the hundreds of studies carried out and a collection of the actual research and the factual conclusions, please feel free to visit www.fieldturf.com/sbrfacts

The results of a long-term study confirm that the rubber granules used in the construction of artificial turf fields pose absolutely no threat to the environment.

One must keep in mind that, to date, approximately 46 billion tires have been worn out on our roads. Approximately 160 million have been ground up for use as rubber pellets in some 4,000 fields - each of which would represent approximately .0000075 of any danger posed by the

use of such rubber. I