Synthetic Turf Fields, Crumb Rubber, and Alleged Cancer Risk

Abstract

Most synthetic turf fields have crumb rubber interspersed among the simulated grass fibers to reduce athletic injuries by allowing users to turn and slide more readily as they play sports or exercise on the fields. Recently, the crumbs have been implicated in causing cancer in adolescents and young adults who use the fields, particularly lymphoma and primarily in soccer goalkeepers. This concern has led to the initiation of large-scale studies by local and federal governments that are expected to take years to complete. Meanwhile, should the existing synthetic turf fields with crumb rubber be avoided? What should parents, players, coaches, school administrators, and playground developers do? What should sports medicine specialists and other health professionals recommend? Use grass fields when weather and field conditions permit? Exercise indoors? Three basic premises regarding the nature of the reported cancers, the latency of exposure to environmental causes of cancer to the development of clinically detectable cancer, and the rarity of environmental causation of cancer in children, adolescents, and young adults suggest otherwise.

Artificial turf: The contributions and limits of toxicology in decision-making

“…The lifelong goalkeeper played several times a week, always as goalkeeper and always on artificial turf, from the age of 4 to 50, and ingested a small mouthful of crumb rubber in every session. expected in young people (Bleyer, 2017). An ecologic epidemicological study by the same author looking at the incidence of malignant lymphoma in relation to the density of synthetic turfs in 54 California counties found no relationship between individual exposures and cancer incidence (Bleyer and Keegan, 2018).…”

Use of Artificial Surfaces in Sports

“…Velikim problemom u istraživanjima koja su provedena u nekoliko studija pokazale su se granule, koje su bile toksične, u recikliranim gumama neodgovarajuće kvalitete (11)(12)(13)(14). Zanimanje javnosti pa tako i znanstvenu zajednicu potaklo je na istraživanja da se ova problematika ispita i analizira jer su primijećeni rizici oboljenja hematopoet-skog karcinoma kod mladih vratara (15). Logično je da su vratari imali najveći broj zabilježenih kožnih oboljenja ovoga tipa jer su zbog svoje pozicije u nogometu najčešće izloženi utjecaju podloge.…”

Quantification and Analysis of Micro-Level Activities Data from Children Aged 1–12 Years Old for Use in the Assessments of Exposure to Recycled Tire on Turf and Playgrounds

“…In addition, because of its cushioning characteristics, poured-in-place (PIP) rubber surface systems have been used more frequently worldwide in private and public playground mats over the last 10 years, replacing natural turf on playgrounds [3]. There have been increasing public health concerns raised about the safety of using recycled tire rubber (i.e., crumb rubber) as infill in synthetic turf and PIP rubber surfaces due to the potential human exposure to recycled-rubber-derived chemicals and associated negative health effects [4,5]. Previous studies have detected several potentially harmful chemicals in this recycled tire crumb rubber including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heavy metals such as lead and zinc [1,6].…”

“…Previous studies have detected several potentially harmful chemicals in this recycled tire crumb rubber including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heavy metals such as lead and zinc [1,6]. Previous artificial turf exposure studies have primarily focused on children playing sports, and data gaps exist regarding other related exposures such as among children watching sport events (i.e., child spectators or bystanders), children engaging in non-sporting activities on landscape synthetic grass, and PIP rubber surface playgrounds or rubber mulch nuggets made from recycled tires at playgrounds or homes [4,5].…”