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South Georgia

Artificial Turf Safety

There has been a great deal of recent interest in the safety of playing on artificial turf fields utilizing crumb rubber fill. Georgia Soccer’s top priority is always the safety of participants, so we want to provide as much information to parents as possible.

The most recent studies available (2008 and 2009) on the safety of these crumb rubber fields from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have declared that these synthetic playing surfaces are safe to be played on.

The Synthetic Turf Council also has a number of online resources regarding the safety of crumb rubber fields available on their website, including research studies and independent lab tests. You can find these resources by CLICKING HERE.

“Dr. Laura Green, an MIT-educated toxicologist and independent consultant, said that the process used to manufacture tires — called vulcanization — ensures that chemicals and carcinogens remain trapped inside.

‘It's always been true that a carcinogenic gas has been used to make tires, but it's never been true, never, that once tires are made, once they are in use, and once they are crumb balled that they liberate that or any other carcinogen,’ said Dr. Green. She recently worked for the turf industry as a consultant, but said she has always believed crumb rubber poses no health risk to children.

‘There's zero reason to be concerned that playing on synthetic turf will put your child at risk for cancer," she added. ‘It's simply not true.’” –from NBC News

In addition to these existing studies, a new study has been commissioned by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment that will take approximately 3 years to complete.

Georgia Soccer will continue to monitor future research and studies. As new information on this subject becomes available, we will provide it to our members.

If you have any questions on this topic, please contact Greg Griffith, Georgia Soccer Executive Director, at griffith@georgiasoccer.org.

 
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