I posted awhile ago about how those rubber mats on the playgrounds are causing 2nd and 3rd degree burns. I got quite a few emails from readers who were upset and disgusted. Readers wondered why the Parks Department knowingly installs these hazardous mats, places the burden on parents to make sure their children wear shoes or don’t fall on these “hot” mats and lastly, why the Parks Department doesn’t issue warnings about them. It is all so maddening.
Reader Tracy wrote in to alert me to that the heat from these mats isn’t the only concern: the fact that they off-gas 49 different chemicals, heavy metals (including arsenic and lead) and tire dust that can be lodged in lungs is another major concern. Tracy wrote that she wondered if this was reason that the Ave Y and Bedford Ave playground had been torn up.
There MUST be something we can all do about these rubber mats. Anyone interested in taking up the cause?
The following is from The Green Guide- National Geographic’s awesome environmental site.
by Catherine Zandonella, M.P.H
A reader asks the Green Guide:
What do you know of the safety or toxicity of pour-in-place recycled rubber matting for playgrounds?
Nance K.
Alberta, Canada
The Green Guide responds:
Recycled rubber is finding favor in playgrounds both because it does a
good job of cushioning falls and because turning rubber into playground
matting helps deal with the 290 million scrap tires generated
nationwide. Although we ecologically minded types would very much like
to find uses for those mounds of discarded tires, shoveling them into
playgrounds is probably not the answer.
To prepare them for playground surfaces, manufacturers wash old
tires, pulverize them, and use magnets to remove metals and
contaminants. Then they mix the grains with a binding agent such as
polyurethane and either pour the mixture directly into the playground
or make it into tiles for later installation. They can also make rubber
mulch (or “crumb”), which can be coated in outlandishly bright colors
and is commonly spied at playgrounds headed for a toddler’s open mouth.
But those ground-up tires release 49 different chemicals, according
to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
(OEHHA), including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which get
released when surfaces are exposed to light and heat and as they age;
heavy metals, such as zinc, lead, cadmium, chromium and arsenic; and
tiny bits of latex-containing tire dust small enough to lodge in the
lungs. Of those 49 chemicals, seven are carcinogens.
The OEHHA surveyed all the available safety studies on these
surfaces and estimated that an average three-year old who ingests a
fistful (10 grams) of tire crumb would likely suffer no more than an
upset tummy from ingesting too much zinc. However, several other
environmental health organizations have raised concerns about the
multitude of chemicals that kids inhale playing so close to the ground.
The California survey didn’t look at health problems posed by inhaling
all those 49 chemicals, and there is evidence that new rubber surfaces,
at least, can emit VOCs at unhealthy levels for up to two years.
As for their safety benefits, crumb rubber has been found to protect
against falls better than wood mulch, but about two-thirds of the
playgrounds sampled by the OEHHA had at least one piece of equipment
without a rubber surface underneath thick enough to protect kids from
falls.
When you factor in possible ecological contamination, the mats get
even less appealing. Laboratory studies have found that concentrated
leachate from shredded tires poses dangers to fish, frogs, plants and
other aquatic life.
The recycled-rubber mats should be less of a health risk than
shredded crumb given that the bonded solid mat is less likely to
contain small particles that can be ingested or inhaled, but given the
uncertainty surrounding the health risks of these materials, it’s
better to stick with pesticide-free wood chips and mulch, which don’t
offgas chemicals, trigger asthma, or kill fish. Just be sure the wood
chips and mulch are properly installed and replenished frequently
enough to offer proper protection against falls.