WASHINGTON, D.C. – THE U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION (CPSC) STAFF TODAY RELEASED ITS EVALUATION (PDF) OF VARIOUS SYNTHETIC ATHLETIC FIELDS. THE EVALUATION CONCLUDES THAT YOUNG CHILDREN ARE NOT AT RISK FROM EXPOSURE TO LEAD IN THESE FIELDS.
CPSC STAFF EVALUATION SHOWED THAT NEWER FIELDS HAD NO LEAD OR GENERALLY HAD THE LOWEST LEAD LEVELS. ALTHOUGH SMALL AMOUNTS OF LEAD WERE DETECTED ON THE SURFACE OF SOME OLDER FIELDS, NONE OF THESE TESTED FIELDS RELEASED AMOUNTS OF LEAD THAT WOULD BE HARMFUL TO CHILDREN.
LEAD IS PRESENT IN THE PIGMENTS OF SOME SYNTHETIC TURF PRODUCTS TO GIVE THE TURF ITS VARIOUS COLORS. STAFF RECOGNIZES THAT SOME CONDITIONS SUCH AS AGE, WEATHERING, EXPOSURE TO SUNLIGHT, AND WEAR AND TEAR MIGHT CHANGE THE AMOUNT OF LEAD THAT COULD BE RELEASED FROM THE TURF. AS TURF IS USED DURING ATHLETICS OR PLAY AND EXPOSED OVER TIME TO SUNLIGHT, HEAT AND OTHER WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE SURFACE OF THE TURF MAY START TO BECOME WORN AND SMALL PARTICLES OF THE LEAD-CONTAINING SYNTHETIC GRASS FIBERS MIGHT BE RELEASED. THE STAFF CONSIDERED IN THE EVALUATION THAT PARTICLES ON A CHILD’S HAND TRANSFERRED TO HIS/HER MOUTH WOULD BE THE MOST LIKELY ROUTE OF EXPOSURE AND DETERMINED YOUNG CHILDREN WOULD NOT BE AT RISK.
ALTHOUGH THIS EVALUATION FOUND NO HARMFUL LEAD LEVELS, CPSC STAFF IS ASKING THAT VOLUNTARY STANDARDS BE DEVELOPED FOR SYNTHETIC TURF TO PRECLUDE THE USE OF LEAD IN FUTURE PRODUCTS. THIS ACTION IS BEING TAKEN PROACTIVELY TO ADDRESS ANY FUTURE PRODUCTION OF SYNTHETIC TURF AND TO SET A STANDARD FOR ANY NEW ENTRANTS TO THE MARKET TO FOLLOW.
AS AN OVERALL GUIDELINE, CPSC STAFF RECOMMENDS YOUNG CHILDREN WASH THEIR HANDS AFTER PLAYING OUTSIDE, ESPECIALLY BEFORE EATING.
A VIDEO NEWS RELEASE WILL FEATURE B-ROLL OF SYNTHETIC TURF IN USE, ON-SITE AND LABORATORY TESTING, AND SOUNDBITES IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
VIDEO FEED SATELLITE COORDINATES
WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2008 2:30 PM – 3:00PM ET GALAXY 25 TRANSPONDER 13 C-BAND DOWNLINK FREQ: 3960V
THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2008 10:30 AM – 11:00AM ET GALAXY 3 TRANSPONDER 21 C-BAND DOWNLINK FREQ: 4120H
FOR TECHNICAL INFORMATION, DURING FEED ONLY, CONTACT DANIEL CONBOY AT (800) 920-6397 X 221.
Artificial Turf – THE WHOLE TRUTH
Artificial turf has it’s appropriate uses, not all products are created equal and consumers should know more about the products, selections and installation options which, if industry installation standards are followed, remain beautiful, safe and porous for the surface’s life-cycle.
If you’ve never seen the artificial grasses up close – many styles are very realistic and can help to mitigate dust and erosion control – along with saving millions of gallons of water per year, reducing air, water and soil contamination from traditional lawn care products and equipment.
See ASGi’s Public Downloads library of the CDC, CPSC, EPA, EHHI, CAES and California health and safety reports; testing and the concerns about lead in fibers, crumb rubber and alternatives are also discussed on the site.
https://www.asgi.us/syntheticturfinformationlibrary.htm
Also look into the rebates pages on the site and you will find that many drought ridden states encourage the use of artificial turf. https://www.asgi.us/artificial_grass_rebates.htm
Please visit and browse our Current News & Reports postings for coverage of timely topics or download some of our free guides at https://www.asgi.us/xwp
Annie Costa
Exec Dir
Assoc of Synthetic Grass Installers
ASGi