Is Rubber Mulch a Safe Surface for Your Child's Playground?

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/rubber-mulch-safe-surface-your-childs-playground-n258586

By Hannah Rappleye, Stephanie Gosk, Kevin Monahan and Monica Alba
Dec. 2, 2014

The public playground in Bandon, a small town on the blustery coast of Oregon, has everything a kid could want. Swings and an orange, twisting slide, even a bright blue boat.

But after the playground was installed in 2009, some mothers became concerned about the springy black stuff beneath their children's feet. In addition to the new equipment, the playground was outfitted with the latest in safety surfacing: a pool of shredded rubber from old tires, also known as "rubber mulch," which can cushion kids' falls better than gravel or wood chips.

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Farmer and a handful of other parents started to research rubber infill, the recycled crumbs and shreds of old tire that in various forms have become an increasingly popular option for cities, schools, and day cares looking for a safe play surface for kids. What they found, they said, launched them on a campaign to replace the rubber.

"We know that there are chemicals in tires, and we know that they are most likely not removed just by shredding and putting them on a playground," said Bandon resident Shayla DeBerry-Osborne, who has four children under the age of 6. "I feel that if we know about these potential risks to our children, it's our responsibility as parents to limit the risk."

The U.S. government, however, is sending parents like those in Bandon mixed messages about rubber mulch.

The rubber mulch in Bandon is made of the same recycled tire rubber that is used as infill in crumb rubber artificial turf. A previous NBC News investigation raised questions about the safety of crumb rubber turf, which has been rolled out in thousands of U.S. parks, soccer fields and stadiums. More than two dozen studies have attempted to measure the potential health risks of crumb rubber surfaces. While many have found no negative health effects, some doctors and toxicologists believe these studies are limited and insufficient to establish conclusively that shredded rubber surfaces are safe.

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Proponents of rubber mulch say it protects kids from injuries, and that studies have proved crumb rubber to be safe. Made of fragments that can be peppercorn-sized or as big as pine mulch, the product is now showing up at day care centers, schools, even the playground at the White House.

But as rubber infill moves from the soccer field to the playground, some are asking whether that same rubber presents a greater threat to young children, whose organs, muscles and nervous systems are still developing.

"Children go to playgrounds almost daily," said Dr. Philip Landrigan, dean of global health at New York's Mt. Sinai Hospital and a top expert on the effect of chemicals on children. "And gifted athletes are on the soccer field almost every day. That sort of cumulative exposure results in a buildup in their body of these toxic chemicals, and can result in a buildup of cellular damage that's caused by these chemicals, that can then result in disease years or decades later."

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Since the 1970s, advances in playground safety have focused on improving the impact attenuation of surfacing -- or how much impact a surface can absorb -- and the safety of play equipment. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emergency rooms treat over 200,000 kids, aged 14 and under, for playground-related injuries every year.

Wood chips and pea gravel infill became typical sights at playgrounds. But over the years, recycled tire rubber -- both shredded and ground into round pieces -- has become popular.

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Parents interviewed in Bandon, Oregon, and others from around the country who wrote to NBC News gave similar testimonies about their young children putting tire in their mouths, and ending up covered in black after playing on playgrounds filled with tire crumb.

Alisa O'Brien, a grandmother and a registered nurse from Ft. Myers, Florida, had the same concerns as other caregivers. "I would pick up my grandson from daycare each afternoon to find his hands and arms up to his elbows covered in black," she said.

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According to the EPA, benzene, mercury, styrene-butadiene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and arsenic, among several other chemicals, heavy metals and carcinogens, have been found in tires. Studies have found that crumb rubber can emit gases that can be inhaled. When the material gets hot, it can increase the chances that volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, and chemicals can "off-gas," or leach into the air.

A previous investigation by NBC News found that while many studies concluded that the crumb rubber in artificial turf fields did not present acute health risks, they often added the caveat that more research should be conducted.

One study that analyzed rubber mulch and rubber mats, published in the scientific journal Chemosphere in 2013, concluded that "Uses of recycled rubber tires, especially those targeting play areas and other facilities for children, should be a matter of regulatory concern."

When the group of parents approached the town with their research, Hampton said she and other concerned officials also set out to learn more about the rubber. "It was difficult," she said. "There was never one study that's done that says, 'This is absolutely safe, or this is toxic.' Basically it says, 'There needs to be future studies, but at this particular time, it meets all of the standards necessary for it to be considered safe.'"

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Behavioral traits unique to children, like putting things in their mouths, increase their risk of exposure. They breathe, eat and drink more relative to their body weight than adults. They also have many more years of life in which to develop disease triggered by early exposure to a carcinogen.

"Children's cells and organs are rapidly growing and developing," Landrigan said. "Developmental processes are very complex. They're easily disrupted."

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