Cancer can strike pretty much at any moment, as there are a plentitude of factors around that can lead to the development of the all-consuming disease. But occasionally we find out that one particular item which is used quite often can actually cause cancer, so we launch a study in order to ascertain the truth. This is what happened last Friday, as the Obama administration launched investigation into link between crumb rubber turf and cancer.
Turf and Cancer
Multiple reports have shown up linking athletes that have spent large amounts of time on fields covered with crumb rubber turf to cancer. They have started back in 2014, as various groups of parents and concerned parties started to suspect that frequently repeated contact with the material can have devastating health consequences.
Artificial turfs are a preferred alternative to the regular grass fields, as they are cheaper and easier to maintain. Crumb rubber generally serves as traction and as a cushion on these fields, and they tend to end up all over the players’ clothes, as well as in their mouths, eyes, and ears.
Despite the fact that it was known that these turfs are made out of recycled tires, containing a wide array of chemical compounds, they have been used in artificial fields ever since 1990, so as to reduce the cost for their recycling and maintenance.
As there are over 12,000 fields made out of this crumb rubber in the US, most of them used by children and teenagers as playgrounds and school fields, as well as because of the fact that a soccer coach from the University of Washington found 153 cases of cancer related to extended time spent on the artificial turfs, the Obama administration decided to start an investigation.
The Tri-Agency Partnership
For this study, three nation-wide groups decided to team up in order to tackle the issue head on – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and last but not least, the Environmental Protection Agency.
The team will involve a team of nearly 50 technical experts, as well as a research budget of $2 million. The three groups will work together, despite of the EPA’s previous attempts to leave the investigation to be conducted by each individual state, so as for crumb rubber to keep being commercialized.
With their change of heart, however, also came the new study, and with three major agencies involved in a research of such importance, we might almost certainly see the results by the end of the year. In the meanwhile, just keep your children off of artificial turfs, and opt for real grass instead.
Image source: Wikimedia
