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Toxic turf concerns get Council hearing
by patrick arden / metro new york
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DEC 13, 2007
MANHATTAN. Ten years after artificial turf began to appear in parks here, the City Council will hold its first oversight hearing on the subject this morning.
While the Parks Dept. says 77 synthetic-turf fields have been installed since 1997, all but a handful were put down under the Bloomberg administration. Another 23 are in design and construction. The city claims turf is more cost-effective than grass.
The vast majority of these fields belong to the new breed of artificial turf, composed of plastic blades poking out of rubber pellets made from ground up tires.
The City Council hearing comes amid a growing chorus of concern.
Last year a study by the Italian minister of health called synthetic turf potentially carcinogenic. Other studies have said the rubber contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which have been associated with cancer, and phthalates, which have been linked to allergies in children.
One survey of local parks by Rutgers University in 2006 found pellets containing PAHs at levels considered hazardous by the Dept. of Environmental Conservation. That study was initiated by CUNY psychologist Bill Crain.
Crain’s interest was sparked in 2005, when four acres of artificial turf were installed in Riverside Park at a cost of $3.9 million. Crain was rebuffed when he tried to interest the Parks Dept., so he approached Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. Now the city’s Health Dept. is conducting its own research and expects to release a review next year.
When Crain’s research came to light, Metro approached Mount Sinai’s Dr. Philip Landrigan, an authority on environmental threats to children. He recognized the hazards of the chemicals, but could not judge the level of risk. Mostly he was worried about children ingesting the rubber crumbs or dust.
Now Landrigan supports the six-month moratorium on turf installation introduced by state Assemblyman Steve Englebright, D-Suffolk County. Englebright wants state-funded studies into the health and environmental consequences.
“I wouldn’t rip up the fields,” Landrigan said. “But let’s put a moratorium on new installation until we have more data.”
by patrick arden / metro new york
> email this to a friend
DEC 13, 2007
MANHATTAN. Ten years after artificial turf began to appear in parks here, the City Council will hold its first oversight hearing on the subject this morning.
While the Parks Dept. says 77 synthetic-turf fields have been installed since 1997, all but a handful were put down under the Bloomberg administration. Another 23 are in design and construction. The city claims turf is more cost-effective than grass.
The vast majority of these fields belong to the new breed of artificial turf, composed of plastic blades poking out of rubber pellets made from ground up tires.
The City Council hearing comes amid a growing chorus of concern.
Last year a study by the Italian minister of health called synthetic turf potentially carcinogenic. Other studies have said the rubber contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which have been associated with cancer, and phthalates, which have been linked to allergies in children.
One survey of local parks by Rutgers University in 2006 found pellets containing PAHs at levels considered hazardous by the Dept. of Environmental Conservation. That study was initiated by CUNY psychologist Bill Crain.
Crain’s interest was sparked in 2005, when four acres of artificial turf were installed in Riverside Park at a cost of $3.9 million. Crain was rebuffed when he tried to interest the Parks Dept., so he approached Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. Now the city’s Health Dept. is conducting its own research and expects to release a review next year.
When Crain’s research came to light, Metro approached Mount Sinai’s Dr. Philip Landrigan, an authority on environmental threats to children. He recognized the hazards of the chemicals, but could not judge the level of risk. Mostly he was worried about children ingesting the rubber crumbs or dust.
Now Landrigan supports the six-month moratorium on turf installation introduced by state Assemblyman Steve Englebright, D-Suffolk County. Englebright wants state-funded studies into the health and environmental consequences.
“I wouldn’t rip up the fields,” Landrigan said. “But let’s put a moratorium on new installation until we have more data.”
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