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Editor's Note
No. 07 How much crumb gets into your cleats? April 2009.
No. 06 Poughkeepsie, NY: Randy Marquis hated coming home with mouthful of rubber. August 2008.
No. 05 The traveling crumb-rubber (August 2008).
No. 04 "Seattle Fields" - migration of crumb pellets. January/April 2008
No. 03 Crumb rubber everywhere! What's a soccer mom to do? April 2008
No. 02 New Rochelle (December 2007)
No. 01 Bad Maintenance Practices at the "Y" (December 2007)
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Editor's Note: "An Iota about Migration," November 18, 2007.
In "turf talk" the term "migration" has come to mean the movement of crumb rubber granules from the field onto areas around or off the field. The environmentalists and affected citizens are concerned about the movement of the rubber granules directly into storm and sewer drains, into rivers and other bodies of water, and seepage (as leachate) into ground and/or ground water and wells.
Perhaps pedestrian, but also an important part of the story of crumb migration is the movement of crumb granules and broken shafts of the polygrass into the home. Fresh from their sporting exploits, junior and missy bring home the crumb granules and bits of polygrass on their skin , apparel and footwear. All too that ends up in the vacuum cleaner/garbage bags, or shower/tub drain -- out of the house and into the environment, they go. But, worst of all, the most insidious form of "migration" of the materials used in artificial turf fields -- grains or particulates polygrass, crumb and silica -- in lungs and/or digestive systems of people who play on artificial turf fields.
It does not require a fertile imagination to conceive of the manner in which pieces of polygrass and crumb and silica can easily be ingested or inhaled by players.
In September 2007 SynTurf visited the artificial turf field located in the back of Fresh Pond Mall Cinema Complex, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The field was only four years old, but it showed already signs of extreme wear and tear, no doubt due to over use (which SynTurf.org has learned is a condition that voids the turf warranty). A bear foot-walk from the sideline to the center of the field and back produced a significant amount of broken bits of polygrass attaching themselves to the bottom and side of the feet, perhaps due to skin's humidity or the static present in the polygrass. Regardless, it does not require a wayward imagination to conceive of bits of polygrass blowing in the winds that sweep or the rains that wash the fake tundra.
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[No. 07] How much crumb gets into your cleats? Last month we ran an item here entitled “Ouch: Those pesky crumb rubber bits that injure!” http://www.synturf.org/health.html (Item No. 26). It was about a guy who goes to try out with the Kansas City Wizards soccer team and end us with pain in the ball of his foot, which he suspected was caused by “the pellets from the synthetic grass in [his] sock that were scraping [his] foot. This week we received a communication from a company that makes a product that claims to prevent crumb rubber from ending up in your cleats. According to the “technical” information provided by it, in the course of one hour of play one can get 82 grams of crumb rubber pellets in a cleat, as they hop off the ground and roll down the cleat by way of the ankle area.
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[No. 06] Poughkeepsie, NY: Randy Marquis hated coming home with mouthful of rubber. On August 30, 2008, the Poughkeepsie Journal quoted Kevin Marquis, owner of Competitive Edge Physical Therapy in Poughkeepsie, as saying his son, Randy, who played football at Franklin D. Roosevelt High School in Hyde Park and then Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., hated “coming up with a mouth full of rubber” after playing on infill turf fields. Source: Pete Colaizzo, “Athletes quicker on surfaces, but injuries are still common,” in Poughkeepsie Journal, August 30, 2008, available at http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080830/SPORTS/808300336 .
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[No. 05] The traveling crumb-rubber. According to the news story in the Daily Times (Florence, Alabama), these days the football players of the University of Northern Alabama are seen emptying their cleats of the crumb-rubber pellets. It is a daily routine, according to wide receiver Robbie Burdine: "I have to empty them out of my shoes every day. They get stuck on your arms, legs and in your pants. It takes a while to get all of them off of you." Source: Jeff McIntyre, “Pesky pellets pester players,” in Time Daily, August 23, 2008, available at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20080823/NEWS/808230322/1164&title=Pesky_pellets_pester_players .
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Seattle Fields: Migrating crumb rubber | [No. 04] More migration pictures. The selection below is from PlasticFiledsforNever.org and is entitled “Seattle Fields,” January 2008. In viewing this power-point presentation, please note the following -- First the migration of rubber pellets from the turf field at Van Asselt Elementary School and, second, the prevalence of crumb rubber pellets around sewers and drains. Click on PPT icon on the left.
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[No. 03] Crumbs everywhere! What’s a soccer mom to do? By Guive Mirfendereski, SynTurf.org, Newton, mass. April 18, 2008.
Each artificial turf field has about 100 tons of crumb rubber granules applied loosely to the surface. Along with the sand (silica) the crumb helps with the cushy feeling of the turf and also acts as the ballast that keeps the turf all the more secure in place. In venues where best practices prevail, before each game, the field is watered down in order to weigh down the crumb and sand and to minimize dusting and, on hot days, water is used also to reduce the temperature of the field. Regardless of its nature – be it crumb rubber from used tires or other source, thermoplastics, coconut, tofu or other materials – because it is not nailed down, weighed down, glued or woven into the carpet, the granules (also called in-fill) travel off the field. We call this phenomenon “migration” and it can be induced by watering, rain, wind, footwork or other forces or dynamics.
In November 2007 SynTurf.org published a photographic mini-essay on migration of crumb rubber. See, http://www.synturf.org/migration.html.
Recently, a reader shared her frustration over crumb rubber hitching a ride back home on the body and clothing of her passengers. Joyce, who has requested partial anonymity, is a Morristown soccer mom, who often accompanies her elite-level daughters and their teammates to soccer games.
“The problem with crumb rubber wasn’t this bad in pervious years, because the girls would play on the turf maybe one or two games during the whole season,” she told SynTurf.org. “Now,” she said, “it seem like every game is being played on turf.”
In an e-mail to SynTurf.org, Joyce wrote: “These [pictures] were from one practice session [in early April 2008] on a FieldTurf field. [The] reps that testified at our local school and land use board claim[ed] that the crumb rubber is cryogenic and it does not travel. I beg to differ.”
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“Three players in my car were complaining that the crumb rubber was sticking to their faces and skin during practice. They all said it was sticking in their hair, and they were picking it out of their hair in the car. I know from experience that it gets all over the car, in their cleats, shin guards and socks. It ends up in my mudroom, bathroom shower, laundry room floor, and washer/dryer. If I did not insist that my kids shower immediately when they get home, it would in fact get into their bedrooms and their beds.”
SynTurf.org Editor’s Note: The players who play on crumb rubber assume some degree of the risk of exposure to the toxins and other harmful substances associated with crumb rubber. The players and parents may very well be made to waive any right to complain about crumb rubber, including that it is a nuisance. However, because it migrates, crumb rubber poses also risks to persons who do not necessarily come into direct contact with the fields. This means, for example, after a game or practice, the crumb rubber rides on players and ends up in the gym, class room or locker room where other children and adults will come into contact with it. This should be particularly of concern to environments that claim to be latex-free.
The migration of crumb rubber also poses an interesting legal question. Can an action lie against a defendant who owns, operates or manufactures artificial turf fields, or against a club that hosts game/practices on turf, for the nuisance and/or trespass caused by migrating crumb rubber?
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[No.02] New Rochelle’s April ‘flood’ washed out the crumb. SynTurf.org, Newton, December 22, 2007. In mid-April 2007 a few days of rain resulted in a mudslide downhill onto the artificial turf field at New Rochelle’s Sidelsky Memorial Field, causing the turf to detach from its base in the southwest corner of the field. According to the Parks Commissioner William Zimmermann, “[r]ubber particles that are mixed with the sand were washed away.”[1] While the city has managed to maintain the field for now, it is in shambles: Its surface has wrinkles that cannot be straightened out, according to Zimmermann.[2] The solution: to replace the field at the cost of $2 million, of which $1.5 million comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the rest from the state. The project raises two questions:
(1) Where to did the flood carry the rubber particles and what steps will the city take in order to clean up the contamination caused by more than 100 tons of shredded tire granulates washed into the environment? The city’s request for proposal on the project (Specification No. 4731) does not seem to indicate any discussion of clean up of the site. The RFP is available here.
(2) How and at what cost will the city dispose of the old turf and its crumb rubber, polygrass and other toxic materials? The city's request for proosal on the project Specification No. 4731) does not seem to indicate any discussion of disposal of the old turf. The RFP is available here.
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| YMCA-Newton, Mass. 12/8/07 |
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[No. 01] Bad Maintenance Practices at the West Suburban YMCA! Newton, SynTurf.org. December 8, 2007. The general protocol for dealing with snow-covered artificial turf fields is as follows: When the field is covered with a layer of snow, the game is played on the snow rather than the carpet itself. The snow protects the carpet from damage. If mechanical snow removal is required, one must ensure that (a) the carpet is not damaged by the removal procedure and (b) the players are not injured by remaining frozen material between the fibers. However, if there is a reason for removing snow, one must use a wooden – never metal! – scrapper or a broom. Playing under thaw or glaze ice conditions may render the field very slippery causing dangers for the players! Source: Ten Cate Advisory on snow dealing with turf in snowy conditions, see http://www.synturf.org/maintenance.html (Item: No. 02].
That said – about 12:30 PM on December 8, 2007 (temp: low 40's degrees F), SynTurf.org noticed a group of four men vigorously at work on the artificial turf field at the West Suburban YMCA on Church Street, in Newton, Massachusetts. Each of the four was removing the snow with the help of a common household snow shovel. Two of the shovels appeared to be of the model that has a metal strip attached to the hard plastic edge.
SynTurf.org examined the pile that the crew had shoveled to the northern sideline and western end-zone. No broken polygrass was observed in the snow banks. However, the snow pile contained a generous amount of crumb rubber, which had been removed from the field in the process of snow removal.
Maintenance Question: Did the removal of the snow with shovels violate standard maintenance protocol?
Athletic Health: How safe is it to play on thawing turf or on a surface that is not cleared completely of slush?
Environmental Issue: When the snow thaws and melts away where do the crumbs go? The leachate, if any? Where does the field’s drainage system empty into? Where does the runoff from the field go? The filed is some four feet higher than the street level and the northern side of the field borders the street that has storm drains.
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