EPA "Study" of Playground Tire Crumb Misleading
In June, Benzene Leukemia Law Blog covered an Associated Press (AP) story about possible health risks associated with the inhalation of chemicals due to the use of used shredded tires (known as playground tire crumb) as an injury reducing playground surface. The popular material is also used on modern artificial turf playing fields.
Shredded tires contain high levels of carcinogenic aromatic hydrocarbons like benzene, in addition to lead and other heavy metals. According to the June AP article the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was in the process of conducting air and surface samples at four playgrounds.
Although the EPA for years has endorsed recycled-rubber surfaces as a means of decreasing playground injuries, its own scientists now have pointed to research suggesting potential hazards from repeated exposure to bits of shredded tire that can contain carcinogens and other chemicals, according to internal EPA documents.
The scientists cited gaps in scientific evidence, despite other reviews showing little or no health concern, and urged their superiors to conduct a broad health study to inform parents on kids’ safety.
Results from the agency’s limited study, which began last year, are expected within weeks.
It all seemed very reasonable. Maybe using a highly toxic material, in a shredded form, on playgrounds, could be bad for children. Worth a study right?
Well... not exactly. According to a report from investigative reporter Andrew Schneider this week at coldtruth.com, the EPA fell a bit short on this "study."
The following quotes cite documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER.)
Schneider:
Earlier this month, Eric Wachter, director of the EPA Office of the Executive Secretariat replied and conceded that “The Agency has not conducted research to evaluate children’s ‘health effects’ from tire crumb constituents.” (emphasis mine)
Wachter wrote that EPA only did a “literature review” in 2008 and after that began a “very limited methods evaluation study” of “available monitoring methods for characterizing environmental contaminant concentrations at those recreational fields” but has not yet finished even that, says PEER.
The above doesn't check out with the following late June quotes found in the Philadelphia Enquirer from the EPA's press wing:
The preliminary results of a new study by the Environmental Protection Agency may contain good news for field operators. The raw data shows there is no inhalation danger to children who play on various types of artificial fields and play surfaces, according to EPA spokesman Dale Kemery.
“It appears that the results are echoing the New York findings,” Kemery said, citing reports issued last month by the New York state government. The reports found no “detrimental health or environmental effects.”
The EPA study also will address concerns that carcinogens may be emitted from pulverized rubber tires that provide cushioning for many newer-generation, mixed-fiber fields, and play surfaces.
But why would the EPA go to the trouble of pointing out possible health risks of shredded tire playground surfacing and then pretending to launch a study finding it to be safe?
Now we enter into the realm of speculation. Allow me to. Any reasonable person could deduce that using a shredded tires, which contain concentrated carcinogens and heavy metals, in a play area, could possibly be unsafe. Anyone who has ever smelled a modern playground on a sunny day will agree, there is a definite odor, implying that particles from the tires are present in the air. So the EPA acts like they're on the job, ready to address this inherently reasonable concern. Do they have any intention of finding it unsafe or even really studying it? No.
Because of their highly toxic ingredients tires are not allowed in landfills and cannot be burned as they were in the past, they really start to pile up. So you have a major industry around selling recycled tires. Hey, it's green! The EPA notoriously stays out of the way of industry of any kind. When absolutely forced to, they routinely slap big polluters with minuscule fines, thus creating an allowing a culture of affordable polluting to persist throughout the country. In the U.S. today, largely thanks the the EPA's lackluster performance, it's cheaper to pollute all you want and pay the little fines, on the off chance you are ever caught.
So there's my impolite take on it, here's what Jeff Ruch, executive director of PEER had to say:
The polite way to say it is EPA misled parents and the public into believing it was actually addressing potential toxic exposure risks to kids. Incredibly, EPA takes the position it does not know enough to withdraw its endorsement of playground tire crumb. Common sense and a precautionary approach to children’s health dictate that EPA should not endorse something that it has not examined.
There is a humorous side to all of this. The EPA thought they could do this weak "evaluation" call it a study and rely on their press people to spin things up, making themselves look cautious while giving playground tire crumb a solid future. HA! maybe ten years ago! This is the age of information. Fools.
