|
Emerging
Environmental Issues
Possible Health Effects of Synthetic
Turf Synthetic turf
is increasingly used on playing fields and in parks.
It is made in layers of synthetic materials including
green plastic blades attached to a backing, small
particles called "fill" that secure the
blades, and underlying systems for drainage and
stability. The fill, often referred to as “crumb
rubber”, is of interest because it is usually made
from recycled tires containing chemicals that can
cause cancer, birth defects and other health problems
under some exposure conditions. Many companies supply
fill, and it is provided in various forms, so the
chemical composition varies. Work has been ongoing
to evaluate the various components of synthetic
turf fields and the products used to maintain them.
The information on this webpage provides an initial
summary of screening chemical analyses of some fill
products. Please click here
for further information.
Cadmium in Children's
Toys
There have been numerous recent reports of toxic
metals, especially lead, in toy jewelry, lunch boxes
and other inexpensive consumer items. This has resulted
in recalls of a number of metallic toy jewelry items
by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, as well
as actions by state government agencies. Please
click here for further
information.
Depleted Uranium
A new report finds depleted uranium (DU) can be
detected in people more than 20 years after exposure
when using high sensitivity urine tests. Radioactive
DU has also been found in the dust of two homes
and a workplace after the National Lead Industry
sites federal cleanup.
- The isotope measurement testing project, which
has never before been conducted on any US community,
is a joint initiative of United States and United
Kingdom scientists, led by Prof. Randall Parrish.
The results are being published in an international
journal, Science of the Total Environment
(doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.09.044, electronically
available on-line).
The National Lead Industries factory emitted between
5 and 10 tons of DU aerosols from 1958 to 1982.
DU is a toxic chemical due to its heavy metal
and radiological properties. National Lead used
DU to manufacture armor-piercing munitions. For
further information please see the following documents:
- Human Health Effects of Lead
The Public Health Live Broadcast originally aired
on November 15, 2007 is now available to view online.
Click
here to watch the archived webstream of this
program.
-
|
