Image: Gary Reyes
Aaron Kinney, Mercury News, Published May 27, 2015, Updated August 12, 2016
EXCERPTS FROM THE ARTICLE:
Environmental groups, parents and coaches maintain that children are being exposed to chemicals that could cause cancer and other serious illnesses. They point to anecdotal evidence suggesting a link to cancer among young athletes and argue that safer materials can be used to cushion artificial grass fields.
Both women are mothers of young children and have an interest in pediatric environmental health. They say they’ve noticed increased rates of asthma among their children’s friends. Dern said her 13-year-old son has developed skin rashes after playing on the fields.
“It’s deemed toxic waste before it’s recycled,” said Dern, who is a spokeswoman for California nonprofit Healthy Child Healthy World. “So if it’s considered toxic waste, why are we using it as our children’s playgrounds?”
“You’re inhaling it, you’re ingesting, it’s getting in your cuts on your skin, and you’re bringing it home with you in your clothes,” Hill said. “We just want an answer to the questions. Are these cancers random or are they directly related to these fields that use crumb rubber?”
“What’s good for a tire is not good for a child,” said Beals. “We need to protect our children’s health, and their health comes before anybody’s pocketbook.”
This article discusses Senator Jerry Hill's revised bill asking CA to fund a study to actually look at the connection between cancer and young people playing for years on toxic artificial turf. The industry states no study shows this link, which is true only because NO STUDY HAS BEEN CONDUCTED. Time for that to change thanks to Sen. Hill and the California legislature. The only study being conducted until now - the human health experiment playing out around the world on young people so that industry might profit.