Conduit Street

In response to safety concerns raised by the public, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has conducted a study on the use of recycled tire materials (commonly called “tire crumb” or “crumb rubber”) for playgrounds and artificial turf fields.

The limited-scaled scoping study contains the following findings:  (1) testing and data collection techniques were found to be appropriate; (2)  concentrations of particulate matter and metals (including lead) were above ambient background levels at a playground site with high play activity but still well below established safe exposure levels; and (3) one volatile organic compound associated with tire crumb materials (methyl isobutyl ketone) was detected for one synthetic turf field and was not present in the corresponding background sample  Due to the limited scope and sample used in the study, the EPA concluded that further research is needed.

For more information on the study and the use of recycled tire materials in general, look here.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 9:10 am and is filed under Parks and Recreation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.