Saturday, October 31, 2009
Sweet Decadence
It's not always about red apples here at the Elegy. Sometimes you can spot a green apple:
This is Sandra, who runs Sweet Decadence in Newcastle. I love her for her generosity with free samples and her beautiful workspace. And creative learning opportunities--We will be taking her truffle-making class next week.
In less than a year she's become the heart and soul of Newcastle. Brava, Sandra!
This is Sandra, who runs Sweet Decadence in Newcastle. I love her for her generosity with free samples and her beautiful workspace. And creative learning opportunities--We will be taking her truffle-making class next week.
In less than a year she's become the heart and soul of Newcastle. Brava, Sandra!
Friday, October 30, 2009
The Wearing of the Salmon
The latest in flower arranging straight from Pike Place Market:
Tiny open cabbages in a bouquet of dahlias. Love the salmon-colored dahlias with the veggie-green. Produce as bouquet element. Hopefully the flower sellers won't ever team up with the fish guys there and start using salmon in their artful arrangements!
Tiny open cabbages in a bouquet of dahlias. Love the salmon-colored dahlias with the veggie-green. Produce as bouquet element. Hopefully the flower sellers won't ever team up with the fish guys there and start using salmon in their artful arrangements!
The Sounds of Autumn
Yesterday from dawn to dusk the sounds of autumn were deafening. Along with the mulchy smells of mushrooms and damp leaves, the beautiful sight of golden branches and bright red foliage, a third sense is activated: the whine-y buzz of leaf blowers at work. On a clear day, when the rains have finally let up, people burst out of their houses intent on a single purpose: ridding every square inch of debris.
As a park concept, the idea of a mow-free, blow-free zone has a lot of appeal to me:
Perhaps a park could remind us that some of us just like to hang out and watch the grass grow...
A lot of people think that the synthetic turf requires no maintenance, or that the costs involved in upkeep are not as high as maintaining a natural grass fields. However, "A task force put together by the National Sports Turf Managers Association addressed maintenance issues in their lengthy November 2008 report. Based on their findings, a typical cost to maintain an average synthetic field was approximately $6,000 per year in material costs (not including equipment) and requires 375 man hours per year to maintain.
The primary cultural practice for a synthetic surface is grooming. To maintain a uniform surface with an infill system the field will need to be swept and dragged on a regular basis. Depending on use, this may be required once a week to once a month. It is important to follow manufacturer’s recommendation on grooming because it can cause excessive wear and inappropriate grooming may void your warranty. Equipment needed include something to groom the surface, usually a nylon-bristle bush, and a drag to stand fiber up and to distribute the crumb rubber.
Infill material (required with new synthetic turfs) will also need to be added on an annual basis. A field will need 1 to 7 tons of rubber added yearly. Note it takes about 20 tons of crumb rubber to get ¼ inch. Topdressing equipment will be necessary in the reapplication of crumb rubber. Vacuums and leaf blowers can be helpful to remove some debris (e.g., sunflower seeds and peanut shells), but in many cases, debris may need to be removed by hand since these implements may also remove/move infill."
Read "To Turf or Not to Turf" here
Read more about STMA here
As a park concept, the idea of a mow-free, blow-free zone has a lot of appeal to me:
Perhaps a park could remind us that some of us just like to hang out and watch the grass grow...
A lot of people think that the synthetic turf requires no maintenance, or that the costs involved in upkeep are not as high as maintaining a natural grass fields. However, "A task force put together by the National Sports Turf Managers Association addressed maintenance issues in their lengthy November 2008 report. Based on their findings, a typical cost to maintain an average synthetic field was approximately $6,000 per year in material costs (not including equipment) and requires 375 man hours per year to maintain.
The primary cultural practice for a synthetic surface is grooming. To maintain a uniform surface with an infill system the field will need to be swept and dragged on a regular basis. Depending on use, this may be required once a week to once a month. It is important to follow manufacturer’s recommendation on grooming because it can cause excessive wear and inappropriate grooming may void your warranty. Equipment needed include something to groom the surface, usually a nylon-bristle bush, and a drag to stand fiber up and to distribute the crumb rubber.
Infill material (required with new synthetic turfs) will also need to be added on an annual basis. A field will need 1 to 7 tons of rubber added yearly. Note it takes about 20 tons of crumb rubber to get ¼ inch. Topdressing equipment will be necessary in the reapplication of crumb rubber. Vacuums and leaf blowers can be helpful to remove some debris (e.g., sunflower seeds and peanut shells), but in many cases, debris may need to be removed by hand since these implements may also remove/move infill."
Read "To Turf or Not to Turf" here
Read more about STMA here
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The End of Nature II: Westfield Park
Westfield Park belongs to the newer subdivision to the west of Newport Hills Park. It came in at the behest of the City, who required parks to be a part of all new development in Belleue. In our case these houses were built on grassy farmland and small ranches with llamas and horses. Though it may have been the City's intention that these parks be public, these parks are definitely not open to anyone but the homeowners.
As the sign says, with rather ragged punctuation:
This park and it's play facility, is for use ONLY by the Homeowners' of Westfield
(Click to enlarge)
A lonely park, one which doesn't allow children under 10 unless supervised by an adult.
A sad little park, where "no organized sport event, including, practices, are not allowed in the park" What about disorganized sport events?
As the sign says, with rather ragged punctuation:
This park and it's play facility, is for use ONLY by the Homeowners' of Westfield
(Click to enlarge)
A lonely park, one which doesn't allow children under 10 unless supervised by an adult.
A sad little park, where "no organized sport event, including, practices, are not allowed in the park" What about disorganized sport events?
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Street Furniture
...Or can't we all just get "a-lawn"?
You can make your own grass furniture by putting together the cardboard frame you see here, stuffing it with dirt and then planting with grass seeds...voila!
Send away for your kit here
You can make your own grass furniture by putting together the cardboard frame you see here, stuffing it with dirt and then planting with grass seeds...voila!Send away for your kit here
Sunday, October 25, 2009
A Timely Article
Check out the article in yesterday's
Seattle Times regarding synthetic turf fields. This couldn't have been more timely, published one hour before our parks meeting yesterday morning. Bellevue Parks Department is rolling out synthetic turf on our one neighborhood park in the next month or so.
I found the following comments by readers particularly interesting:
How does this artificial turf pass the state environmental reviews such as SEPA?
Woodinville approved the November installation of two artificial turf soccer fields that drain directly into the Sammamish River and Lake Washington with a short DNS (Determination of Non-Significance) SEPA study. Outraged citizens presented findings from Dr. Brown from EHHI that detail the toxic elements found in crushed rubber tires, but no one listened. Woodinville is proceeding to lay the equivalent of 70,000 tires in the soil adjacent to one of the states premiere salmon passageways and no one is willing to listen.
The California Atty. General recently sued 6 artificial turf companies for exceeding California limits for Lead, Zinc, Arsenic, and PAH's and has put a moratorium on the installation of such fields until they can be proven to be free of heavy metals and carcinogens.
Tires are treated as hazardous waste in all states; thus, they require special disposal fees and handling at the end of use. We all pay this fee when we replace our tires. How is it that these same tires deemed by the state as hazardous, can now be crushed and put on play fields for our children to roll around and inhale the dust?
Nobody is using common sense. Artificial turf manufacturers are focusing their marketing teams toward local agencies like city parks and schools to supplement their declining market share in professional sports. For example, European soccer teams refuse to compete on artificial turf fields so North American clubs must roll out natural turf on top of the artificial turf whenever they come to town.
Breaking stories such as this one in the Seattle Times are becoming more common. Does anyone remember how stories began about smoking, asbestos and PCB's in water supplies? I think that this will be the next and government is dragging their feet because its agencies are in the middle of it by encouraging reuse recycling of tires.
* NEW YORK STATE LAWMAKERS have called for a state wide ban of tire waste turf
* CALIFORNIA state legislators have called for a moratorium
* NEW JERSEY state legislators have called for a moratorium
* MINNESOTA state legislators have called for a moratorium
* ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH, INC. has called for a moratorium
* The SWEDISH Chemical Agency recommended in April that the material not be used in artificial turf because the tire waste releases hazardous materials
* The ITALIAN Minister of Health found that synthetic turf fields are potentially carcinogenic
* The SOUTH KOREAn Education Ministry began investigating the safety of recycled rubber granules over the summer following student complaints of nose and eye irritation
* A recent DUTCH investigation concluded that "the leaching of zinc is a major concern"
* NORWAY has banned synthetic turf
Source: Woodinville's Parents for Safe Sports Fields website
Posted on October 24, 2009 at 9:22 PM.
Friday, October 23, 2009
More things to do with grass
Take the feel of natural grass underfoot "a-lawn" whereever you go...perhaps at the first soccer game on synthetic turf we could have these ready to wear.
Old vs New
Welcome to Newport Hills
"We don't take ourselves too seriously"
Couldn't we have just one sign that says that?
How about
Welcome to Lake Heights
"Home of the Puffball Festival"?
AAAh, the mystery of history...these photos are courtesy of Newport Hills Community Club's blog. Check it out here
We have new entrance signs, which were subject to inexplicably lengthy installation delays over the summer. I wanted to do an exclusive expose on it for Red Apple Elegy, but I don't really do exclusive exposes very well.
The Lake Heights signs are an updating of the old ones--same font, metal instead of stone...Can I just say here I don't like them as well. Too corporate. IMHO. And if you look at the new Lake Heights sign--it's very hard to read--maybe they're not finished with it yet.
At this point I'll insert my usual disclaimer:
I have no right to complain because I was not at the meetings and didn't serve on the committee.
The story behind the old Newport Hills sign(s) is (are) one of the most charming surviving from the early days of Newport Hills back in the late 50s. A lovely lady who lived here then, and lives here to this day, has described the way locals took it upon themselves to carve the signs themselves, coming up with the distinctive logo. Probably around the wetbar after a few martinis...my mind conjures up the early pioneer spirit, that yaya sisterhood, the carefree days when a community was just getting started and everyone flew in and out of each other's houses and laughed at "I Love Lucy" on the tv.
This lovely lady asked for and got the sign when it was pulled down and it has retired to a place of honor in her backyard. At the meeting planning staffers seemed a little incredulous that anyone would want such a dated piece of junk. Lovely lady, gracious lady, tenacious lady, that she is kept us updated on the story throughout the summer via Newport Hills Community Club meetings.
We're so grateful that the new signs are finally up and they look so shiny but, scrapper that I am, I have to say it: they're not as distinctive as the older signs. Not as familiar. They're like every other neighborhood's signs. They're not home-made, I know and they'll probably raise our property values but when I see them (a million times a day) it makes me want to join the coyotes in the ravine! Yip-yip-yip!!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The End of Nature
Recently I had a conversation with a neighbor who asked me, "Why wouldn't you want synthetic turf--what do you do with grass?"
What do you do with grass?
Is this the end of nature, as people have been predicting?
I was so shocked by the question all I could do was stare back stupidly.
"Fly kites," someone helpfully suggested.
"Walk your dog?" I blurted, while I stalled for time. Who was this guy?
"Have a picnic," I said, regaining my stride. "Throw a frisbee."
The point is you can do anything on grass, right?
Another neighbor reminded me that even if you aren't on the grass, you appreciate it as you drive by. It marks the pause between work and home. It tells you "relax, you're nearly home," or "I'll still be here when you get back."
So that even if you don't see anyone else out there, its presence is soothing.
What if we fostered that presence in our neighborhood by putting the soccer field elsewhere and nurtured a Japanese garden here? Is there room in the neighborhood for both soccer and contemplation? For a water feature and a skate park?
Friday, October 16, 2009
Lots of meetin's
It's been a busy coupla weeks here in Newport Hills.
City officials showed an interest in our concerns regarding the park.
The wheels are turning.
In the course of researching synthetic turf I came across this great local blog:
Bainbridge Notebook
Reluctantly, writer Althea Paulson was drawn in to the discussion prevailing over installation of artificial turf at Bainbridge High School. The issue of lead and numerous other heavy metals leaching from the turf into the water table is of paramount concern because Bainbridge families depend on wells for their drinking water.
Read more here and here (scroll down for comments)
Currently, there is a CDC Health Advisory regarding lead in artificial turf. It all started in a New Jersey junkyard where they were sent to measure lead levels. They found extremely high levels, but not from the junkyard--they were coming from a nearby synthetic turf field.
Now I'm well aware that the City wouldn't install something as old-fashioned as nylon turf, and of course it will be brand-new, not aging, like the New Jersey fields, but still...lead is known to leach from crumb rubber as well. I'm just sayin' shouldn't we be a little more cautious with a neighborhood park where, according to the Bellevue Open Space Plan, kids are the primary users?
This is an official
CDC HEALTH ADVISORY
Distributed via Health Alert Network
Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 16:10 EDT (4:10 PM EDT)
CDCHAN-00275-2008-06-18-ADV-N
Potential Exposure to Lead in Artificial Turf:
Public Health Issues, Actions, and Recommendations
Public Health Issues
In the course of conducting a routine health investigation at a metal facility in Newark, NJ, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) tested a nearby community athletic field for lead contamination. Samples taken from the field showed high levels of lead in the field dust, but the lead did not come from the scrap metal facility.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is partnering with its sister-agency, ATSDR, to monitor this situation because of CDC’s expertise in lead poisoning prevention.
After determining that the lead source was the artificial turf, NJDHSS began to test other artificial turf fields looking for similar high lead levels in artificial turf fibers. These findings raised concerns about potentially high lead levels in artificial turf used in other locations including fields and playgrounds. NJDHSS tested a limited sample of athletic fields in New Jersey. Any questions regarding the specific fields tested should be directed to NJDHSS.
As determined by NJDHSS, limited sampling of additional athletic fields in New Jersey and commercial products indicates that artificial turf made of nylon or nylon/polyethylene blend fibers contains levels of lead that pose a potential public health concern. Tests of artificial turf fields made with only polyethylene fibers showed that these fields contained very low levels of lead.
Information provided by NJDHSS to CDC and ATSDR indicates that some of the fields with elevated lead in either dust and/or turf fiber samples were weathered and visibly dusty. Fields that are old, that are used frequently, and that are exposed to the weather break down into dust as the turf fibers are worn or demonstrate progressive signs of weathering, including fibers that are abraded, faded or broken. These factors should be considered when evaluating the potential for harmful lead exposures from a given field.
The risk for harmful lead exposure is low from new fields with elevated lead levels in their turf fibers because the turf fibers are still intact and the lead is unlikely to be available for harmful exposures to occur. As the turf ages and weathers, lead is released in dust that could then be ingested or inhaled, and the risk for harmful exposure increases. If exposures do occur, CDC currently does not know how much lead the body will absorb; however, if enough lead is absorbed, it can cause neurological development symptoms (e.g. deficits in IQ). Additional tests are being performed by NJDHSS to help us better understand the absorption of lead from these products.
In general, children less than 6 years old are more likely to be affected by lead than adults because of increased contact with lead sources in the environment, including lead contaminated house dust and soil. Children also absorb lead more easily. Children's developing nervous systems are also more susceptible to the adverse health effects of lead including developmental delay and behavioral problems.
It should be emphasized that although turf testing has been limited to the state of New Jersey, no cases of elevated blood lead levels in children have been linked to artificial turf on athletic fields in New Jersey and elsewhere. Concerned parents should talk to their child’s pediatrician about potential and known sources of lead in their children's environment and whether their children should have a blood lead test. This is a simple blood test that is paid for by most private insurers and by Medicaid.
NJDHSS has asked the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to investigate this potential problem and CDC and ATSDR are currently waiting for information from CPSC to help guide future public health recommendations and actions.
Interim Public Health Actions Related to Testing Artificial Turf Products and Reducing Potential Exposures to Lead
NJDHHS’s testing of artificial turf fields was limited and only sampled turf containing nylon. Since NJDHHS, CDC and ATSDR did not test fields composed of substances other than nylon and nylon/polyethelene blend, we do not know if lead is also a component in other types of artificial turf. Additionally, not necessarily all turf made of nylon contains elevated amounts of lead.
CDC has long recommended the elimination of all nonessential uses of lead. Because it is unclear whether all artificial turf contains lead at this time, CDC and ATSDR only recommend testing artificial turf fields that appear worn or weathered.
As a precaution, until further guidance is available from CPSC and until we have more information about the absorption of lead from artificial turf products and its capability of harm, CDC and ATSDR recommend:
· Testing turf that has fibers that are abraded, faded or broken, contains visible dust, and that is made from nylon or nylon-blend fibers. Information about testing is provided later in this alert.
· If the dust contains more than 400 ppm lead, do not allow turf access for children under the age of 6 years.
· If access is restricted, care should be taken to ensure that alternative sites contain lead levels less than 400 ppm.
· Not testing turf made from polyethylene-only fibers. This recommendation is based on currently available data.
· Not testing turf made from nylon or nylon blends that is not worn and does not contain visible dust. These fields should be routinely monitored for wear and dust generation.
· Replacing fields as soon as practicable if worn and dusty, as a precautionary measure.
CDC recommends testing children’s blood lead levels in accordance with state guidelines. Concerned parents/caregivers should consult their medical providers for further information.
General Recommendations on the Use of Fields with Artificial Turf
At this time, CDC does not yet understand the potential risks associated with exposure to dust from worn artificial turf. The following precautions can be taken to minimize any potential risk.
· Field managers should consider implementing dust-suppression measures. Suggestions for dust-suppression methods can be found at NJDHSS’s website, which is provided in the additional information section.
· Children ages 6 and younger are most susceptible to lead’s harmful health effects. To protect the public, in particular young children, consider posting signs indicating that:
1. After playing on the field, individuals are encouraged to perform aggressive hand and body washing for at least 20 seconds using soap and warm water.
2. Clothes worn on the field should be taken off and turned inside out as soon as possible after using the field to avoid tracking contaminated dust to other places. In vehicles, people can sit on a large towel or blanket if it is not feasible to remove their clothes. These clothes, towels, and blankets should be washed separately and shoes worn on the field should be kept outside of the home.
3. Eating while on the field or turf product is discouraged.
4. Avoid contaminating drinking containers with dust and fibers from the field. When not drinking, close them and keep them in a bag, cooler, or other covered container on the side of the field.
General Lead Poisoning Prevention Recommendations
Especially in houses where children are present, parents, day care providers and other child care providers should follow lead safety practices regardless of the type of playing surface. These practices can help prevent children from being exposed to the many sources of lead in the environment.
1. Wash children’s hands frequently and always before they eat.
2. Do not eat food or use pacifiers that have been dropped on the floor or outside.
3. Remove shoes when entering the house or use door mats.
4. Have your house inspected for lead if it was built before 1978.
5. Use lead-safe work practices when doing work that disturbs lead-painted surfaces.
Lead Testing of Artificial Turf Fields
Facility managers who choose to have the turf at a field tested for lead should contact their local or state department of health and/or environment about appropriate sample collection and analytic methods. CDC and ATSDR recommend using appropriate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or American Society for Testing and Materials methods.
Additional Information
For additional information about testing, dust suppression measures, and other topics related to NJDHSS’s work to address lead in artificial turf visit NJDHSS’s artificial turf website at http://www.state.nj.us/health/artificialturf/index.shtml.
For a list of state health departments, visit the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (ASTHO) site at http://www.astho.org/index.php?template=regional_links.php.
ASTHO also provides a list of state environmental health directors at: http://www.astho.org/index.php?template=enhancing_environmental_health_s.html.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission regulates consumer products, including artificial turf. Additional information about CPSC and artificial turf can be found at http://www.cpsc.gov.
##This Message was distributed to State and Local Health Officers, Public Information Officers, Epidemiologists, State Laboratory Directors, PHEP/BT Coordinators and HAN Coordinators, as well as Public Health Associations and Clinician organizations##
Categories of Health Alert Messages:
Health Alert
Conveys the highest level of importance; warrants immediate action or attention.
Health Advisory
Provides important information for a specific incident or situation; may not require immediate action.
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Provides updated information regarding an incident or situation; unlikely to require immediate action.
You have received this message based upon the information contained within our emergency notification database. If you have a different or additional e-mail or fax address that you would like us to use, please contact the Health Alert Network program at your State or local health department.
This page last reviewed: November 10, 2003
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Tel: (404) 639-3311 / Public Inquiries: (404) 639-3534 / (800) 311-3435 Department of Health
and Human Services
City officials showed an interest in our concerns regarding the park.
The wheels are turning.
In the course of researching synthetic turf I came across this great local blog:
Bainbridge Notebook
Reluctantly, writer Althea Paulson was drawn in to the discussion prevailing over installation of artificial turf at Bainbridge High School. The issue of lead and numerous other heavy metals leaching from the turf into the water table is of paramount concern because Bainbridge families depend on wells for their drinking water.
Read more here and here (scroll down for comments)
Currently, there is a CDC Health Advisory regarding lead in artificial turf. It all started in a New Jersey junkyard where they were sent to measure lead levels. They found extremely high levels, but not from the junkyard--they were coming from a nearby synthetic turf field.
Now I'm well aware that the City wouldn't install something as old-fashioned as nylon turf, and of course it will be brand-new, not aging, like the New Jersey fields, but still...lead is known to leach from crumb rubber as well. I'm just sayin' shouldn't we be a little more cautious with a neighborhood park where, according to the Bellevue Open Space Plan, kids are the primary users?
This is an official
CDC HEALTH ADVISORY
Distributed via Health Alert Network
Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 16:10 EDT (4:10 PM EDT)
CDCHAN-00275-2008-06-18-ADV-N
Potential Exposure to Lead in Artificial Turf:
Public Health Issues, Actions, and Recommendations
Public Health Issues
In the course of conducting a routine health investigation at a metal facility in Newark, NJ, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) tested a nearby community athletic field for lead contamination. Samples taken from the field showed high levels of lead in the field dust, but the lead did not come from the scrap metal facility.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is partnering with its sister-agency, ATSDR, to monitor this situation because of CDC’s expertise in lead poisoning prevention.
After determining that the lead source was the artificial turf, NJDHSS began to test other artificial turf fields looking for similar high lead levels in artificial turf fibers. These findings raised concerns about potentially high lead levels in artificial turf used in other locations including fields and playgrounds. NJDHSS tested a limited sample of athletic fields in New Jersey. Any questions regarding the specific fields tested should be directed to NJDHSS.
As determined by NJDHSS, limited sampling of additional athletic fields in New Jersey and commercial products indicates that artificial turf made of nylon or nylon/polyethylene blend fibers contains levels of lead that pose a potential public health concern. Tests of artificial turf fields made with only polyethylene fibers showed that these fields contained very low levels of lead.
Information provided by NJDHSS to CDC and ATSDR indicates that some of the fields with elevated lead in either dust and/or turf fiber samples were weathered and visibly dusty. Fields that are old, that are used frequently, and that are exposed to the weather break down into dust as the turf fibers are worn or demonstrate progressive signs of weathering, including fibers that are abraded, faded or broken. These factors should be considered when evaluating the potential for harmful lead exposures from a given field.
The risk for harmful lead exposure is low from new fields with elevated lead levels in their turf fibers because the turf fibers are still intact and the lead is unlikely to be available for harmful exposures to occur. As the turf ages and weathers, lead is released in dust that could then be ingested or inhaled, and the risk for harmful exposure increases. If exposures do occur, CDC currently does not know how much lead the body will absorb; however, if enough lead is absorbed, it can cause neurological development symptoms (e.g. deficits in IQ). Additional tests are being performed by NJDHSS to help us better understand the absorption of lead from these products.
In general, children less than 6 years old are more likely to be affected by lead than adults because of increased contact with lead sources in the environment, including lead contaminated house dust and soil. Children also absorb lead more easily. Children's developing nervous systems are also more susceptible to the adverse health effects of lead including developmental delay and behavioral problems.
It should be emphasized that although turf testing has been limited to the state of New Jersey, no cases of elevated blood lead levels in children have been linked to artificial turf on athletic fields in New Jersey and elsewhere. Concerned parents should talk to their child’s pediatrician about potential and known sources of lead in their children's environment and whether their children should have a blood lead test. This is a simple blood test that is paid for by most private insurers and by Medicaid.
NJDHSS has asked the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to investigate this potential problem and CDC and ATSDR are currently waiting for information from CPSC to help guide future public health recommendations and actions.
Interim Public Health Actions Related to Testing Artificial Turf Products and Reducing Potential Exposures to Lead
NJDHHS’s testing of artificial turf fields was limited and only sampled turf containing nylon. Since NJDHHS, CDC and ATSDR did not test fields composed of substances other than nylon and nylon/polyethelene blend, we do not know if lead is also a component in other types of artificial turf. Additionally, not necessarily all turf made of nylon contains elevated amounts of lead.
CDC has long recommended the elimination of all nonessential uses of lead. Because it is unclear whether all artificial turf contains lead at this time, CDC and ATSDR only recommend testing artificial turf fields that appear worn or weathered.
As a precaution, until further guidance is available from CPSC and until we have more information about the absorption of lead from artificial turf products and its capability of harm, CDC and ATSDR recommend:
· Testing turf that has fibers that are abraded, faded or broken, contains visible dust, and that is made from nylon or nylon-blend fibers. Information about testing is provided later in this alert.
· If the dust contains more than 400 ppm lead, do not allow turf access for children under the age of 6 years.
· If access is restricted, care should be taken to ensure that alternative sites contain lead levels less than 400 ppm.
· Not testing turf made from polyethylene-only fibers. This recommendation is based on currently available data.
· Not testing turf made from nylon or nylon blends that is not worn and does not contain visible dust. These fields should be routinely monitored for wear and dust generation.
· Replacing fields as soon as practicable if worn and dusty, as a precautionary measure.
CDC recommends testing children’s blood lead levels in accordance with state guidelines. Concerned parents/caregivers should consult their medical providers for further information.
General Recommendations on the Use of Fields with Artificial Turf
At this time, CDC does not yet understand the potential risks associated with exposure to dust from worn artificial turf. The following precautions can be taken to minimize any potential risk.
· Field managers should consider implementing dust-suppression measures. Suggestions for dust-suppression methods can be found at NJDHSS’s website, which is provided in the additional information section.
· Children ages 6 and younger are most susceptible to lead’s harmful health effects. To protect the public, in particular young children, consider posting signs indicating that:
1. After playing on the field, individuals are encouraged to perform aggressive hand and body washing for at least 20 seconds using soap and warm water.
2. Clothes worn on the field should be taken off and turned inside out as soon as possible after using the field to avoid tracking contaminated dust to other places. In vehicles, people can sit on a large towel or blanket if it is not feasible to remove their clothes. These clothes, towels, and blankets should be washed separately and shoes worn on the field should be kept outside of the home.
3. Eating while on the field or turf product is discouraged.
4. Avoid contaminating drinking containers with dust and fibers from the field. When not drinking, close them and keep them in a bag, cooler, or other covered container on the side of the field.
General Lead Poisoning Prevention Recommendations
Especially in houses where children are present, parents, day care providers and other child care providers should follow lead safety practices regardless of the type of playing surface. These practices can help prevent children from being exposed to the many sources of lead in the environment.
1. Wash children’s hands frequently and always before they eat.
2. Do not eat food or use pacifiers that have been dropped on the floor or outside.
3. Remove shoes when entering the house or use door mats.
4. Have your house inspected for lead if it was built before 1978.
5. Use lead-safe work practices when doing work that disturbs lead-painted surfaces.
Lead Testing of Artificial Turf Fields
Facility managers who choose to have the turf at a field tested for lead should contact their local or state department of health and/or environment about appropriate sample collection and analytic methods. CDC and ATSDR recommend using appropriate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or American Society for Testing and Materials methods.
Additional Information
For additional information about testing, dust suppression measures, and other topics related to NJDHSS’s work to address lead in artificial turf visit NJDHSS’s artificial turf website at http://www.state.nj.us/health/artificialturf/index.shtml.
For a list of state health departments, visit the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (ASTHO) site at http://www.astho.org/index.php?template=regional_links.php.
ASTHO also provides a list of state environmental health directors at: http://www.astho.org/index.php?template=enhancing_environmental_health_s.html.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission regulates consumer products, including artificial turf. Additional information about CPSC and artificial turf can be found at http://www.cpsc.gov.
##This Message was distributed to State and Local Health Officers, Public Information Officers, Epidemiologists, State Laboratory Directors, PHEP/BT Coordinators and HAN Coordinators, as well as Public Health Associations and Clinician organizations##
Categories of Health Alert Messages:
Health Alert
Conveys the highest level of importance; warrants immediate action or attention.
Health Advisory
Provides important information for a specific incident or situation; may not require immediate action.
Health Update
Provides updated information regarding an incident or situation; unlikely to require immediate action.
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This page last reviewed: November 10, 2003
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