Mark Schone, NBC News, November 9, 2015
EXCERPTS FROM THE ARTICLE:
Two senators have urged federal officials to lead an "independent investigation into the health risks of crumb rubber" turf, a surface made of recycled tires used on playgrounds and athletic fields across the country.
CPSC spokesperson Scott Wolfson said the agency had "deep respect" for Sen. Blumenthal. "He has been a champion of child safety for many years. We have already begun working on a response for the Senator, and it will be timely."
In October, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent a letter to the EPA asking the agency to weigh in on whether crumb rubber is safe for young athletes, and cited the NBC News reports. The bipartisan panel gave the EPA till Friday, Nov. 6 to answer the 10 questions about what tests have been conducted to determine whether the product poses any health risk and what investigators have found.
On Friday, EPA spokesperson Liz Purchia told NBC News that the agency was "in the process of responding" to the Energy Committee's list of questions.
Purchia said "new science" is needed to answer questions about turf safety and that "existing studies do not comprehensively address the recently raised concerns about children's health risks from exposures to tire crumb.
