(no message)
Years ago?
(no message)
(no message)
(no message)
(no message)
(no message)
(no message)
(no message)
(no message)
(no message)
Sports Med
Synthetic Turf Fields, Crumb Rubber, and Alleged Cancer Risk
Archie Bleyer
Most synthetic turf fields have crumb rubber interspersed among the simulated grass fibers to reduce athletic injuries by allowing users to turn and slide more readily as they play sports or exercise on the fields. Recently, the crumbs have been implicated in causing cancer in adolescents and young adults who use the fields, particularly lymphoma and primarily in soccer goalkeepers. This concern has led to the initiation of large-scale studies by local and federal governments that are expected to take years to complete. Meanwhile, should the existing synthetic turf fields with crumb rubber be avoided? What should parents, players, coaches, school administrators, and playground developers do? What should sports medicine specialists and other health professionals recommend? Use grass fields when weather and field conditions permit? Exercise indoors? Three basic premises regarding the nature of the reported cancers, the latency of exposure to environmental causes of cancer to the development of clinically detectable cancer, and the rarity of environmental causation of cancer in children, adolescents, and young adults suggest otherwise.
Similar articles
Human health risk assessment of synthetic turf fields based upon investigation of five fields in Connecticut.
Ginsberg G, Toal B, Simcox N, Bracker A, Golembiewski B, Kurland T, Hedman C.
J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2011;74(17):1150-74. doi: 10.1080/15287394.2011.586942.
PMID: 21797769
Benzothiazole toxicity assessment in support of synthetic turf field human health risk assessment.
Ginsberg G, Toal B, Kurland T.
J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2011;74(17):1175-83. doi: 10.1080/15287394.2011.586943.
PMID: 21797770
Comprehensive multipathway risk assessment of chemicals associated with recycled ("crumb") rubber in synthetic turf fields.
Peterson MK, Lemay JC, Pacheco Shubin S, Prueitt RL.
Environ Res. 2018 Jan;160:256-268. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.09.019. Epub 2017 Oct 12.
PMID: 29031215
Environmental and health impacts of artificial turf: a review.
Cheng H, Hu Y, Reinhard M.
Environ Sci Technol. 2014 Feb 18;48(4):2114-29. doi: 10.1021/es4044193. Epub 2014 Feb 6.
PMID: 24467230 Review.
Health impacts of artificial turf: Toxicity studies, challenges, and future directions.
Murphy M, Warner GR.
Environ Pollut. 2022 Oct 1;310:119841. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119841. Epub 2022 Aug 7.
PMID: 35948114 Review.
See all similar articles
Cited by
Quantification and Analysis of Micro-Level Activities Data from Children Aged 1-12 Years Old for Use in the Assessments of Exposure to Recycled Tire on Turf and Playgrounds.
Lopez-Galvez N, Claude J, Wong P, Bradman A, Hyland C, Castorina R, Canales RA, Billheimer D, Torabzadeh E, Leckie JO, Beamer PI.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Feb 21;19(4):2483. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19042483.
PMID: 35206675 Free PMC article.
Evaluation of potential carcinogenicity of organic chemicals in synthetic turf crumb rubber.